Integrated access control represents a significant advancement in building security and management, bringing together disparate systems with compatible technologies to create the most well-rounded, synergistic security system possible. Dedicated to providing the most powerful access control solutions, ProdataKey (PDK) excitedly pursues integrations that allow users to transform their building management structure from a disconnected ecosystem of separate platforms into a turnkey, all-encompassing security system. The following is a detailed overview of ProdataKey’s approach to creating integrated access control and the various software and hardware integrations that can take your PDK system to the next level.
What is Integrated Access Control?
Integrated access control is a comprehensive system that combines access control with other building or security management systems, such as surveillance cameras or visitor management tools. While an access control system on its own gives you complete control over entry and exit points, developing an integrated access control system ensures that you have greater control, management, and supervision over all areas and activities in a building.
The head of ProdataKey’s dedicated Integrations Team, David Jones, describes an integration as “taking two disparate systems and joining them together to provide a unified solution for the end user.” ProdataKey pursues security integrations that center on a “complimentary product out there on the market, one that makes perfect sense to use in conjunction with our own product for a particular solution,” says David. For instance, access control pairs intuitively with video surveillance systems, as it often benefits building managers to be able to have a visual record to pair with an access event. Recognizing this compatibility, ProdataKey has developed various integrations with video management systems and countless more tools to lay the groundwork for users to create their own ideal, well-rounded security systems in their spaces.
Creating Turnkey Security with Integrated Access Control Solutions
ProdataKey’s Integrations Team is dedicated to creating the optimal solutions for PDK’s customers. Their overarching goal, David describes, is to
“give users exactly what they need, and to create a turnkey system for any possible user.”
Integrations make it possible to create turnkey security and a ‘single pane of glass’ (SPOG) solution by unifying the management of various systems and tools into one platform. According to David, “the main concept we need to keep in mind is the fact that customers don’t want multiple systems – they just don’t. So the dealer’s job is to provide that turnkey solution, a solution where a customer has one thing they can log into to manage everything. That’s the moment where integrations come into play.”
The process of developing an integration is a very thought out and careful procedure, beginning with a hefty amount of research. “There’s always a lot of exploration in the beginning, because we won’t even think about building an integration until we fully understand what the system or tool does,” David explains. Once the Integrations Team is familiar with the system and its functionality, they dive into the actual development and construction phase – a process that can take anywhere from 80 to 100 hours per integration. And with an ever-growing list of potential security integrations, David and the rest of the team are well prepared to continue this project of expanding all that you can do with PDK access control.
Ultimately, ProdataKey embodies an undeniable enthusiasm when it comes to creating new integrations – an attitude rooted in a commitment to creating the best possible experience for potential integration partners and their teams.
“If you go to our developer portal, it says ‘access control made for developers’ – and that’s our team’s motto,”
David explains. “We’re building our whole product around a developer’s ability to take it and do whatever they need to do with it. So we may not be unique in the sense that we have an open API [Application Programming Interface], but I do think we are unique in the emphasis we give to it, and the support we throw behind it.” At the end of the day, ProdataKey is committed to making access control as comprehensive and reliable as possible, while simultaneously pursuing partnerships and collaborations with other impressive businesses whose tools can help to create an all-encompassing, turnkey security ecosystem.
Simplifying Access Management With Software Integrations
ProdataKey offers a number of integrations that make the management of access control easier than ever. These integrations take a variety of forms, as they help with tasks like software and data management, video systems, visitor management, and more.
System Design and Functionality
The ideal access control system is one that has been carefully designed and optimized for peak efficiency. Luckily, ProdataKey integrates with tools like System Surveyor and Control4 to help you achieve exactly this. System Surveyor is a cloud-based tool offering a mobile-first approach to site walkthroughs and system design. By designing your ProdataKey system in the System Surveyor platform, you have all the tools you need to not only design an intuitive system, but to do so in a cost-effective and timely manner. On top of efficient system design, an additional way to optimize your access control system is through integrated automations. ProdataKey makes this possible by integrating with the Control4 driver from Blackwire Designs, a software driver that allows PDK access control to work in conjunction with a Control4 smart home automation system. Through this integration, you can set up a plethora of access control automations, connecting devices like lights, speakers, climate control, and more to specific access events. By taking the steps to carefully design and automate a ProdataKey system through these readily available integrations, both the security and functionality of your space can be optimized.
Software and Data Management
When dealing with user data in an access control system, it can be far too easy to encounter a build-up of software and data across multiple platforms. This occurs particularly in environments where individuals have multiple logical profiles, from access control permissions, to email log-ins, HR systems, and more. In order to eliminate the stress and complications of working with this information overflow, ProdataKey offers an integration with Microsoft Entra ID. As the successor of Microsoft’s Azure Active Directory, Entra ID continues with the task of consolidating identity services into a single provider. This eliminates the mental and digital burden of keeping track of various log-ins and a plentitude of user data. Furthermore, functioning on a “Zero Trust” security strategy, the Entra ID integration ensures that data and access are only accessible to an individual when granted the necessary permissions by an authorized administrator. By integrating this powerful identity and access management tool into your PDK system, your software and data management can become increasingly streamlined and secure.
