Page 25 - Campus Security & Life Safety, March/April 2022

“Colleges and universities—where the users are never typically more than a body’s length from their smartphones whether in the dorm, in class, watching the football game or visiting Mom and Dad—are prime. The sole benefits are convenience, convenience and convenience. Their smartphone can help them get into their dorms, attend the special lab course, verify their identity for on-campus tickets and even ride the bus.”
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delicately asked if they would have any problems with a new technology, the refrain was consistent: "Oh, no—if I have any questions, I'll just ask my grandchild!"
Tarquinio then asked them what system they were presently using, and it turned out that Quantuum could simply pull out their old readers and replace only the new mobile system readers. By not having to switch the entire system, changing only the readers would save the condo owners a major expense.
This brings up an important point for both integrators and their
end users when upgrading a system. With one simple question, "What are you using now?", Tarquinio saved his customer many dollars. If the integrator doesn't ask the question, then the customer should ask if parts of their present system can be re-deployed. After all, many of these vendors are OEMs, having scores of private-labeled units among their customers. Several of them feature multiple products. With this as a background, many integrators will often find it easy to select older products that they can integrate simply.
The condominium had the usual access points found with most multi-family projects. To get from the parking garages into the lobby, there were one or more doors to access. The fitness club and pool were connected via an elevator that needed to be controlled. There was the classic entry at the front and side exit portals from the building’s grounds to the outside. But for some of the access points, like the parking garage gates, the old key fob system could not tell them who was where—and when.
Interestingly, when they were going to put in the new mobile system, Quantuum was also asked if they could easily install a new key fob system that connected with end users’ smart phones for access.
"For these residents, we were able to answer with a double affirmative," Tarquinio explained. "First of all, this system can use smart cards and key fobs—which are more secure than the old technology fobs they were using in place of their smart phones. And secondly, these fobs do not have the looks of the cheap little plastic pieces typically deployed. They have the classic looks that a proud luxury condominium resident would want to show off."
What Has Led to the Growth of Mobile Access Control?
Until recently, there has been a focus by integrators and customers on assuring that their card-based access control systems are secure. Just as companies were learning how to protect card-based access control systems, along came mobile access credentials and their readers, which use smart phones instead of cards as the carrier of identifying information. While many companies perceive (incorrectly) that they are safer with a card, the mobile can be a far more secure option— with many more features to be leveraged—when done properly. They deliver biometric capture and comparison, as well as an array of communication capabilities from cellular and Wi-Fi to Bluetooth LE and NFC.
A special word of caution needs to be emphasized when changing over to mobile systems. Many legacy access control systems require the use of back-end portal accounts.
For hackers, they have become rich, easy to access caches of sensitive end-user data. These older mobile systems force the user to register themselves and their integrators for every application. Door access: Register. Parking access: Register again. Data access: Register again. Each registration requires the disclosure of sensitive personal
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