Salto launches integrated Technology Partner Program
We are now thrilled to announce that we are offering other best-in-class technology leaders the opportunity to partner with us for an integrated and improved customer offering.
Salto Systems offers cutting-edge smart access technology to businesses for a complete smart building experience.
We are now thrilled to announce that we are offering other best-in-class technology leaders the opportunity to partner with us for an integrated and improved customer offering.
Why to become a Salto Technology Partner?
Salto’s Technology Partner program empowers best-in-class technology companies to link into our access control Technology Platforms and integrate and certify their solutions within Salto's smart locking product portfolio.
As such, we are looking for third-party systems to integrate with our smart access technology architecture with the aim of improving any type of facility’s operations in terms of efficiency, flexibility, and security. Our aim is to provide you and your customers with the ultimate smart keyless living experience.
Technology partners will benefit from these integrations by delivering comprehensive solutions that unite smart access control, security, building automation, software, property management software, operations, and more, in an all-in-one integrated technology platform.
In a nutshell, by partnering with Salto, companies can offer improved access control solutions for their customers and overall operations enhancements for complete building management.
Salto offers a range of solutions to technology partners
Through the SaltoTechnology Program, our partners will have access to the following solutions:
- Smart access experience, delivering seamless, keyless building experiences to users.
- Wireless technology for electronic locking solutions via an on-premise network or the cloud.
- Mobile device access and digital key solutions.
- Secure and robust performance across all products. Salto is trusted by industry-leading companies worldwide and offers this peace of mind to potential partners.
Salto’s Two Main Solutions
Salto was the early leader in cloud-based access control technology and has become a major player in keys-as-a-service providers over traditional access control solutions, accelerating digital access transformation projects. The Salto portfolio now includes world-class software management, cloud solutions, and mobile applications for businesses of all types and sizes.
- Salto Space: Technology partners can benefit from Salto’s stand-alone, virtually networked, wired, and wireless online smart access control platform
Salto Space is a fully-integrated, stand-alone wire-free smart-locking platform and web-based software management system that brings seamless access to every door in any building in an efficient, flexible, safe and secure way.
Our partners are offered a smart access control on-premise platform that’s designed to work in a wire-free environment.
- Salto KS: For a truly unique offering, Salto’s technology partners can make use of a scalable and flexible cloud-based smart access control solution with best-in-class real-time capabilities.
Salto KS offers proven reliability and recognized stability for our technology partners. This service provides higher functionality and performance than what is possible with a traditional mechanical key access solution.
Our Salto KS cloud-based access control product range offers a flexible solution that requires no software installation with remote management capabilities and endless integration possibilities for our partners.
Technology partners: bringing excelence to customers
Technology Partners benefit from a wide product range across numerous industries
Salto Systems offers cutting-edge solutions across a range of industries, including; Commercial, Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail, Coworking, Shared Living Spaces, Corporate Smart Offices, Fitness Centers & Gyms, and Residential.
Our current partnerships include a broad range of integrated systems, such as Property Management Systems, Check-in Solutions, Mobile Apps, CCTV Security Cameras and Video Surveillance, Intercoms, Room Management Systems, Time Attendance, Booking, Management software, Visitor / Identity Management, Elevator / Lift Control, and Point of Sale software.
Technology partners are not limited by their industry by any means. SALTO Systems is confident that we can find a smart access solution for virtually an interested technology leader.
Technology Partners have online access to Salto’s customizable smart access technologies
Salto Systems offers an online platform for partners to customize their access solutions. Our technology partners will benefit from our extensive product portfolio for their systems integration, which includes:
- Electronic Locks and cylinders for Doors: We have an extensive range of electronic door locks that make use of wireless, keyless, card access technology, as well as a range that makes use of a keypad with a unique safety code.
- Wall Readers and Controllers: Control access with sleek, easy-to-fit wall readers that offer contactless, keyless access and control.
- Locker Locks: Safely store contents with electronic locker locks that make use of pre-programmed keyless technology to give authorized users access to the locker content.
Become a Technology Partner today
Contact Salto Systems, and we will not only demo how our product works, if you’re interested in becoming a technology partner, we’ll also discuss a truly unique integration solution.
We are confident that our innovative and customizable technology will be able to support our certified Technology Partners so they may better their service offering.
Technology Partners can look forward to becoming a SALTO certified technology partner to deliver even more innovation for their brand, bringing their customers so much more in the keyless living experience.
Learn more about becoming a technology partner and sign up today
Smart Access Technology Delivers Security & Safety for Students in Dorms
- SALTO delivers seamless and smart electronic access solutions for Y Suites of Australia.
Access control plays one of the most critical roles in protecting people in educational environments. It can be used to secure and control every kind of door found throughout a campus and student accommodation, delivering peace of mind for students, staff, visitors, and parents.
From student dorms to university campuses across the world, they have all begun to take advantage of advances in mobile and smartcard technology. With this comes the ability to integrate the physical security needs of students and staff into a student card or digital key on a smartphone. By integrating electronic access control into students’ smartphones, SALTO Systems provides the most convenient and secure access for students and staff, and better control for system managers.
