IP Communications: The Integration Door Is Wide Open

Jan 1, 2003 12:00 PM, by JAMES GOMPERS

Within the security industry, the search for new and innovative technologies is accelerating rapidly. At the same time, we have yet to see the full impact of integration on our industry. As all this new technology comes to market, the biggest breakthroughs in integration are occurring in software solutions and communication protocols. These are having an interesting effect.

Software innovations are leaving the security industry somewhat adrift, due largely to a lack of industry standards and few guidelines for manufacturers. The result: We are left with multiple, different methodologies for software and communication protocol development and integration. Going forward, we need a flexible, cost-effective standard to more effectively integrate applications and interconnect systems. The solution lies in Internet Protocol (IP) communications as the standard to achieve higher-level integration of different systems.

IT And Security Cooperation: We Have Come A Long Way

As the pace and extent of integration have increased, we are finding that responsibilities between security and information technology departments, and between the industries as a whole, are being redefined and renegotiated. With IT managers slowly opening up their networks and databases to security, greater collaboration is starting to take place. As this collaboration heats up, advances in technology and integration should multiply rapidly due to shared learning and cross-industry conceptualization of solutions. But why is this cooperation important and where is it taking us?

What Can Security Learn From IT?

The pressing need for higher levels of safety is a major driving factor within the security industry. Given security concerns such as terrorism, personnel safety, asset protection, risk reduction and accountability, what will it take to truly meet the enormous security challenges at hand? In today's chaotic economic times, what solutions can we afford, or not afford, to better ensure our security?

As security budgets increase and the economy remains sluggish, many businesses' bottom lines are being adversely affected. Now is the time to look to integration technology to assist in achieving greater security while controlling costs and positively impacting profits. The IT industry has long looked to ROI (return on investment) to prove the added value for their solutions, and to increase demand. Security integrators need to demonstrate that they can learn from the IT industry by moving to a higher level of proven value-added, and they need to learn from their own past by making solutions work more effectively towards the end-users' bottom line.

Levels of Integration Methodologies

Trends in the security industry clearly point to end-users increasingly looking to integration to make doing business safer, easier and more efficient. To achieve these goals, there is much food for thought and a variety of available options in this constantly changing market. A short examination of the levels of integration and an overview of where we are today will be instructive in analyzing what will come next.

The first level of integration has been multiple systems mechanically connected by hard-wired inputs, outputs and control points. As this is the most basic form of integration, many of these solutions are already proven and have been implemented extensively. Due to limitations at this level of integration, many end-users have been left wanting more.

For the next level, there is a move to systems that incorporate the ability to share information between two control panels, or a server and a control panel, through use of serial data via RS232, RS422, and RS485 communication protocols. This form of communication and collaboration is usually omni-directional. While making solutions using serial data more robust and cost effective, the limitations of one-way communication have still left many end-users demanding higher levels of functionality for their integration.

We have now arrived at the most flexible and most future-proof level of integration — incorporation of security systems into the IP network data stream. At this level, there is integration of multiple systems and the ability to share information and functionality bi-directionally across a multi-industry form of communications, the Ethernet network. With this IP communications configuration as the backbone for systems, we not only future-proof our systems; we open up integration to a level of limitless possibilities. One such possibility is the addition of a middleware or controlware multi-process server, which further enhances the unified abilities of higher-level integration. “Controlware” is a term I have coined to describe the ability to not just integrate or share information as middleware does, but to control multi-platforms at a higher level.

Software Leads The Way For IP

With continuing software innovations leading the way to multi-system, multi-platform integration, new software innovators are quickly getting the attention of end-users, consultants and integrators. Middleware or controlware software now provides the ability to not only integrate systems but also to assimilate a true, single GUI interface with the ability to access, operate, administrate and configure these systems. IP technology is playing a huge role in the advancements in integration, as IP communications enable different systems to share and use information. For example, we could have multiple systems using the information from one door position switch for intrusion, access control, video surveillance presets and event logging. Another example would be to request information from the access control system readers to use for time and attendance in the payroll accounting system database or for tracking personnel locations in emergency response situations. In these cases, we can also use the IP video stream as an image capture for access control — without affecting recorded video — and log accountability for employee time and attendance and personnel location tracking.

Here we see the IP stream can be designed to securely intercept information for use outside its primary application. The list goes on and on of ways we can use IP as a form of communications for multiple system integration.

IP Communications: At The Center Of Expanding Integration

As you can see in the diagram on page 36, all systems and components are connected within the Ethernet network. We can access all systems through a standard network connection, with flexibility in terms of user and system locations, be it LAN, WAN, Internet or Intranet accessibility. IP connectivity also enables systems on the network to share information, thus allowing us to take advantage of high-level, cost-saving solutions. When all of a facility's systems are deployed on the network, we then have one infrastructure to maintain — saving substantial time and money.

The diagram also illustrates how the control portion to the IP integrated system is the middleware or controlware server that presides over the flow of information and functionality between systems. It is at this point that we have achieved true integration. An example of this type of control integration functionality might be if there were a chemical agent alarm from the HVAC or access control system. All personnel in a designated area, or facility-wide, could be notified in a variety of ways: public address system, automated out-calling to telephone extensions and cell phones with a pre-recorded evacuation message, e-mailing all parties with a emergency message, or all these methods simultaneously — without human intervention. The power that controlware servers possess to impact any given solution is easy to notice. The diagram also demonstrates how easy it would be to use video imaging for access verification because the IP video is a just a file name allowing the controlware server to log and access the event for all systems to use.

Similar solutions can be added to HVAC, lighting, telecommunications and others — even if that system is physically located in a remote setting on either the WAN or Internet. With all systems deployed on the network and running IP protocols and with most already having browser-based operation and control, we can implement Java applets, PHP browser-based applications, Perl database, and many more applications on a control or middleware server. Thus, we have the single GUI we are trying to achieve, but with an added bonus of implementing and automating almost any system in a facility.

Welcome To Your Future: The Power Of IP

Now that you have seen the tremendous benefits of implementing your security solutions on an existing or new IP network, you should be ready to start finding new ways to leverage these capabilities and resources to reduce cost, increase productivity, and positively impact your bottom line. Improving personnel safety and protecting assets while finding new ways to save money are increasingly important as well as a vital responsibility for all businesses. Let's open the door to wider, more powerful integration.

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For the Record

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Gompers is founder of Gompers Technologies Design Group Inc. and Gompers Technologies Testing and Research Group Inc. He has more than 20 years of expertise in the security industry as a consultant from the end-user perspective. E-mail him at jgompers@gtdrp.com. This is another in a series of columns he is writing for Access Control & Security Systems

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