Confession time. I recently wrote what some called a heretical article about the obsolescence of the panel in access control – and the idea has stayed with me. Consider the camera industry: the function of a camera is capturing a color image at up to 120fps in near-darkness, and that function has been refined to near perfection. The access control industry, by contrast, is still largely built on 1964 panel technology and still leaning on vulnerable protocols like 125kHz Prox and Wiegand wiring. Just a little passionate about this.

Then I heard about a product announcement from PDQ Locks. If you're not familiar with PDQ, that's understandable – they have operated largely behind the scenes. They've been around since 1982, with most of their business in Original Design/Equipment Manufacturing (OEM/ODM) for access control companies, building product for other brands rather than selling under their own name. One of their product lines is a wireless lockset – and before you groan, let me explain why I think this particular announcement deserves attention as a genuine tech trend.

The Wireless Lock Problem

Wireless locksets have notoriously been difficult to deploy and have often failed to deliver on their promise. The core problem is inherent to radio frequency (RF): interference from other RF sources, building materials (concrete and rebar vs. sheetrock and wood studs), motors, and more. Having spent a significant part of my career around RF – HUGS infant protection systems, citywide surveillance, wireless locks, and mobile credentials – I've gotten used to taking data sheets and ripping them in half. With RF, the spec tells you what the technology can do; at half those numbers, you might be safe.

Wireless locks have also been plagued by proprietary technologies and credentials. To deploy an online lock, a proprietary gateway is typically required to communicate with the wireless hardware – often rated for up to 250 feet, which in practice means don't count on it. Then there's the credential problem. Most locks use a version of MIFARE DESFire, HID, or a proprietary credential. The result: wireless locks in the same building as wired locks may not work with the same credential or even the same access control system. For integrators trying to deliver a unified solution, this has been a persistent headache.

What PDQ Has Done About It

So, back to PDQ. Their announcement, in plain terms: OSDP over IP. Mic dropped.

For those less familiar, Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) is a bi-directional, end-to-end encrypted communication protocol that supervises communication between the panel and the device – whether a reader or another peripheral. OSDP Secure Channel is a communication mode within OSDP that supports AES-128 encryption, blocking outside attack. What PDQ has done is enable secure communication between a panel and a wireless lock via local or wide area networks (LAN/WAN).

Think about that for a moment. No proprietary gateway required. As long as a wireless access point can see the door – and IT infrastructure often provides better coverage than wireless lock gateways – the door has communication. Here's where it clicked for me: traditionally, we'd program VLANs and route based on subnet mask, but that communication could still be vulnerable to man-in-the-middle threats. OSDP Secure Channel riding the network, layered on top of other best practices, allows the wireless lock to be supervised exactly like a wired lock connection – while connecting to the strongest available wireless network. That's a meaningful step forward for enterprise deployments.

The attached reader is engineered to accept nearly any credential on the market, with the exception of HID SEOS. There are always limitations with early-stage technology, and this is no exception. Because OSDP Output Control support is in the specification but not yet universally implemented, not every access control system is coded to work with it. Before committing to a deployment, the practical advice is to contact PDQ Locks directly to verify compatibility with the specific access control systems in play. Getting that answer early saves significant headaches later.

As Zachary Klares, Vice President of Electronics at PDQ Locks, puts it: "Customers have been asking for wireless locks to fill the gap left by expensive proprietary solutions – this is the simplest way to democratize access to these solutions."

PDQ appears to be first to market with this concept. It may not be earth-shattering on its own, but it may be exactly what allows industrial-grade wireless locksets to be implemented with confidence in enterprise applications. For integrators – both security and IT – that means wireless lock deployments without additional proprietary infrastructure, shorter installs, and better margins. This could be the start of a new tech trend. I'll be watching.