Let's simplify your operations, connect to your existing management tools, and make access control simple and secure, helping you grant specified access to your staff, suppliers, customers, or even delivery services.
Y Suites delivers PBSA across Australia
Y Suites offers purpose-built student accommodations (PBSA) across multiple cities in Australia. The company’s focus is on well-being and creating a lifestyle for studying, friendships, and fun. They go out of their way to deliver a comfortable and safe experience. Y Suites is developed and owned by Wee Hur Capital of Singapore. Their primary mission is to “provide a home away from home for our students.”
The facilities at Y Suites are impressive and include shared kitchens and lounges, meeting rooms, a sky lounge, music and dance studios, gym and yoga facilities, and more. Y Suites works to ensure they deliver all of the amenities that a student could imagine.
With student experience and welfare top of mind, it was key that the Y Suites multi-site developments have a robust, operationally efficient, and integrated electronic access control system to meet student, staff, and visitor security needs across campuses with one single student card, smartphone app, or keyfob. The primary purpose of the solution was to increase student, staff, and guest security and peace of mind.
Y Suites management focused on ensuring student safety in a way that enhanced the student experience with a seamless solution that adds convenience, and one that avoided having to replace, maintain, label, and securely store multiple keys. An electronic solution provides the opportunity to reduce operational costs and increase efficiency, oversight, and security, and is much more efficient and safer than having to replace lost or stolen mechanical keys.
The challenge Y Suites faced as they sought an electronic access provider was to find a technology that could meet the variety of the operational, integration, and safety requirements they had. They wanted the ability to program access times, zones, and access points for students, staff, and visitors. They also needed to edit access privileges, including durations in real-time, for visitors and short-term guests, contract and temporary workers, as well as staff and students.
The SALTO smart access technology: Sustainable and smart keyless access student experience
Y Suites chose SALTO’s smart access technology to achieve the right balance between free-flowing access and safety
“In order to fulfill our duty of care, we have to be able to monitor and control the way that the buildings, individual rooms, and shared facilities are being accessed. We need a system that gives our students easy access, whilst at the same time enables us to ensure their safety and security,” said Y Suites Development Manager Wing Fai.
“The system has to allow us to automate processes and manage facilities” remotely in order to control costs without compromising on quality of service. Fai said. “We’re very environmentally conscious and so also need to manage energy consumption and reduce the environmental footprint of our buildings.
“All of which means that we need an EAC partner with innovative technology, the ability to integrate with our PMS (property management system) and a national and international presence. That’s what led us to choose SALTO.”
"SALTO’s Technology Partner program empowers best-in-class technology companies to link into their access control technology That’s what led us to choose SALTO".
Wing Fai
Y Suites Development Manager
SALTO’s Living Spaces Manager for Oceania Cedric Duigou described the solution that SALTO designed for Y Suites as perfect for the student and staff-focused properties.
“We used a range of SALTO technology elements incorporated into a single, easy-to-manage system that controls access to the base building and all the shared and individual spaces via a combination of wire-free, wireless, and wired online access points by balancing security with accessibility and advanced technology,” said Duigou. “The system is fully integrated with RMS, which is the PMS. This integration streamlines the student registration with student details captured once and shared between RMS and SALTO.”
What goes on behind closed doors? Smarter security and student safety with innovative smart student room comfort and control technology.
SALTO’s all-in-one platform gives student accommodation managers operational efficiency.
- Easily manage access of student residences on-the-go
- Open doors remotely
- Restrict access
- Live event access to audit trail data in real-time is easy and more intuitive with web-based software to view entry and exit activity - this also enables better duty of care as there is the possibility to be alerted when a student has not been active
- Manage access across multiple sites and locations in real-time and from one location
- Deliver access via the technology staff and students use daily: smartphones and student ID card
- Modern sustainable student living reducing energy consumption
To help achieve the right balance between free-flowing access and safety, operators can take advantage of SALTO’s wire-free, seamless, and smart keyless security to improve the safety of student living.
Contact SALTO with any questions on the SALTO product range or visit the SALTO education website for information on all things SALTO. Follow SALTO on Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest product features, updates, and news from the industry.
How we handle SLOs for SALTO KS
Part of our continuous effort to support growth while maintaining performance, reliability, and predictability is defining SLO’s (Service Level Objectives).
Part of our continuous effort to support growth while maintaining performance, reliability, and predictability is defining SLO’s (Service Level Objectives). Those are meant to define the expected service between the provider and the customer. They are specific measurable characteristics such as uptime, operations, and speed. For the cloud-based access control solution SALTO KS we will explain which SLO’s we measure and why.
Uptime
Up to now, our major focal point for measuring our overall Service Level Objective has been to look at the uptime of each individual service in our ecosystem and make sure those are at least adhering to our percentage of 99.9700%. The fact that we are meeting and exceeding that percentage for quite some time now is a great achievement of which we are very proud!
So?
Well, the high uptime percentage doesn't say that much about the customer experience. With a high percentage of platform availability, SALTO KS customers will be able to reach the platform and services, and the platform will do what it is supposed to do, but it does not say anything about the performance of individual functions a typical customer uses. We decided it was time we started looking at other things to measure.
What is important to the customers?
