Pedestrian entrance control technology gets smarter

Speed gates, like many other access control and security solutions, have begun to take advantage of the benefits of IP technology. The advantages of IP technology has been experienced by both end-users and integrators due to the cost saving associated with remote monitoring capabilities.

IHS estimated the world market for speed gates to be valued at $219.1 million in 2013 and forecast the market to grow to $310.0 million by 2017.

According to IHS, the main advantage integrators and end-users have seen from purchasing IP-enabled devices is related to service costs. A speed gate on an IP network can be monitored from remote locations. This is valuable for integrators who can troubleshoot devices offsite, discover which part of a machine is not working and deploy a technician with the correct tools and parts to service the speed gate.

This cuts down substantially on the travel needed to be done by technicians. Technicians in the past often did not arrive on site with the necessary replacement parts because the diagnostics needed to be completed on site, resulting in multiple trips and added service costs.

While IP technology is still in its infancy in many parts of the world, North America and Western Europe have made strides to fully implement this solution type. However, this does not suggest all pedestrian entrance control end-users in these two regions have accepted the technology. For example, while there has been a large uptake of IP technology in North America over the past few years, it has been estimated that only half of consumers are fully embracing IP to integrate turnstiles with other security systems.  Other end-users are unsure of future requirements and are choosing to purchase speed gates with IP functionality which can be implemented at a later date.

Overall, in order to take advantage of this market, it is important that manufacturers begin to offer IP functionality as integrators and end-users look to reduce the lifetime cost of products.

This research note is courtesy of Omar Talpur, an analyst for access control, fire and security at IHS Inc.

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