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December Monthly Edition 2022

Kastle Systems— protecting your premier properties and the people in them

Kastle Systems— protecting your premier properties and the people in them

The new hybrid workplace is revealing office security risks that are of growing concern due to the nature of dynamically changing occupancy each day. Whether you store confidential client information or have equipment, inventory, or employees to protect, safeguarding your business’s assets when occupant presence and identities are constantly changing becomes a greater challenge and a higher priority for any organization needing a secure premise. To achieve this, an smart access management system with digital sophistication is essential.

A cloud-based office access management system make life easier for employees, saves money, and keep the workplace secure. In a hybrid world, solid workplace access systems provide administrators simple space management control remotely, the flexibility to allow access to the right people at the right time, facility-wide and the powerful data insight you need to effectively understand the onsite presence of occupants over time to best manage space use and security.

Kastle Systems provides state-of-the-art access control systems and solutions to to over 40,000 businesses nationwide. What makes Kastle exceptional is its superior technology and its focus on security as a managed service so the systems perform flawlessly forever. The company is built on the belief that the most effective approach is delivering and end-to-end solution: it engineers, installs, monitors, and maintains clients’ security systems. Kastle is invested in its long term performance.

Kastle recognizes that technology alone does not secure employees and assets. The firm’s reliable people, processes, and advanced technology ensure complete protection.

The following excerpts are from a conversation with Haniel J. Lynn, CEO of Kastle Systems

Detail us about Kastle Systems innovations.

From our extensive experience, Kastle has an in-depth understanding of the needs of commercial and multifamily properties. We continuously anticipate future needs and develop creative solutions that delight residents, tenants, property managers, and owners alike. But we don’t just think about security when generating new ideas. Instead, we look to broader consumer trends like the ubiquity of the smartphone, adoption of home security systems, and the growth of big data to drive more efficient smart building operations. This has led to innovations like launching our earliest mobile access control solution (almost a decade ago), smart access options for apartments, data integrations with property management systems, and advanced AI-based video surveillance solutions.

Tell us about your  award-winning end-to-end managed technology service.

Unlike most access and video surveillance providers, Kastle doesn’t just sell systems to customers for them to run themselves. Instead, we provide a managed service by partnering with customers for the long haul to provide comprehensive service for the system’s life. Beginning with the initial design and development of a property, we provide complementary property technology consulting services. When our experts install a new system, we ensure that it is working correctly and provide free training for all users for the system’s life. Our US-based operations centers monitor activity and act swiftly to alert customers and the authorities if necessary.

We provide regular maintenance to all equipment and repair, replace, or upgrade elements as needed to maintain the desired level of security. Twice a year, we enlist the help of JD Powers and Associates to survey our clients to ensure that the level of customer satisfaction exceeds expectations. We are proud that these surveys repeatedly confirm that our customers score our service on par with premier brands like Nordstrom and Ritz Carlton, which we feel is a strong validation of our success.

Q. How are your solutions groundbreaking and delightful to use?

Because we focus on making every solution intuitive, our product interfaces are simple and easy to use. Although other providers offer similar products and services, Kastle offers comprehensive, integrated solutions that we configure to the user at the point of installation, creating a more tailored user experience for that space. So our solutions are customized to the on-site situation ourselves because we don’t sell through other parties.

We can enable building tenants to go from the parking garage to the building’s main entry, through the lobby turnstile, onto the elevator, and into their office with a single hands-free access credential that can be monitored and managed remotely from anywhere, even across different geographically dispersed locations. 

Kastle products simplify and streamline property technology operations, mainly so that property managers, tenants, and residents can focus on what matters most. Because we own the delivery from product development to the point of installation, we are very familiar with how our products are used by our customers, which enables us to design and tailor systems that delight end users.

Q. How has Kastle been an active contributor to industry standards for years?

Kastle has played an integral role in the security industry as a member of the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA). The PSIA is a consortium of physical security manufacturers, and systems integrators focused on promoting interoperability of IP-enabled security devices and systems across the physical security ecosystem and enterprise and building automation systems.

Starting in 2014, Kastle and significant industry players within PSIA, including Tyco, Lenel, Honeywell, Stanley, Assa Abloy, and Allegion, began developing PLAI, the Physical-Logical Access Interoperability (PLAI) specification. This ongoing effort creates a standard specification that is open, non-proprietary, and supportive of industry needs. In recent years, Kastle CTO, Mohammad Soleimani, served as the working group’s chairman, developing the proposed framework for PLAI. “This specification, which allows the convergence of logical and physical systems, could be a game-changer in organizations, resulting in enhanced security and lower costs,” says Soleimani.

Currently, Kastle is partnering with Apple to gain approval for this promised open ecosystem as a standard at CSA (Connectivity Standards Alliance) enabling a single access credential to operate across readers from competing manufacturers, for a more universal access reality.

Q. Why should people opt for Kastle Video?

Video verification of suspected incidents means fewer false alarms and more excellent responsiveness from local authorities. Of the many benefits of Kastle’s crisp, HD-quality video surveillance solutions—the most advantageous is that they are cloud-based—is that clients can access video streams live, from anywhere. Clients can remotely access, search and share relevant video clips from a cloud platform that removes the system from the on-site network for optimal video-related cyber security. AI-enabled cameras can discern when a visual event is relevant, save that clip to the cloud, immediately notify the client with a smartphone alert, and send a link to the clip of the suspected incident. Snippets can easily be forwarded for additional review or action. The KastleVideo cloud-based search is intuitive, making it easy to locate other clips in seconds.

For those with more robust security needs, Kastle VideoGuarding covers more ground and is much more cost-effective than adding security guards. It offers the same AI-driven event capture and supports it with live agent monitoring from a US-based control center. Instead of the customer’s point of contact receiving the alert, any concerning activity will trigger a warning to live Kastle agents so they can visually assess the situation with a video stream in real-time and, if appropriate, dispatch local authorities immediately. Kastle’s powerful video analytics and remote guarding services bolster security without increasing property staff.

Kastle also offers outdoor video surveillance to monitor activity and enable live agents to speak directly to intruders if suspicious behavior is detected. For environments where temperature sensitivity or spontaneous combustion is a risk, Kastle offers thermographic camera monitoring.

In many cases, Kastle can use a client’s existing cameras and other equipment, saving initial costs. Although the video is automatically backed up offsite, a KastleVideo system will alert you when it detects errors, video loss, other communication, or camera tampering.

Serving clients with robust, state-of-the-art surveillance and access control solutions to protect their homes, businesses, and more

Haniel J Lynn, the CEO, joined Kastle systems in 2018 with more than 25 years of global operating and executive management experience, growing and scaling enterprises from startup to $1 billion. He has the unique ability to oscillate between high-level vision and tactical execution while inspiring a culture of teamwork.

He spent 16 years at CEB (now Gartner). He served as Group President of its Best Practices & Decision Support business and member of the company’s executive leadership team responsible for product strategy, direction, and operating a $600m business globally.

“Unparalleled security management.”


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