The operations of access control are of utmost importance for our customers. Fluctuations in individual response times of endpoints (i.e. the communication points that external software programs must send a request to in order to communicate with our API) that are used to control access rules like assigning a tag (physical credential), adding or removing a user from an access group, blocking a user, and configuring offline access for a lock have a big impact on the day-to-day experience of a client may have while performing their daily tasks.
Another important factor is the overall performance of operations that require a direct response from an IQ (Edge device), like activating an IQ in a mobile app, performing a remote opening, or generating a Digital Key. If it takes too long, users might consider it not working or at least bothersome. When changes have been made to access rules, we want to make sure that they are applied to the IQs involved as fast as possible, because only then they will have an actual effect.
Reporting
Last but not least, we want customers to be able to retrieve event information in a performant way. We have two different types of events: entries (basically openings and rejections from locks, so large volume) and incidents (alerts like doors being left open and lock tampering, so low volume).
We know that other things happen that could make or break customer satisfaction, like installing or restoring IQs, attaching locks, and receiving notifications and we do measure them, but the four categories mentioned above are what we consider most important for the largest number of users.
What do we want to achieve and measure?
For these four types of interactions with our platform, we needed to come up with response times or maximum duration times that would be considered “good” and “natural” from a user perspective, and we should then compare those to what we are actually delivering.
As a general point, we decided that we should be able to achieve our “good” performance goals at least 75% of the time. This would obviously mean we could score less during some peak hours, but overall the customer experience would be good. We decided to measure against that over a period of 7 days to be able to clearly see fluctuations during the week.
We set the following SLO’s for each of the four types:
- Access Control operations: response time should be less than or equal to 0,5 seconds.
- Synchronous IQ operations: response time should be less than or equal to 2,5 seconds.
- Sync performance: the duration should be less than or equal to 30 seconds for Local Access Management sync, PIN sync, and Accessor/Key sync combined, and less than or equal to 5 seconds for Offline Access Key sync.
Reporting: response time should be less than or equal to 3 seconds for entry reporting and less than or equal to 1 second for incident reporting.
These SLO’s aren’t just there to give a nice overview, they’re used in day-to-day monitoring of system performance. The team is on-call 24/7 to ensure the right user experience. The SLO’s, metrics and goals are reviewed by the teams recurrently to guarantee we live up to all expectations. The dashboards are shown in the Clay office where SALTO KS is built and can be viewed “live” from any location, to guarantee each of the team members are well aware of the performance of the platform and show the direct impact of their work.
So where do we go from here?
In the past, we have been working on defining ways to improve mainly our LAM (Local Access Management) sync process so we are able to set achievable goals per sync type and also per tenant in the future, whilst still being able to cope with our projected growth. We see that sync performance is heavily affected between tenants and although our performance is good most of the time, sometimes it can be a challenge. At least now we feel we can immediately see any effect on performance that has an impact on our user experience and shift our focus accordingly if needed. During the design of any new component, we now keep in mind the ability to measure its performance from the start so we won’t need to struggle afterwards.
We have also defined some SLO notifications in Datadog, all based on the numbers above (and some more detailed ones). Whenever we see an increase in failure to achieve our intended performance, our ‘Core team’ is notified so we can investigate. From what we see now these are temporary states that recover within 5 to 10 minutes and are caused by the incidental increased load. We will be turning these in the coming weeks so they are not generating false alerts before we will increase the audience for them. For the operations mentioned above, all our SLOs are performing around or above 90%, exceeding our 75% target by quite a lot.
Find us on Instagram and LinkedIn to start the conversation. Want to stay informed about everything access control? Click here to discover more about SALTO’s solutions.
Latest access control innovations attracted IFSEC visitors to SALTO
A busy exhibition stand at IFSEC 2022, which returned in-person to London Excel on 17-18 May after a three-year gap due to the global pandemic.
A busy exhibition stand at IFSEC 2022, which returned in-person to London Excel on 17-18 May after a three-year gap due to the global pandemic, provided an excellent forum for SALTO Systems to showcase its latest innovations to an enthusiastic gathering of security and facilities professionals.
“Fully attended exhibitions are making a welcome return with the entire security buying chain once again coming together in a face-to-face environment including manufacturers, installers, integrators, distributors, consultants and end-users,” said Ramesh Gurdev, Managing Director SALTO UK.
IFSEC provided the ideal venue for visitors to the SALTO stand to explore the latest keyless access control hardware, revolutionary software and smart locker solutions including the latest Gantner product offerings, as well as the opportunity to foster more business opportunities.
Great interest was shown in all of SALTO’s smart access control solutions including SALTO Space and SVN-Flex, XS4 Original+, Neoxx Padlock and JustIN Mobile, with the new SALTO Homelok all-in-one cloud-based smart access solution for residential living proving particularly popular.
Q: How did SALTO get started in the electronic access control business?
Javier Roquero - SALTO Systems CEO:
“We started with a small group of 6 or 7 people and having created the company we started in a small apartment in San Sebastian in Northern Spain, the European version of the American garage! Then we moved to small industrial premises and in September 2001 we assembled and manufactured our first electronic lock and now we have a state of the art factory that this year will manufacture one million locks.”
