PSIA releases specification for access control, intrusion products

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA) recently released its Area Control v1.0 spec to standardize communication with access control and intrusion products.

The area control spec is the fourth system-oriented specification released by the PSIA, following standards for video, storage and analytics. It is the product of a collaboration among several major companies, said PSIA Executive Director David Bunzel.

“If you look at the companies that are involved in our effort�UTC, ASSA ABLOY, Honeywell, Mercury Security, Inovonics, Sonitrol and others�it probably encompasses three-quarters of the market for access intrusion products,” Bunzel told Security Systems News. “If these companies are all supporting (the specification) and are adapted, then essentially it will become a de facto standard.”

The area control spec works in tandem with other PSIA specifications, including its Common Metadata and Events Model (CMEM), which provides a comprehensive way to process data received from other security devices in an integrated system.

Bunzel said PSIA is working actively with companies on implementing the area control spec. Earlier this year, UTC, Honeywell and Tyco announced they would ship products in 2012 that rely on the specification, and Lenel and Inovonics have since done so as well, the alliance said.

“Everyone who's been involved (with the spec) has been very impressed with the result and how well it's been designed,” Bunzel said. “We're going to be putting together test tools, we're going to be working with companies on implementation, and you're going to be seeing products supporting it in 2012.”

Mike Regelski, CTO of UTC Fire & Security Global Security Products, told the PSIA in November that he expects the specification to be a strategic component of a number of company product lines.

“This spec addresses some of the heavy lifting that needed to be supported by all manufacturers when integrating access and control products,” he said in a news release.