When it comes to smart buildings it is all too easy to collect so many “toys” (technology products and solutions) that you can’t possibly use them all at once. With children this problem is easily solved. Simply put them away for a while and when you bring them back out they will be “new” and interesting again.

Two recent reports highlight both the upside and the challenges to smart buildings and communities.

Smart buildings leverage automated processes to control infrastructure such as physical security (e.g. video surveillance and access control), lighting and HVAC. Many smart buildings rely on network-connected devices and other Internet of Things (IoT) technology in which sensors and software collect data to manage these systems. 

What’s in a Name? If you plug in the term “smart building” to Wikipedia it automatically redirects you to the term “building automation.”

Does your access control solution keep you safe from cyberattacks?

This October marks the 18th annual Cybersecurity Awareness month. Over that span, cybersecurity has gone from being a topic the IT department mostly worried about, to one that is top of mind for everyone from the CEO to the receptionist at most businesses.

Smart buildings aren’t exactly a new concept. For years, future-forward companies have been making their buildings increasingly smart, and now that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed so much, more people are wondering how to add to the intelligence of their buildings.

As employees start to return to the workplace, you might be considering updating parts of your security system to meet any new needs they might have.

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, we’ve seen an acceleration in the adoption of cloud-based access control solutions. When lockdowns began and remote work became the norm, many businesses were challenged with their on-site server solution.