ASSA ABLOY Americas has introduced 75 new products in the last year, concentrating on three trending markets: wireless, mobile access and sustainable. Martin Huddart, President, Access and Egress Hardware Group, ASSA ABLOY Americas, gave a quick company update and then addressed these trends at an ASIS press conference on Monday.
"This year’s show highlights three major trends that security professionals have come to Atlanta to learn about. The first is wireless, where ASSA ABLOY has been driving the discussion for a long time and where we now see wide market adoption. The second is mobile access, where we see significant increases in hardware options during recent months to support mobile credentials. The final trend is sustainability. While it’s new for the security community, it will quickly be recognized as a critical factor in technology decisions by end-users and integrators alike,” explained Huddart.
ASSA ABLOY Americas is also celebrating its 20th year and has grown to include 33 brands, including newest member Ameristar, a manufacturer of specialty doors.
Wireless
In the wireless market, Huddart highlighted how ASSA ABLOY’s Wi-Fi Locks and Aperio® wireless technology have been adopted in a broad range of markets and applications, including corporate, education, healthcare and IT.
“Wireless brings a whole new level of economics to access control, Huddart said. “Our wireless locks provide the ability to put access control in specific locations where it’s never been possible before.” that Aperio technology eliminates the last 20 feet of running wires from the panel to the door.
For example, the HES KS100 Server Cabinet Lock brings access control to an individual server cabinet while the HES K100 Cabinet Lock can provide security to pharmaceuticals or restricted documents and records in healthcare settings.
Examples of new Aperio products include the HES KS100 Server Cabinet Lock, which brings access control to an individual server cabinet, and the HES K100 Cabinet Lock, which can provide security to pharmaceuticals or restricted documents and records in healthcare settings.
Other wireless products operating via WiFi are the IN20 mulitclass readers with new lever options and P Series Multiclass SE featuring easy credential upgrades without changing out the lock.
Huddart added that ASSA ABLOY has 29 partners whose software can drive the wireless locks.
Mobile Access
ASSA ABLOY offers a broad range of locking solutions with mobile access capabilities. This range, including Wi-Fi, PoE, Aperio®wireless, and Integrated Wiegand locks from ASSA ABLOY Group brands, supports HID Mobile Access® powered by Seos® for both iOS and Android devices.
Huddart explained that ASSA ABLOY’s combined R&D efforts with HID Global enable products to work with both competing smartphone technologies, Bluetooth and Near-Field Communication (NFC). Currently NFC is used for residential applications like the Yale Real Living locks with keypad backup. Bluetooth has a longer range and can open locks through glass and from a greater distance.
“Mobile access is likely to be a ‘mega-trend’ in our industry and we are well positioned to support this technology shift through a variety of services and hardware solutions available today,” explained Huddart.
Sustainability
Huddart discussed two key products from ASSA ABLOY that are providing can provide ‘green’ security options. Ecoflex™ electrified mortise locks from Sargent and Corbin Russwin offer up to a 96 percent reduction in energy usage compared to standard electrified locks. Ecoflex™ lock technology has been awarded third-party certification by GreenCircle Certified, LLC, the leading certifier of sustainability claims in products and operations.
Securitron’s new EcoPower™ companion sustainable power supply offers up to a 99 percent reduction in energy compared to traditional power supplies and reduces standby power consumption to 8.5mW, Huddart said.
He estimated that installing EcoFlex locks and EcoPower power supplies on 1,000 doors would save as much as $15,000 in energy costs in a single year ($15 per door).
EcoFlex locks cost about the same as traditional electrified mortise locks and are easily installed, according to ASSA ABLOY. They are field-selectable for 12 or 24 volt and can be changed from failsafe to failsecure in the field.
A brand new feature is a resister pack for tamper indicator protection. The device is literally inside the lock, eliminating problems from occurring when there is a gap between the tamper detection and the device. The whole line is supervised.
“Sustainable access control technology is the newest dimension to our portfolio of innovations. Based on customer feedback, we firmly believe the green building movement will embrace products which consume less energy and have lower impacts on the environment. Security related decision makers will demand solutions that not only keep people and property secure, but are also environmentally responsible. ASSA ABLOY will continue to lead in this space,” concluded Huddart.
