While access control likely trails only video on the excitement and energy scale when it comes to products within the security industry, two components of that segment — entry controls and intercoms — most likely rank very low, if at all.

That may be about to change, however, as two of the industry’s biggest concepts (and buzzwords) — network and integration — creep into the entry control and intercom space. In other words, these aren’t your parents’ technologies. Not by a long shot. And if a number of manufacturers’ forecasts are to be believed, we’re going to be looking at a very different set of products and technologies in the not-so-distant future.