A new security application for QR codes
If you have dined at a restaurant at any point during the past year and a half, then you have probably had experience with the relatively new phenomenon of scanning a QR code on your smartphone to pull up a menu or wine list. This was one of the ingenious ways that businesses were able to create a more touch-free customer experience and keep their doors open throughout the pandemic.
However, this technology, which has been around since the mid-1990s, can and has been used for a wide variety of applications over the years. An Australian-based company, Teleportivity, believes it is also a long-term solution for visitor management and access control.
The company’s QR Video Intercom product, which recently received the “Judge’s Choice” Award as part of the SIA New Product Showcase competition, enables businesses to have intercom capabilities for their offices without the need to install hardware or even have guests download an app.
According to Adam Gottlieb, the company’s Founder and CEO, Teleportivity initially designed the technology as a sort of services tool for integrators in the A/V sector and it has grown in its applications from there.
“We are at a point now with our technology where it really is a security product,” he says. “We never realized it at the time, but overall, the technologies we’ve created really start to combine with the award-winning product that we have (QR Video Intercom) to create a real powerhouse for a different way of doing things.”
The deployment of QR Video Intercom is fairly straightforward, according to Gottlieb, and involves installing QR code labels at all the access points of a facility or anywhere else the user deems appropriate. Users can also integrate existing equipment, such as cameras installed throughout a building as well as third-party applications, such as Google Maps or various room-booking systems, further extending the technology’s applications.
“Imagine you, as an intercom operator, could jump in and out of every screen on demand. So, you could meet me at the ground floor of a building, jump up to level two and meet there or jump from Los Angeles to New York to Sydney to wherever in the world and be able to deploy your staff in ways that have never been possible before,” Gottlieb explains. “There are a lot of technologies that bolt into QR Video Intercom, and it really does make the offering a world-first, unique offering that, from a security perspective, is very exciting. It’s a bit of a no-brainer in terms of what our technology can do for this space.”
Aside from the access control aspect, Gottlieb says the technology can also be used in a connected campus or facility environment where staff and visitors can leverage various self-help mechanisms, such as how to find a certain room within a building. The user can also customize experiences for access points with the ability to toggle functionality – video, voice, text, etc. – on or off depending on the situation.
“There are a lot of different use cases around this and… you can really start to decide what type of experience you want to provide at every single access point,” Gottlieb says.
Additionally, Gottlieb says they are in process of integrating with several different access control management system vendors and will also be rolling out a companion keypad offering soon. “We’re building that repertoire of different partners and different access control companies and we’ll be integrating with those in the coming months,” he adds.
The company’s technology is already being used in several of the world’s major airports, according to Gottlieb, as well as within a number of major colleges and universities, Fortune 500 enterprises, and even small and mid-sized businesses. Teleportivity has a channel partner program for interested integrators and is also being distributed in the U.S. through WESCO/Anixter.
“There is nobody else that does what we do. We are a very unique technology in the way that we do it,” Gottlieb concludes.
To learn more, visit Teleportivity at booth #13094 during ISC West 2021.
About the Author:
Joel Griffin is the Editor of SecurityInfoWatch.com and a veteran security journalist. You can reach him at [email protected].
