Page 16 - Campus Security & Life Safety, March/April 2021

Security Management
"Many systems have proprietary hardware making it difficult to unite and gain
Mvisibility from other product vendors."
obile technology in access control applications is a growing trend and schools and integrators are well positioned to take advantage of its benefits. Secure data transfer, end- user convenience, support for multiple formats and flexible system compatibility have finally all been combined to pro-
vide a wealth of opportunities in educational institutions.
There were other drawbacks with the original technology. Before they switched to soft credentials, the next wave of users requested smartphone solutions that eliminated the frustrations that they dis- covered with their imaginative smartphone apps and hardware, the main one being complicated implementation practices. The newer solutions provide an easier way to distribute credentials with features that allow the user to register only once and need no other portal
accounts or activation features. By removing these additional infor- mation disclosures, vendors eliminated privacy concerns that have been slowing down acceptance of mobile access systems.
One additional concern held back some buyers. What if the baby boomers at their facility don't have a smartphone? Problem solved. Just be sure that your soft credential reader can also use a smart card.
The Hard Facts about Soft Credentials
Mobile access credentials are smartphone-based versions of tradi- tional access credentials, such as 125-kHz proximity cards or 13.56 MHz contactless smartcards and tags. Mobile credentials make it possible for smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone® and Google Android® devices, to be used as the electronic access control creden- tials, supporting a user as he moves about a secured facility, such as a high school, college campus or university hospital.
Two technologies are used - Bluetooth and Near Field Communi- cation (NFC). Bluetooth readers are less expensive because almost every smartphone already has Bluetooth. Plus, Bluetooth supports both short and long-range reading. In contrast, NFC does not.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is used to communicate the mobile
16 campuslifesecurity.com | MARCH/APRRIL 2021