By Ronnie Pennington, Altronix
The demand for more efficient and cost-effective ways to deploy access control at government facilities is a high priority as security and facilities personnel are being tasked to enhance security and safety, mitigate risks, and improve workforce management. This applies across the federal, state and local levels at facilities – from city halls to courthouses and administration buildings to military bases – to ensure that only authorized personnel have the level(s) of access they require.
With the trend towards multi-factor identity authentication, modern access control systems employ some combination of mobile credentials, biometrics, prox cards or fobs, and keypads to activate a wide range of security entrances and electronic locks. This increases both the number of readers and related devices deployed at each door location, as well as the amount of power required to operate them. Yet at the same time, security and facilities management personnel are being asked to do more with less. Fortunately, new power and access integration and deployment solutions are can help achieve these divergent objectives, lowering overall costs while increasing system capacity and reducing the physical real estate required for installation.
Better Power and Access Integration
New power and access integration solutions like Trove from Altronix easily combine controllers from the industry’s leading access manufacturers with power and accessories. This alleviates much of the longstanding problems associated with board layout and wire management. The simple yet pragmatic design of pre-configured or customizable power and access integration solutions makes an otherwise arduous task faster, easier and extremely cost-efficient – all of which provide tangible benefits for government facilities of all sizes.
One major benefit is the simplification of design and installation. Configuring these integration solutions into a single enclosure is relatively fast and easy. Online configurator tools make the design process even easier, if not all but foolproof. Plus, the ability to test systems prior to deployment greatly reduces installation time and overall costs.
An additional benefit provided by these power and access integration solutions is space savings. In the past, multiple enclosures were typically installed to house access control equipment, power supplies and accessories. This scenario requires a significant amount of valuable wall space, versus an all-in-one access and power solution that provides ample room for all the required access and power products and backup batteries.
Enhanced system troubleshooting is another significant benefit. Power solutions that report diagnostics can help determine the cause of a system failure. This information can reduce system downtime, eliminate service calls and provide faster response times to help keep access systems at government facilities up and running. Advanced power and transmission solutions with network communications also provides early detection of potentially failing devices, permitting service providers to take proactive measures to avoid system interruption.
The combination of faster design, installation and system troubleshooting and servicing translates into greater ROI for integrators, as installation labor costs and off-site service visits can be significantly reduced.
The Power of 802.3bt PoE
Migration to more IT-centric physical security and access control applications requires these systems to work off a facility’s existing infrastructure. With Power over Ethernet (PoE) powering most network appliances, many access control panels now have the option to be PoE powered as well. They are using either a midspan PoE power injector or a PoE switch to provide reliable power with an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) supplying backup power to the controllers.
Power to ancillary devices such as biometric, card and prox readers, keypads, electric strikes, electrified leversets and motion request to exit (REX) devices can also be supplied by access control panels via PoE. Since these controllers are being powered by PoE, the amount of amperage is limited. Average PoE controllers provide two voltage limits for lock output power and total power output. But in many instances, the total power output for all ancillary components, including electronic locks, can exceed the controllers total available power output. In that case, all components connected along the network’s PoE controller must be prescreened to determine the amperage draw so the total amperage for all components is less that the total output limits of the controller.
Access control installations requiring high-voltage can be costly and cumbersome. High-voltage wiring must be separate from low voltage inside an enclosure, which takes up space. The installation can be further complicated because high-voltage wiring cannot be in same pathways/wire runs with low-voltage wiring, requiring a certified electrician since standard power supplies are usually powered by hardwired, high-voltage ports that take an 115VAC/220VAC power input that reduces the output to a 12VDC or 24VDC.
Most jurisdictions also require that this power input be hardwired with a dedicated circuit. Because of high voltage, the installation now requires conduit runs for the electrical as well as expensive large gauge copper and dedicated circuit breakers. After initial installation, regulatory compliance may also be required to service the system.
The PoE standard, known as 4PPoE or 4-Pair PoE, 802.3bt PoE is truly a game-changer, enabling government facilities to easily and cost-efficiently install power hungry security devices. Simply put, 802.3bt uses all four pairs of conductors to provide a substantial increase in the maximum power over previous versions (up to 90W per port), while also providing for improved power management. Power management is achieved using communication between the devices over the same connection cable. Importantly, 802.3bt supports multiple PoE classes. Together, these enhancements to the specification enabled manufacturers to provide new devices that make use of the higher available power while better managing the power in the system. 802.3bt is also backwards compatible, allowing systems to upgrade their power source to this standard to use new and existing PoE devices together.
There are many benefits of 802.3bt PoE for government facilities. Most important is that it leverages the myriad benefits of low voltage installation methods to power security endpoint devices by virtually eliminating the need for high-voltage inside the enclosure and associated costs such as permits, electrical cabling, and dedicated conduit. The low voltage cable used for power can run in the same cable trays and paths as other network and access control cables, which for service and maintenance, eliminates the need for regulatory safety precautions such as lock-out tag-out. A key feature of 802.3bt is that there is no voltage present on the cable from a power source until it is plugged into a powered device and a handshake occurs. Unplugging the Ethernet cable from the PoE-driven power supply is safe. Once the cable is plugged back in the handshake is performed with the power source and PoE is delivered to a powered device.
Using 802.3bt as an input to a power supply/regulator can supply multiple voltages so installers are not locked into a particular output voltage. For example, there are remote power devices available, such as Tango from Altronix, that uses an 802.3bt connection as input, delivering a combination of 12VDC and 24VDC voltage outputs simultaneously – ideal for powering access control systems.
More Capacity in Less Space
Newly designed access power controllers and power distribution sub-assemblies increase access control system capacity for large government facilities by providing up to twice the outputs and features in a space-saving stackable mounting footprint, further reducing overall equipment and installation costs. More outputs in less space also means more room for controllers inside an enclosure. This allows installers to easily configure and scale new and existing systems when and if system expansion is required.
These new access control solutions benefit both government facilities and their system integration partners by reducing overall costs and expanding access system capacities in smaller footprints…all of which results in better overall security while doing more for less.