Q: Tell us a little bit about how SALTO go to market in the UK and what industries you work in?
Ramesh Gurdev, Managing Director SALTO UK:
“We provide our specialist product through partners in the UK and offer on-premise systems, cloud-based systems and systems with mobile applications as well as normal credentials, and work in the areas of hospitality, residential, student accommodation, commercial, airports and the Ministry of Defence so we have a wide range of clients. We also showcased our joint partnership with Gantner from Austria which is proving to be a very popular solution as well as parcel locker solutions.”
Q: Two of the fastest growing sectors people are talking about are multi-family and build-to-rent, what can SALTO offer to these industries?
Iñigo Unanue, SALTO Global Residential Lead:
“At IFSEC we presented our latest innovation in the residential area which is SALTO Homelok. This is designed to improve the digital experience for property managers and residents in the multi-family and build-to-rent arena. Another innovation for us is the partnership we have developed with Apple so we can send digital keys to the Apple wallet for users of the Homelok platform.”
Q: SALTO has one of the broadest product portfolios in access control worldwide, and has now acquired Gantner Electronic Austria Holding GmbH; tell us what it brings to the company?
Steve Warner, Gantner Business Development Manager:
“Gantner is an Austrian company that specialises in access systems, electronic locking and locker systems, cashless payment, cash register, and billing systems, staff time recording systems as well as ticketing and management software for leisure facilities. For example, if you have members of staff that need access to a group of lockers, say the first-aid locker, everyone in the office would be able to get to that locker, open it and take out the first aid kit. In addition, we can allocate lockers to individual members of staff and put them in personal locker mode so individuals have their own locker. Added to that we have the option of our battery range which is really good for retrofit if you have an existing locker bank and want to modernize it with the latest technology.”
Q: Can you summarize what returning to IFSEC after a three-year gap was like?
Javier Roquero - SALTO Systems CEO:
“One of the main success factors of SALTO, and I know that everyone says the same, is the human touch and the people working in the company and for us, that’s what delivered a successful IFSEC exhibition.”
Look for SALTO Systems at these upcoming 2022 show events: Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference (HITEC) in Orlando-USA, June 27-30; and ESSEN Security in Germany, Sept. 20-23.
Follow SALTO on LinkedIn or Instagram to keep up with the latest news in the world of access control.
How SALTO’s energy efficient smart access solutions contribute to building sustainability
Sustainability starts with building entry systems.
Environmental awareness among hotels, workspaces, residential living, and most smart buildings is driving significant change in the industry. Sustainability practices are now widely viewed as critical factors in the successful facility management of smart corporate and hospitality buildings.
Smart building strategies include energy efficient access control solutions. Electronic locking systems can help solve challenges in operational efficiency, security, maintenance costs, occupancy, and sustainability.
What energy consumption solutions are in place to reduce the impact on the environment?
Energy usage is one of the highest operating expenses for work spaces, shared living spaces, residential and the hospitality industry. In recent weeks, the prices of gas, coal, and electricity have risen to their highest levels in decades. The energy crisis is due to an ongoing shortage of energy across the world, which is affecting many countries.
- On average, 90% of wasted electricity usage comes from the guest room, which can be a property’s most unmanaged resource.
- A room heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can represent 70-90% of that wasted electricity!
Smart access control and in-room sensors can bring a completely new level of intelligence to a building, and, in the process, provide information that can improve efficiency and operations. Sensors are able to detect a wide range of events and can seamlessly integrate with incumbent access control and energy-saving devices.
The SALTO Universal ESD system, plus existing integrations with SALTO technology partners, allows any type of building to optimize energy consumption by turning off lighting and adjusting climate control systems when guests or users are not in the room for extended periods.
The hotel industry has historically had a significant impact on the environment through its consumption of both energy and water. As the industry is bouncing back from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting sustainable initiatives is of growing importance to the hospitality industry. An energy management system can reduce a property's energy costs by 15-40% with an estimated three-year return on investment. Without such a system in place, a hotel may be at risk of unnecessarily consuming exorbitant amounts of energy.
Using smart technologies and energy efficiency programs to save energy in buildings.
A key element in a comprehensive energy efficiency program involves specifying equipment, data-driven methodology to analyze building energy consumption, and energy efficiency savings estimates and products that meet certain energy efficiency standards and sustainability policies. SALTO solutions, technology, and products meet all of these requirements.
In innovating to meet social and environmental challenges, SALTO’s Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), recently achievement of a silver rating in the EcoVadis evaluation ranking and 100% carbon neutrality for our factory headquarters and global office networks are some examples of sustainable innovation examples. These achievements are a major step forward in making keyless smart access technology sustainable.
Our commitment to sustainable practices.
SALTO is committed to designing and creating environmentally sustainable smart locking technology. By quantifying the environmental impact of our electronic door lock models, we ensure our partners and customers meet the standards required for their projects both now and in the future.
SALTO signed up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to aligning its operations with Ten Principles universally accepted in the areas of human rights, labour safety standards, environment, and fight against corruption, and adopting measures in support of the objectives of the U.N. 's SDGs.
Find out more about how we accelerate our own progress to net zero while helping our customers do the same here.
