Authored by Prabhuraj Patil, Regional Sales Director, PACS, South Asia, HID Global
With cloud-based access control solutions taking over our lives in every aspect, connected workplace experiences have reached newer and complex levels of innovation over the last decade. It establishes a common understanding of trusted identities so that organizations can define who individuals are and what benefits they are authorized to receive. Today’s solutions can incorporate everything needed to connect to and interact with a building’s other security systems, services and enterprise applications. They also boost building security and performance while giving users the same kind of digital experiences in the workplace as they enjoy at home.
So, are companies truly aware of the many benefits of having connected workplaces?
Let’s take India for example, according to the research conducted by ResearchAndMarkets.com, “The Indian access control reader market reached a value of INR 13.6 Billion in 2019 and it is expected to grow with a CAGR of 13% During the Forecast Period, 2020-2025”. Therefore, there is no denying the market potential for physical access control solutions in the country. However, getting to this level of innovation has required that the latest access control solutions be built on open architectures and standard communications protocols. This ensures product interoperability and flexibility while making it simple and economical to upgrade to access control systems that can serve as the foundation for creating more connected building experiences. A key specification in this journey is the Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP)
Let’s take a quick look at how OSDP can help enhance security while adding real-world efficiencies to the connected workplaces of the future:
OSDP replaced antiquated and vulnerable clock-and-data and Wiegand protocols. Organizations that don’t move to OSDP-based access control solutions leave themselves extremely vulnerable to security threats and miss out on its valuable benefits. OSDP uses the Secure Channel Protocol to increase security and features a capability that makes it possible for information to be collected, shared and acted upon. This is possible since the protocol uses bidirectional communication for configuration, status monitoring, tampering detection, and other important functions.
OSDP also creates an open and interoperable access control architecture and also ensures that system functionality can be flexibly enhanced as needs change and new threats emerge. It also reduces installation costs by enabling multi-drop installation, supervised connections to indicate reader malfunctions and tampering, and scalability to connect more field devices.
To meet the growing demand for secure and connected workplaces, Indian companies need to upgrade to the next generation of physical access control technology. With the right technology, they can future-proof their security systems in a way that has never before been possible. It will ensure they are equipped with the dynamic tools they need to counter new and ever-changing threats while also implementing ongoing enhancements as needed.