Video Management Systems
ProdataKey offers a wide variety of video surveillance integrations to help you stay up to date on everything that is happening in both the interior and exterior regions of your secured space. With the ability to bookmark moments, receive critical event alerts, and initiate soft triggers, ProdataKey’s integrated video management solutions provide users with the tools needed to protect their assets and people from one unified platform. Video footage can be easily overlaid with the date and time, name of the user in focus, specific credential information, the name of the door and/or reader, and access granted or denied statuses in order to provide a detailed view of any access event at any given moment. Offering integrations with Digital Watchdog, Hanwha Wisenet Wave, Turing Vision, Vivotek Vortex, Spot AI, OpenEye, and Solink, PDK makes it possible for users to select the exact surveillance system that works best for them.
Video Intercom Systems
In addition to utilizing surveillance systems to monitor live activity in a space, users can also integrate a video intercom system, such as the solutions provided by DoorVi, MyDoorView, and Geokey. These high-tech intercom systems afford you greater control over visitors’ entry into any given space. These systems allow you to see and speak with visitors requesting entry, without requiring you to actually meet them at the door. This increased security brings peace of mind to many building managers, particularly in a post-Covid-19 landscape. By integrating video intercoms into your PDK system, you can have a greater knowledge of and control over who is entering your building.
Visitor Management
A critical aspect of creating turnkey security is not only ensuring that users can control who enters their space, but making it possible for users to effectively monitor movements within their premises. This is where integrating a visitor management system like Savance becomes a necessity. Being able to have a granular view of movements, visitor information, and access events inside your space guarantees that your building remains as secure as possible, even in moments of crisis. With streamlined visitor check-ins that can be entirely customized to meet the needs of the given vertical, such as a business center or a medical office, ProdataKey’s integration with Savance ensures that your buildings can guarantee both a welcome and secure experience for all visitors and employees alike.
Multi-Tenant Management
An environment that puts forward perhaps the highest demand for turnkey security solutions are multi-tenant spaces, ranging from apartment buildings to co-working centers. As these spaces need to allow for varying levels of access to particular areas while also managing bookings, payments, and more, having one unified platform that ties together access control with business and management tools is a necessary solution. In the case of multi-tenant residential spaces, ProdataKey readily integrates with various apartment management softwares, as showcased in the Oxford Vista apartment complex in Englewood, Colorado. Integrating smart apartment tools into your ProdataKey system makes it simple to manage access to communal and private spaces in one unified interface. Similarly, ProdataKey also integrates with workplace management tools like Coworks to streamline the management of multi-tenant office spaces. The Freedom Business Collective in Charlotte, North Carolina is a prime example of how ProdataKey’s many integrations make it possible to create a turnkey security system that allows you to manage access, room reservations, billing, communication, and more from one platform.
Simplified Installation With Integrated Hardware Solutions
Alongside integrations that streamline the management of your access control system, ProdataKey also offers a handful of hardware integrations that help to make access control installation as simple as possible.
Wireless Locksets
Alongside common locking mechanisms like an electric strike, ProdataKey access control systems can also be set up with wireless locks, such as the line of Aperio locks from ASSA ABLOY. These locks entirely eliminate the need for expensive wiring, drilling, and the associated labor hours. This saves end-users both time and money in the long run, and it makes the installation process itself far easier for dealers. Furthermore, this technology opens the doors for the type of locations where access control can be installed. Areas that are typically hard to reach with wiring or protected spaces where wiring is not allowed can now be integrated into a turnkey security system with wireless locks. Once installed, Aperio locks will have real-time communication with the PDK system, ensuring seamless, secure access and instant updates.
Peripheral Hardware
Software and locking mechanisms are not the only places where a turnkey ProdataKey system can be customized to a user’s specific needs. PDK CloudNodes and controllers are built with the simple integration of peripheral hardware in mind, with the intention of allowing users to uniquely tailor the set-up of their system. This means that devices like third party alarms and sensors can be easily installed. Integrated alarm system hardware guarantees that building managers can be immediately notified of any suspicious activity in their space, ensuring that our users can find comfort in the highest levels of safety possible. In addition to compatibility with third-party hardware, the newest line of Red devices are also uniquely modular, meaning that users can install modular kits that make possible processes like PoE++ powering or WiMAC™ wireless communication. With the ability to entirely customize how a PDK system is powered and communicates, you can create the most optimal, comprehensive integrated access control system possible.
The Necessity for Access Control Integrations
ProdataKey’s commitment to integrated access control gives end-users the ability to put the most comprehensive, optimized, and reliable security systems into place. Through meticulous integration development, partner fanaticism, and an emphasis on user-centric solutions, PDK paves the way for a unified, effective, and turnkey approach to access management.
DISCLAIMER: Integrations mentioned above are live as of 12/23/24.
For the latest list of integrations, check the Integrations page in PDK.io.
PDK is a team of security integrators with decades of hands-on, in-the-field experience. PDK believes that the best technology is created by professionals who know what it takes to secure a facility properly and provide the end-user with a solution that instills confidence and safety.
PDK is passionate about creating technology to enhance the security, safety, and overall experience of both the professionals installing electronic access control and those that live with and use the system. PDK continues to create technology every day to enhance its products and the products of its technology partners.
