ASSA ABLOY, Sweden, and Cisco Systems, San Diego, Calif., have collaborated to bring a physical and logical access package together. At the ASIS conference this past September in San Diego, ASSA ABLOY and Cisco demonstrated their “networked-door” solution called Hi-O. This standards-based Highly Intelligent Operation lock-technology system uses Cisco’s IP-based converged access control technology.

“We’ve brought together IT and physical security,” said Glen Greer, vice president shared technologies at ASSA ABLOY. “This is an intelligent, converged environment,” added Richard Geiger, director of engineering, converged security infrastructure at Cisco.

The collaboration uses ASSA ABLOY Hi-O enabled products including electronic access control and video surveillance, with Cisco’s IP network solutions built on its Intelligent Converged Environment platform. The demonstration showed how the integrated system works together with video surveillance, access control, and other physical security devices, and IP-based networks.

Hi-O products allow for physical security products to communicate with each other as well as the IT network. For example, if an employee badges into the building via an access control badge reader, that employee will then be allowed to log into his or her computer. If the employee doesn’t badge in, he or she is thought of as not in the building and therefore, would not be able to sign on to the network.

“Our collaboration with Cisco positions ASSA ABLOY to meet the security needs of customers whose next step is to combine physical and logical access,” said Ulf Sodergren, CTO of ASSA ABLOY. “Our Hi-O standard makes this possible because for the first time electronic doorway components can communicate with each other and can easily integrate into a company’s IT network.”

ASSA ABLOY is marketing the Hi-O enabled products, which will be available to channel partners in 2007, as plug and play, and said that its smart card readers, door sensors and locks will work “out of the box” for easy, quick installation. For more information, visit Cisco Systems at www.cisco.com or ASSA ABLOY at www.assaabloy.com.