Access Control Power Management Hits the Network

Once disparate physical security components have evolved into network-capable, data gathering devices integral to system intelligence and uptime. Today, conversations begin early on between systems integrators and information technology (IT) and network personnel, who are often the first point of contact in project planning. Physical security is an integral part of the IT age and the transformation will continue with the internet of Things (loT), cloud computing, mobility and an ‘always-on’ mentality proliferating integrated systems technology.

With this trend, data centers and IT networks have become more complex and integrate a variety of smart devices and components. Data centers have to be efficient, effective and connected — all within an overall more compact design. The role of total systems solutions, especially power for continued uptime, has become critical to the IT equation. According to JLL Research’s 2015 Data Center Outlook, users of enterprise data centers have to balance cost management with industry specific regulations, rack optimization, power, cooling, software and other concerns. In addition, access control specifications continue to grow and become a critical part of the connected security solution.

The move of systems solutions to the IT network has signaled changes in physical security contracting. “It is critical to get with the IT people early on in the process,” says Henry Hoyne, vice president of Professional Services for California-based integrator Northland Controls. “With today’s security devices, most fall on their network in some fashion. They have become especially aware of anything riding on their network as well as cyber security and minimizing network threats. They want to know if a device has network safeguards and hardening in place.”

Power stands at the center of the equation — the heartbeat of an integrated system. In the past, traditional supplies did not do much beyond simply delivering power — users often went unaware of pending problems and received no advance notification of dangerous spikes, AC outages or overall battery health. Understanding the changes that are occurring in the data center and adjusting to these new ways of deploying solutions will assist integrators as they move more fully into the networking fold.

A new generation of networked power management systems has emerged to enable integrators and users to proactively understand and manage the health of the system while gathering historical data, critical to system planning and uptime.

Access Control/Power Integration

The ability to integrate access control panels with power is a natural for space optimization, another trend in managing access systems. There is less labor involved in installation and being able to incorporate lock and system power equals greater space utilization. In new construction — especially public spaces, airports, stadiums and schools — users are looking for rack mounting because of the ability to take up cubic space vs. square footage.

There are additional advantages to the systems integrator – if a device needs cooling, the rack space is already set up to accomplish this task. “If we have options like rack-mount integrated power solution design, it improves our ability to solve a customer challenge, such as not having enough wall space,” says Shaun Castillo, President of Houston-based IT-centric integrator Preferred Technologies Inc. (Pref-Tech).

Companies like Pref-Tech see that wall-mounted electronics have become highly discouraged in favor of rack mount. “Many users deploy racks for almost everything and they don’t see why power cannot be set up, wired and managed in the same way,” Castillo says.

Others, like Northland Controls, still see the end-user in the driver’s seat as far as how systems will be configured in the data center, with much of it dependent on the facility and available space. No matter the configuration, the end-user wants the ability to take advantage of proactive monitoring with remote connectivity, to apply maintenance and diagnostics tasks off site and to lower the total cost of system ownership.

“Many of our enterprise customers already have a robust IT infrastructure and data cabinets with access control, power and back up in one,” Castillo explains. “With the connectivity to the network infrastructure, it is nice to have the intelligent power capabilities and to be able to slide those components into the cabinet. With integrated power solutions and available networking capabilities, our customers can monitor power on the network and share information between systems. Having the ability to provide intelligence over the standard IP infrastructure is important — customers can take better advantage of intelligent power supplies and managed remote services to increase reliability and system uptime.”

Monetizing: The Managed Services Component

The ability to glean specific data relative to battery and power solutions health has also become an important part of the managed services offering for integrators, who can proactively monitor solutions and drill down to specifics at the device level. They can verify, remotely, if an access control board is out of service, a lock is frozen or the power supply goes down, for example. They can virtually test batteries to know available standby time, so the unit will perform at the needed level when called on. Integrators can also automatically record system information at scheduled intervals, providing data information and a historical record for the user’s record keeping and follow up depending on the immediacy of the task.

With a robust user interface, the integrators receive system status alerts on a single dashboard screen, using this information for follow up or service. Remote monitoring also enables integrators to often times avoid a costly truck roll and technician time onsite, with system resets and other tasks performed via browser.

Integrators who are up to speed and savvy to changes in networking will find new ways to deploy solutions and additional methods to monetize networking power with managed services, gaining additional recurring monthly revenue (RMR). They will be able to provide detailed information on the status of power across the enterprise, devices under stress or alarm and the potential longevity of the solution to circumvent a catastrophic event. They will become indispensable as a solutions provider – integral to the IT team. The new frontier of power solutions is about critical data and understanding how to use it for greater reliability and uptime across the enterprise.

Smart Power

Here are some of the elements available from intelligent networked power that can be applied as a managed service:

• Battery management and health assessment
• Low-battery warning
• Individual power devices and output monitoring
• AC outage notifications
• Device stress pre-alerts
• Historical data and record keeping

Joseph M. Holland is LifeSafety Power’s Vice President of Engineering. Holland has more than 40 years of engineering, marketing and management experience in the life safety industry. Request more info about the company at www.securityinfowatch.com/11462038.