Businesses are always looking for cost efficient solutions to upgrade their security level. AXIS Entry Manager customers can now extend access control efficiently and affordably with Aperio battery-powered locks from ASSA ABLOY. Online integration of the AXIS A1001 Network Door Controller with Aperio cylinders, escutcheons and locks gives facility managers real-time control over more doors. Administrators continue to manage every locking point from one AXIS Entry Manager interface — saving time and removing the need to complete extra training add here directly a reference to the H-Farm.

AXIS A1001 Network Door Controller operates on a flexible platform, built to adapt as a site’s security needs change. With this integration, battery-powered Aperio locks are controlled from the same web interface as wired door devices. Because the integration is online, it enables real-time control plus door and user audits on demand.

“This integration is the first we have ever done with our access controllers,” explains Ernst Westerhoff, business development manager for access control in Europe at Axis Communications. “At the end of the day, it costs less for the end-user.”

Operational cost-efficiencies up to “more than 70%”

Once installed, an Aperio RS-485 Hub coordinates up to 8 Aperio devices within 15- to 25-metre range, communicating with the central system via the AXIS A1001. One AXIS A1001 can manage one wired door and one Aperio hub, for a total of 9 doors maximum per controller. AES 128-bit encryption secures all communication between locks and security system.

Aperio locks are wireless, so they require no expensive cabling to install. The AXIS A1001 uses Power over Ethernet (PoE), which eliminates any need for power cabling to controllers. Aperio is cost-efficient during use phase, too. Because they run on standard batteries, Aperio locks are much more energy-efficient than equivalent wired door locks. Unlike wired locking, Aperio devices are not connected to mains electricity and use no power when inactive.

According to recent ASSA ABLOY benchmarking analysis, choosing wireless over wired locking could bring a large reduction in access control energy use: more than 70%, or thousands of euros over a typical installation’s life-cycle*.

“Aperio offers Axis end-users much greater flexibility to affordably expand or modify their system coverage. If needs change at a facility — say, managers want to filter access through more doors — it’s quick and easy for an installer to fit Aperio locks and integrate them online with the AXIS Entry Manager control panel.”, says Lars Angelin, Aperio business development manager at AAOS.

The integration allows users to open all wired doors and Aperio wireless controlled doors with the same credential, via almost any standard RFID technology including iCLASS, MIFARE, HID Prox/EM410 and Seos.

“We offer to our customers the benefit of easy set-up for wireless access control. They just mount a wireless lock or wireless cylinder to a door and they have full access control,” adds Westerhoff.

Multiple sites, diverse daily users: no problem

The new integration has already been deployed at H-Farm, a business education and innovation hub in Italy. They sought a solution to streamline access management at a geographically dispersed portfolio of buildings. H-Farm experiences rapid user turnover, both because new businesses join regularly and because they organise up to 300 events every year. New locks had to extend the existing Axis system without adding admin workload.

To meet their needs, H-Farm selected Aperio handles, security locks and escutcheons, each easy to retrofit so day-to-day work at their offices would not be disrupted. So far, 40 Aperio H100 wireless door handles — plus the Aperio wireless locks and wireless escutcheons — have been installed across multiple H-Farm locations in northern Italy.

Most of H-Farm’s interior doors are secured with the award-winning Aperio H100 wireless handle, a former Intersec Access Control Product of the Year. The H100 packs the flexibility and affordability of wireless access control into a slim door handle. A standard battery slots inside and powers the handle, ensuring a minimal footprint. ASSA ABLOY’s device design team incorporated electronics into the handle lever on the outside of the door without compromising security.

“Aperio wireless access control hardware is solid, nice looking and perfectly fits our environment — solving our access problem,” says Alberto Aldrigo at H-Farm.

H-Farm has a strong track record supporting innovation and creativity in European start-ups. The company focuses on skills development, new approaches to education and digital transformation. With the help of seamless integration from Aperio and Axis, the latest transformation upgrades their own access and security management.

To learn how Axis and Aperio boost access control together, you can watch a short video at Youtube or download the brochure here.