My opinion: Access market is ready to surf the NFC wave

What the industry has to do, of course, is decide how to monetize the technology in a manner more than just selling NFC-capable readers and locks. Hebert thinks the monetization comes in the key/credential issuance process to the phone, much like the industry already sees income on the activating and issuance of the credential.

Admittedly the technology isn't without challenges to overcome, such as whether you can open the door at the same time you're talking on the phone, or what happens if your phone is dead, or even what the security of these credentials would be and if they could be cloned. But these aren't insurmountable problems that the HID is actually already brainstorming solutions for (e.g., low-power NFC capabilities for when your phone battery is near dead). And as to the security of the data, the digital keys can be required to do verification "handshakes" if necessary and clearly can be stored in a secure format, so I don't see these as anything more than normal hurdles that come with any technology development process.

It may not be for every market -- the visual value of an ID badge still has clear value in markets like aviation and federal buildings -- but I'm convinced that NFC can reshape our industry. As someone who has lost an access card in recent years, but who hasn't lost my phone, I'm all for it, and I'm rarely one to get excited about much of anything I see on a tradeshow floor. As one of the attendees said in the Q&A, kudos to a major manufacturer for not being content to simply rest on the laurels of its (very profitable) badge and card business.