Contact our sales teams who are happy to start your sustainability journey embracing sustainability as opportunity.
Follow SALTO on LinkedIn or Instagram to keep up with the latest news in the world of access control.
Intelligent & Secure lock openings with Digital Key
Make your doors smart with Salto’s digital key electronic locking technology.
Salto’s smart door locks allow users and system administrators to send and receive Digital Keys that can open any door or gate equipped with a Salto smart lock, cylinder, wall reader, padlock, or locker lock using their iOS or Android Bluetooth LE or NFC-enabled smartphone.
Mobile access control solutions offer users a keyless experience, providing instant and mobile access without compromising security or convenience. By combining various technologies, Salto's smart locking solutions evolve from traditional access control to ACaaS (Access Control as a Service), enabling users to manage access rights quickly, wirelessly, and without keys. This offers greater security than mechanical keys by introducing digital keys and replacing traditional physical keys or smart credentials.
Implementing mobile credentials and digital keys.
Digital Keys are available across smart access technology platforms from Salto.
Designed to secure any door in a building and make access control more effortless and secure than ever, Salto Space offers a flexible access control platform with a unified software and hardware platform.
Experience unified, scalable security, integration support, and limitless features to manage your buildings’ operations with a virtually networked, data-on-card based locking system.
Salto KS (KaaS: Keys as a Service) is a scalable cloud-based Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) solution that’s built to fit your business needs, today and tomorrow.
Salto KS smart access offers multiple ways of opening doors, including digital keys. It supports a wide range of keyless access methods to improve user experience and the security of any type of building. It also delivers advanced security features on a fully remote and wireless cloud-based smart access management platform.
Salto Homelok - All-in-one smart access solution for residential living
Salto Homelok enables modern keyless living for residents, streamlines operations for managers and owners, and improves security across all types of residential properties.
A cloud-based smart access platform with intelligent, wire-free and virtually networked electronic locking SVN technology optimises hybrid deployments and enables the smart building ecosystem without needing infrastructure.
Benefits of mobile credentials for Access Control
Salto’s digital keys eliminates losing keys, added expenses, and frustration.
- Digital Key: Increases flexibility and improves security. Easy, efficient, and intuitive automated key delivery.
- Bluetooth LE, NFC and Apple Wallet: Proven mobile and secure technology to create a unique keyless experience anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
- Smarter access: Send or receive a Digital Key to open any door. Grant access or block users easily to specific timeframes and/or locations.
- Improved operational efficiency and significant cost savings: Traditional mechanical keys can be expensive to replace and maintain, and the cost of key cards or physical credentials can quickly add up. Operators can instantly manage access permissions to grant, disable and revoke access to optimize user experience and enhance security management.
- Mobile and card-based access control systems are the most secure way to give access to the right person at the right time.
JustIn Mobile Digital Keys: Using your smartphone for access
JustIN Mobile eliminates the need for physical keys or cards and all the associated costs and access management hassles.
The JustIN Mobile technology replaces the need for a physical access card by securely sending a room key “Over the Air” (OTA) from Salto’s Space, KS or Homelok smart access platforms to a registered and verified iOS or Android device. The phone then uses Bluetooth LE or NFC to send a signal to the door’s electronic locks.
Leverage the performance and usability of the fully native Salto JustIN Mobile key delivery experience into your mobile app. With the JustIN Mobile SDK, which is available for both iOS and Android, you can integrate JustIN Mobile for a fully customised mobile digital key integration into any third-party application. The JustIN Mobile SDK makes it easy and secure to incorporate smartphones into your access control solution.
Give workspace members, hospitality guests, or multi-family house residents the convenience of going keyless using their smartphones, enabling community-based access control solutions supporting user satisfaction, security, and safety.
Can’t get enough? Click here to learn about Salto’s smart access solutions.
Follow Salto Systems on LinkedIn or Instagram to keep up with the latest news in the world of access control.
Strategies for implementing smart access control systems in Higher Education and campuses
Q&A with Ron Shaffer, Technology Business Development for Education, SALTO Systems
Q&A with Ron Shaffer, Technology Business Development for Education, SALTO Systems
There are a lot of choices when it comes to access control systems campuses could use. What should drive the decisions of higher education leaders in this area?
Many decision-makers don’t take the most important factor into account: the end-user experience and student journey. It is the experience of your campus users—students, faculty, and staff—that matters most when deciding what type of smart access control systems to implement. Other important factors to consider when deciding on access control systems include:
- Whether a system is easy to use, has an intuitive design, and provides clear user feedback
- The regulatory compliance, quality, and compatibility of the hardware to fit any door and any access point with a complete, electronic locking platform
- The long-term reliability of the system, full support and any ongoing administration requirements
What are the most overlooked aspects of implementing access control systems on campuses?
Think about it in terms of “Day 1” versus “Day 2.” During the Day 1 phase, higher education leaders are focused on the features of the system, the initial installation costs and whether the new system meets their current needs.
During the Day 2 phase, new questions arise concerning the complexity of the interface, network dependency, monthly or yearly user or access point fees, credential compatibility and other ongoing costs. As time goes on, institution leaders may ask more questions, such as:
- How are my users, staff, visitors or students affected during a network outage?
