There’s growing noise around smart homes and smarter security. You’ve probably heard it. But there is a place where access control and more have been smart for decades: the workplace. Home automation and IoT are still playing catch-up with the commercial sector. A new insights report from ASSA ABLOY and IFSEC Global — “The Smart Door Locks Report 2018” — measures just how fast consumer smart technology is running.

According to a survey conducted for the report, 61% of households now claim to own at least one smart home device or system. Energy monitors, home CCTV cameras, intruder alarms and smart door locks are the most popular, according to the report. All these functions, of course, have been available to businesses for years.

Educating The Smart Home Consumer

Paradoxically, report data also questions how much consumers really know about their smarter home. A surprising 42% of those surveyed, for example, were unaware they could control a smart door lock from their phone. In fact, many leading smart door lock models offer this feature, delivered by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and an app.

Despite a wealth of features offered by the latest smart door locks — remote and location-based locking/unlocking; voice activation; timed access; emailed entry alerts; and integration with smart camera and lighting systems — most people still have limited knowledge of their capabilities. 

Only 14% of survey respondents described themselves as “very familiar” with what a smart lock can do. Even though most of them probably use smart access control solutions at their workplace.

Secure Homes Through Smart Technology

Monitoring and security are not the only drivers for smart home adoption. We humans also love convenience, and modern living presents us with problems that smart home technology can solve. Ironically, given the report’s findings, it takes a smartphone to really unlock the convenient possibilities of smarter living. The device that’s “always to hand” is central to the newest generation of smart door locks. A smart door lock is a convenient way for a landlord or agency to offer round-the-clock check-in and check-out

If homeowners wish to remotely manage property access for friends and family, many smart door locks oblige. You let in guests remotely, send them a virtual digital key, or provide a temporary or single-use PIN to unlock the door.

It is just as easy to revoke a digital key, if you don’t want its owner to come around anymore. This is a significant improvement over sharing physical keys — or hiding one under the doormat. We cannot be totally sure where a metal key ends up and have no way to track or cancel it once it’s “out in the wild”. Commercial access control offers such functionality as standard, of course. 

In addition, smart door locks offer more than just stand-alone operation and clever functions. In a domestic setting, magic happens when locks work in harmony with a home automation system, connected by protocols like Z-Wave, ZigBee or Wi-Fi.

“Smart” Security On The Move 

The smartphone is becoming a remote control for managing a connected life beyond just home (and even workplace) security. According to Accenture, the parcel delivery services market will grow by $343 billion by 2020. Just like home security, convenience is a major driver of change.

Vacation Rentals And Smart Home Tech

ASSA ABLOY research published in 2017 forecasts continued growth in the European vacation rentals sector (at 5.8% CAGR). Smart door locks are also making an impact here, at both ends of the market: for service providers — agents and homeowners — and for travellers.

A smart door lock is a convenient way for a landlord or agency to offer round-the-clock check-in and check-out, without creating extra work or staff costs. Both Intersoft, in Croatia, and Hoomvip in Spain have built vacation rentals management systems around an app and the ENTR® smart door lock. Agents issue, revoke, track and manage virtual keys for all their guests, saving everyone time and hassle.

For these visitors the smartphone is already an essential travel accessory. It is a boarding pass, a credit card, a travel guide, and a postcard home… why not a door key, too? And if this key is backed by a trusted home security brand — and a company with vast experience in the mature market for commercial “smart” security — better still.

New research has found an increasing appetite for smart city measures that aim to tackle urbanisation problems, such as congestion and security issues, with almost a quarter (24%) of Brits even saying they would be happy to fund these solutions using part of their own tax contributions.

The study of 1,000 people, conducted by ATG Access, found that this willingness rises substantially when it comes to funding measures which improve transport infrastructure. More than half (57%) would be happy for their tax to go towards smart traffic lights, and 44% for smarter signs which give real-time traffic updates.
 
Nearly a quarter (24%) said they would also be willing to fund smart barriers that help with incident management.
 
Investment in the smart city concept looks set to grow, with global spending expected to hit $135 billion by 2021. However, uptake in the UK has thus far been relatively slow with cost often cited as an issue.
 
Despite the current lack of investment, there is a clear interest in the smart city concept. 74% of people interested in smart city measures believe they would help to improve day-to-day issues, such as congestion.
 
Conducted as part of ATG’s ‘Smart cities: Turning the dream into a reality’ report, the research outlines the urbanisation problems that could be solved through the adoption of specific smart city concepts, such as traffic, crime and emergency incident response. It explores consumer attitudes and perceptions towards smart cities, and ways to overcome current barriers to adoption in the UK.
 
Gavin Hepburn, managing director at ATG Access, commented:

As our cities become more and more congested, it’s becoming increasingly clear that our current urban infrastructure is no longer fit for purpose and smart cities are a clear step forward.
 
However, despite the obvious benefits of the concept, there are still some issues to be circumnavigated if the UK smart city is to make the transition from far-flung concept to reality – with funding uncertainaties and costs a key issue.
 
“But what is apparent from our research is that people clearly see the benefits of a smart city. The solutions are available and in the most part, proven and tested, so it is time we begin to look for ways to help fund and support these types of projects that facilitate a safer and smarter future for our British cities.

A company which specialises in smart homes has made arrangements with a biometrics finger company in Austria in order to integrate the wall-mounted finger scanner into the house system and maximise security. Biometrics – measurements of unique parts the human body such as fingerprints, irises and faces – are much more difficult to hack or guess than a 4-digit PIN, and much more difficult to steal than a smart-card/keycard.

“eKey and Crestron took up the challenge of making door entry more secure and convenient,”

said Michael Short, global residential marketing manager for Crestron.

“To deliver on that, we focused on one of the aspects that makes us unique as human beings – fingerprints. Now, in essence, your finger is the key to your Crestron smart home.”

Georg Schaffer, head of export, eKey Biometric Systems GmbH, concluded, “As a specialist in fingerprint technology and a proven vendor of outdoor rated fingerprint readers, we are very excited about our partnership with Crestron and the possibilities of this advanced integration. It’s like turning Crestron into a biometric access control system by itself, featuring simplified administration centrally via – for instance – a Crestron touch screen. By saving multiple fingerprints of individual users, different functions can be triggered. Whereas your right index finger will become your new key for unlocking your front door, your left index finger will trigger a silent alarm when used under duress.”

SCS provides enhanced security for residential, retail and commercial installations. For maximum peace of mind, we offer a biometrics access control system, which can be programmed to also demand a smart-card for access. Multi-factor authentication is always more secure, and this biometrics and smart-card combination is no exception, since now no-one can enter your premises with just a stolen smart-card.

Our software can fine-tune and regulate individuals’ access control options, from the very broad, e.g. all employees can go here and all guests cannot, right down to, for example, one particular person can enter this room between the hours of 11am to 3pm.

If you’d like to find out more about the range of solutions supplied by SCS, both in terms of hardware (smart card readers, biometric readers, turnstiles, etc.) and software (access rights management software solutions, etc.), just contact us. We’ll be more than happy to answer any queries you may have.