Interoperability, unification and integration are no longer just the buzzwords of the moment. As anyone in the physical security industry knows, these market forces are now driving product development, systems integration, training and even the relationships between manufacturers, integrators and end users themselves.

Historically, changes in access control trends have been slower to occur than in other security sectors, such as video. But change is afoot in the access control market, where integration has become king, wireless access control costs have come down and biometrics is no longer reserved for high assurance facilities.