In the midst of a challenging economy, increased competition and the many emerging technologies reaching the mainstream security markets, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies has transitioned its divisions and its product line to deliver a leaner, greener and cleaner portfolio of products and features.
How about your company? I think you better look around and look forward, and assess your company’s posture and how you propose to keep the action moving, and indeed expand your share of the market.
Ingersoll Rand has have come up with scalable solutions which cover the spectrum of today’s and tomorrow’s corporate, commercial, institutional, and governmental foreseen requirements. They are scalable because they’ve launched products which adapt from a single door, through small to midsize, all the way to enterprise level.
By taking full advantage of the flexibility afforded by wireless and wired infrastructures and by refining existing and introducing new products which speak the language, today’s locksmith is empowered with more and better solutions than ever before.
IR has levered the century old experience of its various divisions with traditional physical security along with appropriate security management software suites. Hardly a one size fits all situations, IR comes to the party able to be dressed for any occasion.
Over the last several months, our own shop has done exactly this, bringing in several projects across several markets, and different size architectures.
And in each case we are assured that the support and innovation will be there to take us into the future. Perhaps as importantly, our customers are assured of this too. All the Ingersoll Rand brands are recognized and trusted by experienced facility mangers and buyers.
Our local library; they had finally reached the tipping point with their collection of keyed and mechanical pushbutton locks at the main branch. Of course they had a budget, and of course they wanted a scalable, transitional solution.
Schlage’s CO\AD series offered them the scalability they wanted. Included in the base price were software and a programming tool which they could use to add doors to their main building as well as upgrade the numerous community libraries within their domain.
Our next project came in over the phone and we had to bid against a national security provider. Since our firm does its own lock installation, I was able offer the client a complete system solution. Because we are customer service oriented, we could demonstrate our ability to provide the security management software tailored to their needs, not too big, not too small, just right.
They anticipated the installation of additional doors at their other location in the future. We gave them a demo of the Schlage’s Bright Blue, and they liked it.
Bright Blue is not a small system pretending to be a big one. Its architecture adopts itself to a four-door facility for today, with essentially open-ended scalability for the future.
My last case history was for the municipality. They already had IR SMS software and and were managing a couple of buildings with it. It was working out for them, so whenever another building got charted for upgrade, SMS is going to be the system.
This project involved numerous openings. Some were new doors and some were retrofits. They wanted to utilize existing hardware on these doors, equipped with two rim strikes and a door with an ancient mortise lock.
We suggested AD series locks which utilized the same reader technology as the rest of their doors, and represented to the bean counters a frugal and pragmatic response to their request. The AD Series integrate seamlessly with the conventional SMS component-based door access solution which utilizes a separate reader, reader interface, door position switch and Request to Exit sensor.
Schlage AD-Series Training
I attended AD factory training with a room full of other dealers and a few institutional facility people and I asked trainer Henry “Butch” Holland to share some of his insights into the industry in general and the AD series in particular.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Henry “Butch” Holland and I have been working in the security industry for the past 11 years. I have spent the past eight years of my career with Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies in several roles ranging from Project Manager to Operations Manager to my current role of Electronic Access Control Consultant.
Ingersoll Rand has revamped their electronic security line, discontinuing some products, and introducing new ones. What markets are you addressing and where do locksmiths fit into the picture?
Customer insights prompted us to challenge our engineers and design team to think completely outside the box to deliver a new electronic locking platform that had the potential to revolutionize security.
A number of “What If” questions inspired the design:
What if you could upgrade your lock without ever taking it off the door?
What if your lock’s hardware was as easy to upgrade as its software?
What if your security solution came with a lower cost of ownership?
The New AD and CO Series Locksets can serve many markets, ranging from commercial, education, healthcare and governmentThe locksmith industry has a tremendous opportunity to branch out from the traditional mechanical locksets and get started with electrical locksets. The adaptability of the AD series will shorten the learning curve and allow locksmiths to start with off-line locks and migrate to the on-line locks once they are comfortable with providing these solutions, without having to get trained on additional product lines.
What is your definition of an integrator?
My definition of an Integrator is a team of individuals that have the resources and expertise to combine multiple systems (i.e. electronic access control, video surveillance, intercom and alarm monitoring) into one system in order to meet the key business goals of the end user. An Integrator will have knowledge of the latest technology and how best to apply these technologies in providing their solutions.
Can you compare the AD and CO series with respect to applications, scalability and ROI?
The AD and CO Series locksets differ in a couple minor ways, however the major difference between the two is that the AD series is Adaptable. The AD Series was developed with the ability to adapt to future changes in technology. For example, an End User is currently using a Magnetic Stripe Credential, but has plans in the next 5 years to migrate over to a Smart Card Credential in order to tie in cash-less vending for their Campus. The AD Series lockset could be installed today with the Magnetic Stripe Reader and, without taking the lock off of the door, change the reader to a Smart Card Reader when the migration is ready. The CO Series leveraged the Design and Engineering efforts that were put forth for the AD Series, so they look very similar, however the CO Series is not adaptable and is available as an off-line lock only. We could leverage some cost savings for the End User by using the CO series, if the technology at the opening will not change. As example, the door of the Med Room at a Medical Office Building is required to have an audit trail and is commonly a keypad application. The CO Series lockset with a keypad could be used to add access control to this opening.
