CARMEL, IN – March 19, 2012 – Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, a leading global provider of security and safety solutions and manufacturer of contactless smart credentials and readers, announced that all existing 13.56 MHz smart versions of the AD-Series locks and XceedID smart card readers are already compatible with the new aptiQmobile NFC technology. The popular Schlage AD-Series locks will let people use aptiQmobile web-based service and their own Near Field Communications (NFC-enabled)-smartphones as their credential to allow secure access into their facilities. To gain entrance, they simply open the aptiQmobile™ app and tap their phone to the AD-Series lock on the door. Those with XceedID smart card readers will be able to do likewise. No new readers for either the AD-Series or XceedID solutions are required.
When the Schlage AD-Series lock was introduced back in September of 2009 Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies stated that "security professionals can now choose the specific electronic lock they need with full confidence that it can later be upgraded without ever taking it off the door...(the) locks provide options to truly customize the access control solution, quickly migrate to future needs and provide seamless integration, now and later, at a lower cost of ownership."
"Already NFC-ready, the AD-Series is living up to its promise," emphasizes Jeremy Earles, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies product marketing manager, readers and credentials. "It was built with the future in mind and that future has arrived with the ability to use a mobile phone for access control."
Likewise, all XceedID smart card readers are also compatible with the NFC solution. XceedID smart card readers are integral features in a wide range of smart card-based solutions from a variety of manufacturers, including Access Smart, CBORD, Heartland Campus Solutions, SCM, idOnDemand, Solero Systems, Screencheck, ISG, NEDAP, ID Group, LSI, Card Quest, One Source, Gemalto, Cypress Computer Systems and Vision Database Systems (VDC). For customers that use products from these companies featuring the XceedID smart reader, they can use their current smart card readers to leverage NFC-based access control.
According to Earles, "Organizations are looking to future-proof their investments and NFC is one of the key technologies on the horizon. Using aptiQmobile on their NFC-enabled smartphones in conjunction with AD-Series locks or XceedID smart card readers, these organizations can be assured that their systems are flexible and their investments are solid."
NFC technology is now being added to a growing number of mobile handsets to enable access control as well as many other applications. More than 40 million phones are expected to be NFC-enabled by the end of 2012 and over half the phones sold in 2015 will be NFC-capable.
At the ISC West Exposition, to be held in Las Vegas March 28-30, attendees visiting the Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies booth 16053 will see a smartphone with the aptiQmobile app being used just like a smart card (or proximity card) to open a locked door. They will also learn about a successful pilot program using aptiQmobile at a major East Coast university.
