Brivo Releases Web Services API to Expand Integration Options
Bethesda, MD, March 28, 2007 – Brivo Systems, the leader in Web applications for access control and security systems, today announced the release of its XML-RPC Application Programming Interface (API), available for Brivo's ACS WebService and soon for ACS OnSite. The XML interface enables the integration of diverse computer systems—from Identity Management to HR systems to websites—to provide unprecedented options for customers in creating powerful and unique access control solutions.
The openly available interface—accessible to dealers, end users, and partners at no cost—will allow developers to integrate with any of Brivo's product lines. "All people need to do to get started," according to Steve Van Till, Brivo's President and COO, "is sign a standard Terms of Use agreement, and they're off and running. The interface is automatically available for use with existing accounts and control panels." The company is also selling a specially configured developer control panel to facilitate the development and QA process for more ambitious integration projects. The API gives immense flexibility to system integrators, who will be able to pick and choose among products to create optimal configurations for their customers.
The new API will allow direct integration with the many kinds of IT systems that are the subject of so much "convergence" discussion within the industry: Identity Management, Single Sign-On, HR, Logical Access Control for IT systems, policy management, and more. "What you're seeing throughout much of the access control space is that 'convergence' can be achieved only with the help of extensive middleware," says Van Till. "What we've done here is to largely eliminate the need for that layer. So, IT systems can talk to our products directly using XML."
"For awhile, we've been hearing from companies that basically want to write hybrid websites that combine their offerings with some type of access control," Van Till continues. "They want to incorporate discrete service offerings from our applications and embed them within their own services." For example, a venue management firm wants to pre-sell parking spots online for special events, providing a PIN code to the customer. Their own system already provides sales and reservation services, but lacks the parking management piece that Brivo's Service-Oriented Security Infrastructure (SOSI) can provide. By drawing on a few simple services offered through the new XML API, the customer won't have to wait in line the day of the event, keep track of a ticket, and then wait to pay for parking. Instead, they can enter the code and bypass the ticket and payment machines entirely.
A more traditional example would be creating a linkage between your access control solution and your human resources database so that access privileges are automatically added for new employees, and removed for those who are terminated.
The new API is based on the XML-RPC specification that allows different software systems to "talk" to each other regardless of operating system or environment. The implementation uses HTTPS and 128-bit SSL encryption for maximum security, as do all Brivo data transport interfaces, whether between the panels and the Brivo-hosted application, or to the user's browser.
For more information on the Brivo® econtrol Online Access Control System and the XML API, contact Brivo toll–free at 1-866-692-7486, option 1, or email [email protected].