- Is access still permitted in a power outage?
- Is the system scalable to meet future growth within our current network environment?
- How do we maintain IP addresses, network switching and routing design?
These questions are often overlooked at an earlier stage, but it’s important to consider these Day 2 issues in the decision-making process. Look to the future and Day 2 with a school access control system that will support growth both in physical locations and staff/student services.
What are some best practices when implementing a new access control system?
Research, research and research! Kick the tires and ask a vendor for an onsite demonstration installation or trials—and use it without any company representative present with a brand and certified installers ensuring support is always available to deliver top notch security for schools.Take this opportunity to put the system through its paces. Test and explore every scenario your team can think of.
Look for a system that includes the following features:
- Extensive students cards and credential compatibility
- Access points that allow for growth, such as lockers, cabinets, exterior gates, parking gates, glass doors, emergency exits and panic bars, cylindrical and mortise applications
- Wire-free, wireless and wired applications
- Emergency preparedness and Crisis responsiveness features incorporating electronic door locks for schools improves security for schools and an overall crisis management plan.
- Easy I/O data integration with custom or third-party systems
- Mobile iOS and Android applications for remote access assignment
What trends are you seeing on cutting-edge higher education campuses today?
One emerging trend is providing self-service offerings such as kiosks and mobile access credentials or digital keys to campus users. These provide the ability for a student to cancel their lost or stolen card through a portal, change a pin code, and request a replacement, all on their own and without involving staff.
Many higher education leaders who are using mobile credentials are looking to make the most out of this technology and to eliminate the risks and costs of lost keys, finding ways to customize their existing app to their brand, and ensuring compatibility with iOS and Android devices that utilize Bluetooth and NFC for access control communications.
The future of access control is here, and mobile credentialing offers a level of security, convenience, and self-service that enhances the end-user experience.
Contact us if you have any questions on the SALTO product range or visit our education website located here for information on all things SALTO. We look forward to help you!
Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest product features, updates, and news from the industry.
SALTO Systems develops and manufactures advanced and reliable wireless electronic locking and access control smart solutions that provide a smoother, more comfortable, and secure daily life for the people using our systems. We bring added value to our clients, making it easier for decision-making and smarter management of facilities. Our goal is to not only be within the top three companies in our sector in the world,but also tobe your number one smart electronic access control provider. As an organization, we intend to create an ecosystem of end-users clients, partners, collaborators, and suppliers with whom we build long-lasting, win-win relationships guided by closeness, flexibility, integrity, and trust.
Salto ProAccess Space Software: Broadcast Notifications
Program your Salto ProaAccess Space access control management software to send broadcast notifications in the event of a lockdown emergency.
Program your Salto ProaAccess Space access control management software to send broadcast notifications in the event of a lockdown emergency.
No one wants to think of the unthinkable happening – an intruder in a school, inclement weather, and the like – but it’s best to be prepared, of course, in the event something does happen. Salto electronic smart access platform has the capability to enable AMOK lockdown mode, where authorized users can quickly and safely lock all locks in a building. Salto ProAccess Space software includes broadcast notifications, making it quick and easy to send immediate communication in the event of an emergency lockdown or pre-configured event.
Streamlined Communication for Safety and Efficiency
In an emergency situation that calls for a building lockdown, ProAccess Space can be pre-configured for security personnel to quickly send broadcast notifications to multiple recipients with just a click of the mouse. For non-emergency scenarios, broadcast notifications can be sent out on an as-needed basis to share updates on temporary issues that might affect only certain areas of a building or user groups.
The ability to send broadcast notifications is an excellent tool as it provides the power to quickly and easily contact as many recipients as needed. This is an important feature for any electronic smart access control deployment but is particularly helpful for universities, schools, healthcare, corporate smart offices and the like.
About Broadcast Notifications
- Push Notifications – Send broadcast notifications via email. It is an action representing an occurrence or detection of some condition. Every alarm event has a trigger and once triggered an alarm event automatically executes one or several actions. Push notifications are a superior way to communicate with users as they are from secure and trusted email accounts and users recognize it as such.
- Customized Grouping – Create custom broadcast notification groups based on specific criteria. Notifications can be sent to only those matching these criteria. For example, in this pandemic era, these broadcast notifications can be sent to groups of individuals who accessed a certain room where an individual who has tested positive for COVID spent time.
- Webhook Local Branded Website/Custom Templates – Send broadcast notifications via your brand website or internal channel so that all credentialed users will know that the notification is from a trusted source and won’t question its authenticity in the event of an emergency.
The logic is quite simple:
- this Alarm notification has to be defined in the Alarm events section;
- it sends information via HTTP/HTTPS;
- its logic is similar to an Event Stream. When something happens (audit trail information).
Benefits of Broadcast Notifications
- Immediate email notification sent to all system operators in the event of an emergency lockdown.
- Generalized and customized recipient group configurations.
- Real-time notifications sent to specific groups via secure and trusted methods (mobile app, branded email template).
- Use for emergency notifications or for targeted needs like contract tracing.
Contact us if you have any questions on the Salto Space management software or visit our Space platform product website located here for information on all things Salto. We look forward to helping!
Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest product features, updates, and news from the industry.
