Speco enters access control market

AMITYVILLE, N.Y.--After building a name for itself in the security industry with bullet-style surveillance cameras and other surveillance-related products, Speco Technologies is venturing into the access control market by releasing four keypad products. This comes at a pivotal time for Speco, which has experienced a 40-percent annual growth rate in recent years. It also went through a rebranding initiative three years ago to move from five different company names to one. The keypad product addition helps Speco better serve the small business market, said Todd Keller, who was recently appointed president of the company. "We want to be the complete solution for the small business group," said Keller. And offering products in three categories--sound, surveillance and access control--enables the company to accomplish that, he said. In preparation for the new product line, the company recently completed a 10,000-square-foot expansion of its facility here, providing additional room for product assembly and offices. Approximately one-third of the new space is dedicated to assembly, warehousing and providing technical repair for the company's new access control line. "This is a natural extension for us to introduce access control that will integrate into our [existing] systems," said Peter Botelho, general manager of Speco Technologies, about the addition of keypads to its product portfolio. To bring its first access control products to the market, Speco Technologies teamed up with a European manufacturer to create keypads that can accommodate up to 130 different users and three independent relay outputs. These outputs enable the user, for instance, to turn on the lights in the building while unlocking the doors, said Gary Perlin, vice president of product management for Speco Technologies. Perlin said the new line is "a good way for us to get our feet wet and get people knowing who we are in the access control market." Within six months, the company plans to launch its second generation of keypads. These products will integrate with digital video recorders, said Perlin. Keller declined to release how much access control products will contribute to the company's bottom line in the future. Currently the sale of surveillance systems accounts for 80 percent of its business, with sound systems representing 20 percent.