HID Global Partners With Lenel To Merge Solutions

Apr 15, 2008 3:12 PM

Building on the collaborative theme of open architecture at ISC West 2008, Irvine, Calif.-based HID Global announced April 2 during a press conference that its Edge family of IP-based access control solutions will be incorporated into the OnGuard 2008 Plus (release 6.1) security platform from Lenel Systems International, Pittsford, N.Y. The integration will allow Lenel to expand OnGuard’s capabilities to enhance existing sites, provide comprehensive contactless smart card implementations and meet the needs of users seeking IP-based devices as part or all of their access security system hardware platform.

“We are extremely pleased to have Lenel join HID Global’s OPIN Partner Program,” said Denis Hebert, president and CEO of HID Global. “As industry leaders, both companies share a mutual commitment to providing open platform solutions aimed at shifting the existing physical security paradigm. By leveraging Lenel’s OpenDevice API, and HID’s OPIN technology, our newly combined offering will provide end-users with optimum value based on tomorrow’s infrastructure.”

“As the security industry continues to migrate to an IP-based architecture, the HID Edge platform is a natural extension to Lenel’s access control offerings and demonstrates a strong commitment by HID Global to our OpenAccess Alliance Program,” said Luis Orbegoso, president of Lenel Systems International. “Edge products offer an easy-to-deploy complement to our more traditional access control hardware and will allow for more doors to be controlled at a lower installed cost per door. Ultimately, this gives more customers the opportunity to start small and grow with Lenel as needs change.”

Hebert and Orbegoso acknowledged that adopting an open platform is a significant paradigm shift for the security industry, and that success is not expected “overnight.” Hebert said he sees more partnerships on the horizon similar to HID's partnership with Lenel, particularly in lieu of convergence. "In the IT world, everything is about alliances, and the access control industry is going to follow down the IT path of open devices over time," he said. “Open standards are really what this industry will move toward.”

Orbegoso stressed that the main driving factor of the partnership at the end of the day is to offer flexibility to their mutual customers. “Customers are looking for flexibility, and they are looking to make their own decisions [about solutions],” he said.

The OnGuard system will leverage Edge’s ability to provide distributed intelligence and decision-making directly to the door, using the IT infrastructure to the maximum extent possible. Using a single Power-over-Ethernet connection, a door can be added to an OnGuard system installation, thus lowering the installation cost per door in terms of both materials and labor. Edge devices are configured in the OnGuard software seamlessly, with no need for additional software or interfaces to operate. Once configured, Edge devices are treated the same as any other access control device in the system.

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