Salto Systems develops and manufactures advanced and reliable wireless electronic locking and access control smart solutions that provide a smoother, more comfortable, and secure daily life for the people using our systems. We bring added value to our clients, making it easier for decision-making and smarter management of facilities. Our goal is to not only be within the top three companies in our sector in the world, but to also be your number one smart electronic access control provider. As an organization, we intend to create an ecosystem of end users, clients, partners, collaborators, and suppliers with whom we build long-lasting, win-win relationships guided by closeness, flexibility, integrity, and trust.
What is the Next Generation of Smart Locks - What is it?
In a new video collaboration by SALTO and Group337 we dive deeper into what we believe "The Next Generation of Smart Locks" will be.
In a new video collaboration by SALTO and Group337 we dive deeper into what we believe "The Next Generation of Smart Locks" will be. The purpose of this collaboration is to spark a conversation—a change. We are hoping to help start a new language for the industry, and if we agree that the smart lock industry has entered into its next generation, we should agree we need to look, say, and act next generation.
In part 1, we are diving into the difference between smart, connected, motorized, and mechanical and what the next generation of smart locks will need to stay relevant.
In part 2, we will tackle the value beyond locking and unlocking. And in the finale, part 3, we reimagine door openings and our relationship with entering and exiting.
We plan to cover the different verticals such as single-family, multifamily, and commercial locks. We will speak to all of them generically and high level enough that what we discuss applies to all use cases. There are fundamental functionality and value creation that work across all verticals in the Next Generation of smart locks, and we want to cover them here.
Of course, this is just the beginning, and we can't cover it all in such a short amount of time, but we will do our best.
All right, let's get into it part one.
It is important to note a clear difference between smart, connected, motorized, and mechanical locks. Unfortunately, we sometimes mix them all and conflate their abilities.
If we are honest, most of the electronic locks on the market today are not smart. What they are, is connected. We went from mechanical to motorized, motorized to connected, and we still haven't gotten to what we all want, which is smart.
But we are getting there. One of the most significant barriers to our industry boarding a rocket ship and seeing that hockey stick growth and adoption we all expected to see by today is that we have not innovated the smart lock (enough). We have only iterated the mechanical lock. Motorized and connected were feature iterations off of mechanical. So think about it, we as an industry said, "what if the door opened itself? Well, if it's locked, that won't work, so let's automate the unlock function." So we went and took the same mechanical lock that we had before, updated it a bit, and integrated a motor into it.
Is it an advancement? Yes, no doubt. But it was not very smart.
Then the market and ecosystem said, "We'd like to take your motorized lock and have our system lock and unlock it. We want to control it." We also said, "wouldn't it be cool if we could lock and unlock via our phone or watch?" 100%.
And we were happy to do it, so we took the same motorized lock and added some radios and gave the ability for it to connect to other systems... introducing the connected lock.
Some marketing departments and analysts got excited and dubbed it "smart locks," but unfortunately, once the cool factor wore off and the inability to drive a consistent experience became a reality, what we ultimately had was a connected lock that, frankly, wasn't so smart.
But that is ok because, like many things, the market is shifting. New technology is being introduced.
As a result, new players are interested in the market, and end-user demand has increased, resulting in a renewed interest in smart locks.
So what does the next generation of smart locks look like?
- It is a reimagined platform—all of it, including the hardware.
- It is not a feature of a mechanical lock like a brass finish. It is its entity.
- Some use cases and end game functionality are unknown, which is ok because it is part of an ecosystem. It is an ingredient to a much larger solution.
- It is a software product with hardware that supports the experiences desired by end-users versus administrators and installers.
- It has safety at the core and safety as table stakes. It is a given and includes cybersecurity as well as hardened physical security.
- A team supports it focused on it day in and day out, not as a side hustle.
- It is a product line understood by leadership with the same importance and expectations as its mechanical brothers and sisters.
- Business plans are not predicated solely on yesterday's metrics.
- Distribution and hardware sales are not the only measures of success. It is time for a new spreadsheet.
- Hardware is used to grow the platform's adoption to unlock software potential exponentially, not get in the way of said growth.
The smart lock is this and many other things. But, more or less, the smart lock of today and tomorrow is a complete re-imagination. And those with curiosity and imagination will unlock it.
Contact us if you have any questions on the SALTO product range or visit our website located here for information on all things SALTO. We look forward to helping!
Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest product features, updates, and news from the industry.
SALTO Systems develops and manufactures advanced and reliable wireless electronic locking and access control smart solutions that provide a smoother, more comfortable, and secure daily life for the people using our systems. We bring added value to our clients, making it easier for decision-making and smarter management of facilities. Our goal is to not only be within the top three companies in our sector in the world, but to also be your number one smart electronic access control provider. As an organization, we intend to create an ecosystem of end users, clients, partners, collaborators, and suppliers with whom we build long-lasting, win-win relationships guided by closeness, flexibility, integrity, and trust.
Top Student Cities in Europe
University is a very important part of any person’s life. It’s the time where we begin a chapter in our lives that leads us towards our futures: Academically and socially. Students tend to mainly select their university destinations based on the quality of the education they will be receiving and the city they would be studying/living in. Alongside this, other factors apply such as student experience, affordability, social inclusiveness, city environment/life, and connectivity. Whilst academics possess great importance, a social life to balance it with also plays a role in a student’s mental health and ability to feel empowered. Combined these factors play a big part in deciding a destination.
