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Access control and video security are by no means new concepts—there are a fair amount of us who encounter and use these systems each and every day. Access Control Systems (ACS) are a critical function, primary layer of physical safety and security, and it requires a significant investment to implement. Separately, enterprise Video Management System (VMS) deployments are a substantial undertaking, with regard to monetary expenditures and priority. In the past, the products chosen for high profile ACS and VMS installations were limited to a select few of the top vendors in the marketplace, and deployed separately.
For decades, the ACS and VMS were separate systems — though they were typically monitored by the same people. Beginning with the acceptance of digital video in the ‘90s, the market began to see simplistic integrations of the separate ACS and VMS, but only in certain situations. From there, some of the market-leading ACS vendors began to include some form of relatively simple digital video component into their platform—resulting in a reliable, robust ACS, with a simple video portion that somewhat felt like a mere afterthought.
As of today, the ACS vs. VMS-lead system trend shows change. After years of the industry discussing synergy, convergence, and emergence of IT in security, well-designed and proven products are surfacing from some of the well-known players in the VMS space.
The VMS vendors have been dealing with IP devices for years, so once ACS hardware caught up to VMS camera technology and incorporated more IP devices, the natural step was for VMS vendors to try and manage those ACS IP devices. Reputable and trustworthy VMS vendors are now providing rock solid video performance as well as small-to-enterprise class ACS systems.
Some of the advantages of integrated access control and video management include:
I have come across this type of system in three of the last four projects for which I have overseen project delivery. These next-generation security platforms provide unity between video and access systems, which is a refreshing and welcome approach to these core security components.
Contact SDI to learn more about our access control and video management solutions that will drive your organization’s security and operational performance.
Clete is currently
a Digital Video Project Manager at SDI. Clete has vast expertise in digital video management systems (Nextiva, Genetec, etc.) and their associated tech ecosystem, including IP cams, analog cams, IR cams, planning, installing, and servicing, video analytics and custom integrations. Clete has 15 years of experience in field and sales engineering, and was actively involved in project managing large-scale, high complexity installs at Category X International airports.
