Add To Your Bottom Line With Access Control

What do your customers use for access control? For some, it could simply be a receptionist, while others employ more high-tech solutions. Either way, it's likely their security or access control solutions are currently being scrutinized. If your customers aren't reevaluating these systems, maybe you should offer some suggestions. But before you do, make sure you understand the different components of access control solutions.

Design Single-Card Access Control Systems
According to Bill Allen, eMarketing manager for Texas Instruments (TI) RFid Systems (Plano, TX), and Kathleen Phillips, VP of marketing for card printer manufacturer FARGO Electronics (Eden Prairie, MN), single-card access control solutions are in demand. Companies want one card to be used for physical access, network access, and personal identification. "In the early 1990s, magnetic and Weigand stripe technologies enjoyed the lion's share of access control applications," Allen said. "Today, RFID [radio frequency identification]-based proximity cards make up approximately 65% of the United States market, though Frost & Sullivan projects it to grow to 80% by 2006."

Phillips added that enhanced security features are also being added to today's access control cards. For example, biometric identifiers such as fingerprint, iris, or facial geometry templates are being stored on cards. Even adding reverse images, overlaminates, and custom holograms increase the security and tamper-resistance of cards.

Combine RFID And Card Printer Expertise
If end users are looking for these types of single-card access control systems, what do VARs need to know to make sales? For the card-printing portion of these systems, Phillips said VARs should sell printers with the ability to encode data on a card and print images and text. "VARs should recommend card printers with multiple card encoders and add-on lamination stations," Phillips added. "Multiple encoders make it easy to encode mag-stripe cards, contact/contactless smart cards, and proximity [prox] cards all in one pass."

In regard to using RFID technology for access control, Allen said VARs should understand the differences between the more common 125 kHz cards and readers and the newer 13.56 MHz products. 13.56 MHz cards offer unique and secure ID codes and more memory (e.g. TI's products offer 2,000 bits) than traditional proximity cards. That extra memory is important if customers want to store private information such as access codes, medical histories, or even biometric templates on a card. "13.56 MHz cards and readers are compatible with standard protocols so card data can be integrated with enterprise-level security systems such as those that control door locks or work with time and attendance systems," Allen said. "New ISO 15693 and 14443 standards for 13.56 MHz technology also help ensure interoperability of products from multiple manufacturers."

For those customers already familiar with RFID access control solutions, VARs should explain how 13.56 MHz systems have a read range up to 40% greater than 125 kHz card systems. Couple that feature with the ability to reliably read multiple cards in the same read zone, and you have a system that can process people more quickly than 125 kHz systems.

There are a lot of components to an access control solution and no one combination is right for all of your customers. Yet, no matter what your specialty, access control may be a technology that - no pun intended - could open new doors for you.