In a perfect world every access control system would talk to every video system and form a well-balanced duo capable of branching out into further integrations. Today there are many options that offer a workable approximation of this. However, all too often a typical integration project goes more like this:
“We just completed a hospital designed and engineered on the East Coast,” says integrator Skip Sampson, president, Koorsen Security Technology, Indianapolis. “Access control was specified by one manufacturer. The video management system was a separate company, and the cameras were two other different companies. There were four manufacturers involved between access and video. It was very painful for us as the guy in the middle. Fortunately it was a big enough job that we were able to get the manufacturers’ attention because the things they said would integrate when this began in 2012 didn’t necessarily work in 2014. It is a constantly changing environment.”