Getting comfy with the IT side

Managed and embedded access lands integrators in new territory

Geiszler said there are two basic methods of embedding, one using client server architecture (highly secure) and which Keri Systems favors and the other is browser-based where you embed the application within the controller and access it through a browser, which yields a secure path after connection.

"As the industry becomes more IT-centric, the more we will hear about processes such as embedding," said Dr. Yaron Caspi, PhD and vice president of Research and Development and co-founder of BriefCam Inc., Neve Ilan, Israel.

"The last thing the end-user wants is another separate application," said Caspi of the advantages of embedding. "Embedding is basically a collaboration of technology."

For the end-user it means they have a single system instead of multiple systems if controls are embedded into hardware, Caspi added. "Multi applications are a bottleneck for the end-user," Caspi continued. "Embedding allows the system to work as one complete solution and the user has a single and unified product."


Honeywell's NetAXS-123 access control system is based on the fundamental components outlined in the accompanying story on page 42. The one-, two- or three-door system has a Web-based design and provides small commercial customers with traditional access control benefits while simplifying installation procedures, maintenance and operations.

For dealers, the system provides a pathway to the smaller-sized customer while also providing a migration path to more feature-rich access control, thanks to its scalability-further enabling dealers to upsell and add revenue with services.

Tennessee-based dealer and integrator Guardian Systems' experience with NetAXS-123 demonstrates the potential for approaching smaller-sized customers with this kind of technology. Guardian Systems recently installed NetAXS-123 at a high-end bolt manufacturing facility. The manufacturer sought to secure just four of its 16 total doors, so the scalability made it a good fit, according to Jason Tolleson, senior Commerical Sales, Guardian Systems.

"For this particular customer, the scalability of the technology was extremely important," Tolleson said. "The facility wanted technology to match their needs now, while also providing the option to easily grow and add on as necessary."

While other companies were bidding eight-door systems, Guardian emerged as the ideal dealer for the customer because it was able to offer a system that would provide the amount of security the customer sought, without overselling. The customer also wanted a two-reader system, so the second-reader capabilities of NetAXS-123 provided other cost-efficiencies.

"An eight-door system would have been double the cost on the control side alone, so we were able to come in thousands under the competition," Tolleson said. "In the end, we won the job based on both price and capabilities."