Compare Bright Blue and SMS with respect to target market, feature set, scalability and ROI.
The Schlage SMS system is an Enterprise Level server-client based access control system that has the ability to manage an unlimited amount of online and offline openings using a single database. It also adds a Transaction Monitor to view live activity of the system, Multiple Clients, Video Integration, Badging, Alarm Monitoring, Guest Pass, and Alarm Graphics. Schlage’s SMS system is targeted for facilities that are looking to have multiple clients having the ability to log into the software to make changes and/ or monitor the transactions or alarms.
Schlage’s bright blue system was designed and engineered for the small to mid-size single facility and is a web-based access control system. Bright blue has a limit of 32 doors and 5000 cardholders, but can be accessed using a User Name and Password from any PC on the network. The bright blue system uses Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox to access the controller and make changes to users or doors, as well as view activity or run reports.
Explain the differences between PR, SM and MT readers.
The differences between the PR (Proximity), SM (Smart), and MT (Multi-Technology) are visually not noticeable, but they are present.
The PR (Proximity) reader has the ability to read a 125kHz proximity credential. The 125kHz proximity credential is a read-only type of technology. The unique ID within the 125kHz proximity credential is passed along to the reader once it is within range of the reader. The PR (Proximity) reader that is used with the AD and CO Series locksets can read Schlage, HID Prox, Casi-Rusco, AWID, and Lenel Prox credentials.
The SM(Smart) reader has the ability to read a 13.56MHz smart card credential. The 13.56 MHz smart card credential has a read/write type of technology. The credential has the ability to support several different functions in addition to physical access control. Some popular functions are Cashless Vending, Computer Log-in, and Biometric technologies. The 13.56MHz smart card credentials add a level of security (encryption) when presented to the SM(Smart) reader as a hand shake will need to take place between the reader and credential prior to the unique ID being passed to the reader. The SM(Smart) reader that is used with the AD Series can read Schlage DESfire EV1, Mifare, FIPS 201, XceedID ISO-X, and the CSN(card serial number) for the iClass credential.
The MT (Multi-Technology) reader has the ability to read both the 125kHz proximity credential and the 13.56MHz smart card credentials. The MT (Multi-technology) reader offers a single solution to manage a mixed population of credentials and facilitates seamless migration from one credential technology to another over time.
Is there a facility lockdown feature? If so, how does it work and how is it implemented?
Yes, the AD and CO Series locksets are capable of responding to a lockdown. The lockdown command will come from the software in the on-line locks or a separate credential in the off-line locks. The wireless version of the AD Lockset (AD400) has a great new feature called Wake-Up On Radio. This feature will allow an AD400 Wireless On-Line Lockset to respond to a lockdown command within 10 seconds.
Are single-door wireless AD deployments economically feasible, that is, is the AD cost effective for this type of install?
Yes, but we would need to confirm the requirements that the End User is requesting to be sure that we would offer the correct solution. If the requirement did not include on-line locksets, then we could leverage the savings of the CO series. If the requirement were to include an on-line lockset, then we could leverage the bright blue system that will fit in the small to mid-size facilities.
What would be the equipment required for a single-door wireless deployment?
In addition to the AD400 lockset, a PIM (Panel Interface Module), an HHD (Hand Held Device), the bright blue controller, and a power supply would be required. The PIM is the device that is used to receive / transmit the wireless signals from the AD400 locksets to the bright blue controller. The PIM comes in two models. Rhe two door model has the ability to communicate to 2 doors and the 16 door model has the ability to communicate to 16 doors. The typical range for the wireless signal from the PIM to the AD400 lockset is 200 ft within normal building construction.
Is the AD UL 294 compliant?
Yes, the AD and CO Series Locksets are UL294 compliant. UL294 is the requirements for Access Control System Units. These requirements apply to the construction, performance, and operation of systems intended to regulate or control:
a) Entry into a protected area or a restricted area or
b) Access to or the use of a device(s) by electrical, electronic or mechanical means.
What training is required?
No training is required for the AD and CO series locksets, but there are certifications that apply to the Schlage SMS Software. It is recommended to attend the training to help eliminate the learning curve with a new product.
The recommended training would consist of an off-line lock course that is a hands on class and covers the AD, CO and the Schlage SMS Express software. For the on-line locks, there is a recommended course that is a hands on class and covers the AD and the bright blue software. The Schlage SMS software is supplied to the market through our Certified Dealers. These training classes are available regionally at our SSC Offices as well as at our factories several times a year.
What technical support resources are available?
We have added a few additional resources to the standard technical support lines. A YouTube channel includes how-to videos showing opening the box all the way through programming the lock using a HHD (Hand Held Device). We have recently created an iPhone App that provides easy access to Schlage How-To Videos from YouTube, Install Guides, User Guides and Datasheets for AD-Series and Co-Series solutions. You can also call our Customer Care center directly from the app.
For more information on the Schlage AD-Series, visit www.securitytechnologies,ingersollrand.com.
To read additional Locksmith Ledger articles on Schlage products, visit http://tinyurl.com/schlage0911.
Tim O'Leary
Tim O'Leary is a security consultant, trainer and technician who has also been writing articles on all areas of locksmithing & physical security for many years.