The Class of 2020 conducted a study in which they analyzed the top 20 student cities in Europe and why these particular cities have proven to be popular destinations for students. This is what we distilled from the study:
The Class of 2020 conducted a study in which they analyzed the top 20 student cities in Europe and why these particular cities have proven to be popular destinations for students. This is what we distilled from the study:
Due to its high scores in social inclusiveness and affordability, Berlin has been ranked as the number one student city in Europe by The Class of 2020. More specifically, Berlin excels in maintaining low rent prices for student housing, a numerous and countless variety of social events across the city, and the high ability for international students to receive visas to stay in Germany and pursue their careers. Furthermore, Munich comes in second place as the best student city in Europe, in which the city environment category was weighed at a perfect score. Germany clearly controls this list by retaining the top 2 spots. Portugal also has a good standing point in this study, with its cities Lisbon and Porto claiming the third and fifth spots.This is due to their high scores in areas such as social inclusiveness and city life. Also, both Lisbon and Porto score very well in terms of affordability, with Porto being the only city in the study clinching a perfect affordability score due to low rent prices and costs of living.
Due to its high scores in social inclusiveness and affordability, Berlin has been ranked as the number one student city in Europe by The Class of 2020. More specifically, Berlin excels in maintaining low rent prices for student housing, a numerous and countless variety of social events across the city, and the high ability for international students to receive visas to stay in Germany and pursue their careers. Furthermore, Munich comes in second place as the best student city in Europe, in which the city environment category was weighed at a perfect score. Germany clearly controls this list by retaining the top 2 spots. Portugal also has a good standing point in this study, with its cities Lisbon and Porto claiming the third and fifth spots.This is due to their high scores in areas such as social inclusiveness and city life. Also, both Lisbon and Porto score very well in terms of affordability, with Porto being the only city in the study clinching a perfect affordability score due to low rent prices and costs of living.
Other cities in the top 10 of the list include Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris, and London. Amsterdam’s highest scoring points are social inclusiveness and city life. However, Amsterdam does score pretty low in terms of affordability. This is due to the immense popularity of the city amongst tourists, making it a costly destination. In addition, it’s no surprise that Vienna is also included in this list of top student cities. For the last few years, Vienna has been globally ranked as the world’s most liveable city. Vienna is very rich in culture, history, and lifestyle. City life almost never gets dull and there’s always a bunch of social events to attend. Also, Vienna is quite affordable in terms of rent prices and costs of living. There’s no scarcity in student housing in Vienna so it’s also pretty simple for a student to find a suitable accommodation. Moreover, next of the list are Paris and London. Both of these cities have their highs and lows. The highs include positive social atmospheres and great scores in city life. However, the lows, which are quite expected, are affordability. Rent prices are relatively high, as well as costs of living. While these two cities can be very fun to live in, one must be prepared to have high financial costs.
Other cities in the top 10 of the list include Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris, and London. Amsterdam’s highest scoring points are social inclusiveness and city life. However, Amsterdam does score pretty low in terms of affordability. This is due to the immense popularity of the city amongst tourists, making it a costly destination. In addition, it’s no surprise that Vienna is also included in this list of top student cities. For the last few years, Vienna has been globally ranked as the world’s most liveable city. Vienna is very rich in culture, history, and lifestyle. City life almost never gets dull and there’s always a bunch of social events to attend. Also, Vienna is quite affordable in terms of rent prices and costs of living. There’s no scarcity in student housing in Vienna so it’s also pretty simple for a student to find a suitable accommodation. Moreover, next of the list are Paris and London. Both of these cities have their highs and lows. The highs include positive social atmospheres and great scores in city life. However, the lows, which are quite expected, are affordability. Rent prices are relatively high, as well as costs of living. While these two cities can be very fun to live in, one must be prepared to have high financial costs.
Next, Spain is also a country that possesses a number of cities on the top 20 ranking. These cities are Barcelona, Valencia, and Seville. Students tend to mainly be satisfied with the constant sunny weather and affordability of these cities.
Overall, the ranking of the list seems pretty conclusive in terms of which cities are the top destinations for students. Besides the quality of education, affordability and city life to come out on top as the most vital aspects of what makes a city a good student city. As previously mentioned, Berlin and Munich come out on top in this case whilst other cities fall a little short but still with good scores. Germany, Spain, and Austria possess factors that outdo other cities, these countries possess the best student city destinations in Europe.
Find out how to tackle student complaints if you are an owner of a Purpose Based Student Accomodation in this blog post.
-
SALTO KS provides a flexible access control management system that requires no software installation or the added expense of a fully-wired electronic product. Modern cloud-based, wireless access control system is easy and simple to use for businesses including Coworking Spaces, Coliving Buildings, Purpose Built Student Accommodation, Retail, Multi-Tenant Housing, Gyms and many more. Our best in class wireless access control solution and smart locks guarantee the efficiency for your business. Integrate smart locks, start easily managing wireless access control now!
