In a business article published by Forbes magazine this week, Openpath co-founder and President, James Segil, confides that he considers access control a commodity, much like thermostats before the arrival of NEST technology, which he says, “made you care.” Now Segil insists that his company’s technology is about to make “people care about access control.”
Hoping to provide substance to his confidence, Openpath, a start-up access control technology company that launched in the Summer of 2018 and is quickly emerging as a leading workplace security technology player, released the results of its Office Technology Study on Tuesday. The report reflects the end users’ growing demand for high-security access control coupled with ease of use. Like its own technology, which enables users to access their buildings and internal office spaces via an Openpath-enabled smartphone that incorporates authentication using WiFi, LTE and Bluetooth to unlock doors, more than 36 percent of respondents said that smart technology needs to be integrated into their office security protocols, specifically at the entrance.
Openpath canvassed more than 1,100 office-based professionals ages 18-60 across the United States for the survey. Results highlighted some of the “pain points” many office workers and executives find using their current physical access control systems. Close to 54 percent admitted that their office building required more than one access method and of course the issue of misplacing or losing keys, badges, key cards and fob, or forgetting PIN codes for the keypads occurred at least once a month for more than 44 percent of all workers.
“This study shows that employees are demanding smarter, more convenient - and more importantly -- updated security systems. Over half of employees think their company access control system could be improved or modernized,” says Segil. “Many of the access control options available on the market today have not been updated in over 40 years and are clearly not meeting the needs of today’s employees. That’s why we created Openpath Access.”
Openpath was created by a team of serial entrepreneurs who were tired of forgetting their office keys at home, frustrated with having to carry multiple badges to get into their buildings, and seriously worried about the security of their workspace given the state of the world today. Their mission has been to reduce friction in the modern workplace, which would allow for an intelligent access control solution that automates security infrastructure, leaving office staff more time to worry about business and burning fewer hours issuing lost access control credentials.
Security Not a Priority for Some Buildings
One of the surprising results was that metal keys were still used by more than 56 percent of respondents and others said they spend over three hours a year searching for misplaced keys, cards, etc. Segil says that highlights the lack of priority many facilities put on secure access in this day of advanced technology.
“This shows that facilities are not prioritizing secure access control, nor are they listening to their employees’ desires. Many of these facilities also do not have a better, easily accessible option. Traditional access control systems like metal keys or even security card readers simply don’t provide the intelligence nor flexibility modern workplaces require. Companies too often focus on internal cyber-attacks, but these attacks are not the only way for sensitive company data to be compromised. The line between physical security and cybersecurity has blurred and businesses are overlooking the risk of data loss as a result of compromised physical access to the workplace,” warns Segil.
The facade of a secure workplace is usually only as good as the employees who work there, and according to the survey, nearly one in three people don’t feel safe in their own office buildings. Much of the blame can be traced back to management that fails to establish proper credential protocols and policy among employees. This fact is brought home as more than a third of all employees in this survey said they have loaned out their access credentials to someone else and nearly one in five have permanently left a job without returning their active credentials.
“Security personnel and management need to begin taking steps to modernize access control and personalize access. The best way to do this is by installing a system that integrates a physical building’s security and access needs with the cloud-based, real-time software systems that tenants and landlords use to manage their buildings and businesses. Managers can begin by removing the barriers that keep systems from talking to one another; doing so enables door security systems to talk to all the other systems in an office,” Segil says.
Smartphones the Harbinger of the New Credential
Segil adds that Openpath has studied the vulnerabilities of traditional access control and worked to create a more secure solution. They found that by incorporating a highly-encrypted smartphone with access control, something most employees have with them every day and rarely ever loan out to a co-worker, it can streamline and enhance an office facility’s security posture while making it more customized and easier to manage.
“Employees are even able to send special guest passes to visitors, taking away the need for loaned key cards or pins, and these passes can be taken away after a few minutes, a day or even months,” Segil emphasizes.
When you consider that close to 40 percent of people today are already using their mobile phones to control smart devices in their homes begs the question of why not at work? The survey stressed that more than half of the respondents would prefer to only carry their mobile phone as a door key instead of a separate badge, card, or fob, while over 50 percent expect to be able to control smart devices in the workplace with their mobile phones in the next five years.
“These results weren’t surprising at all because we’ve seen it so widely adopted in the residential space. Today’s modern workforce almost always carries smartphones with them, regardless of where they’re going or what they’re doing. Because of this, smartphones have become the most secure and convenient way to access the office without having to worry about losing a keycard or a pin number. Employees want convenience; they don’t want to go through a bunch of steps to get into their office every morning. Instead, they want to be able to simply walk up to their door, have it recognize their credentials in under a second, and walk in,” Segil points out. “We also found that the majority of users have not only shifted to using their mobile phone for access but also prefer to leave their smartphones in their bag or pocket to enter the office, simply because this means they do not have to dig through their purse or pocket to enter. That’s why we developed Touch technology, which does exactly that.”
New Technologies Shaping the Future
Segil concludes that it is important for office managers to realize the need for more secure access control to improve employee happiness and continue to gain new hires that will satisfy company needs.
“One of the most disruptive technologies shaping the future of access control will be cloud-technology that can allow office administrators to manage their building with options like scheduled locking, custom zones, user-level permissions and lockdown capabilities. Cloud technology will continue to shape the future as we move from an ‘appliance’ and ‘server’ model to a ‘virtual’ and ‘cloud’ model. Mobile continues to dominate as the most disruptive of technologies and will have the most impact on the daily user experience in buildings as everything will be increasingly controlled or enabled by mobile phones,” he adds.
About the Author:
Steve Lasky is the editorial director of SecurityInfoWatch.com Security Media Group that includes 3 of the security industry’s top print magazines and number one web site. He is a 32-year veteran of the security/risk industry. He can be reached at [email protected].
