Brighton-based access control specialist, Paxton, recently announced the launch of Solo, a brand-new innovation in access control which the company has been demonstrating across the country with a Tech Tour throughout April and May this year. With Solo, your phone is the system and the key. Solo combines the straightforward installation of a standalone system with the capability of networked access control.
Ahead of the tour starting, Security on Screen’s Peter Mawson met up with Group CEO Adam Stroud at the company’s HQ after a presentation of the new technology to find out more…
Peter Mawson: “How is Solo different from your existing, standalone solutions?”
Adam Stroud: “Standalone systems are useful as they provide effective electronic access control for doors, without the complexity of having to network the doors together. Where they fall, is when the door count starts to rise, and it becomes cumbersome to manage access permissions for users at each door. Technology has progressed a long way since we designed our standalone systems and Solo utilises that technology. It offers the same level of simplicity at the door, with no infrastructure, but with the important added benefits of being able to control permissions centrally from your phone, along with real time event reporting, and rich features for setting up different access levels for people.
“So, by harnessing the power of mobile phones, we have combined the benefits of a standalone system with streamlined installation and a low cost of deployment, alongside the powerful features previously reserved for networked systems.”
PM: “You’ve kind of thrown out the rule book in the design process here. What, if any specific problem, were you trying to solve?”
AS: “Fundamentally, we are meeting the same challenges we always have; to keep people and assets safe in buildings. As a technology company, we keep a keen eye on developments outside of the security industry and the impact they may have on system design. The combination of cloud computing, widespread internet availability, and the increasing performance, standardisation, and ubiquity of mobile phones have given rise to huge disruptive opportunities in many industries. So far access control companies, including Paxton, have made some use of this technology, but we believe Solo to be the first system to fully capitalise on the potential benefits for installers and customers.”
PM: “From a scalability perspective, is there a clear path from Solo into the other products that you’ve got here at Paxton?”
AS: “Solo has a different design philosophy than other access control systems on the market, as well as our own systems. This was necessary to realise the potential benefits. As a company, Paxton provide solutions that cover access control, electronic door handles, door entry products for visitors, and video surveillance solutions. As with Net2 and Paxton10, our Solo system will expand its capabilities over time to provide simple and elegant solutions in these areas.
“As far as scalability is concerned, Solo has some significant advantages over traditional systems. Cloud hosting means that server processing power and memory can scale to accommodate systems of any size. The architecture of Solo also means that large user databases are not required at the door controllers, eliminating another potential capacity bottleneck. Additionally, the lack of networking between doors means that many sites can be covered in a system, as easily as a single site. Simply put, Solo is the most scalable system Paxton has ever produced.”
PM: “You’re empowering your installers, really through your pricing policy here, aren’t you? I think the phrase ‘game-changer’ is overused, but I feel like it’s warranted here. You’re bringing something that’s going to frustrate a lot of other manufacturers, because you’re picking up a whole new level of customer opportunity.”
AS: “Thank you for acknowledging Solo’s significance in the market. Solo certainly offers a step change in the affordability of professional access control. Right now, we are focussed on where Solo provides a solution for applications that are not adequately catered for using traditional systems, thereby increasing the size of the market. This is good for the security industry, good for installers, and good for customers.
PM: “It seems you’ve had quite a strong response from the release, and I guess that as installers get smarter, they’re looking for different ways of making money. You’re clearly making profits available to them through the pricing structure, but there’s also this repeat, recurring revenue aspect. Can you talk about that for a moment, the cost of that and the implications?”
AS: “We have never had a more overwhelming response to a product release than we had with Solo. within hours of the first communications going out, our tech tours were fully booked. The demand warranted us doubling up the number of sessions held around the country. I think installers recognise Solo as something different and are keen to be at the forefront.
“Also, many thousands of installation companies regularly use Paxton products, and we make it our business to know what makes them tick. Our success is tightly linked to their success, and providing their customers with ongoing services is an important aspect of how most installation companies already operate, whether that’s servicing and maintenance, or providing fully managed systems. Most installers want long-term relationships with customers, not one-off transactions. The recurring revenue element to Solo makes sense because the system is cloud hosted, and it also fits neatly into the way many installers prefer to operate, giving good value and additional profit opportunity.”
PM: “Where do you want to see solo in 12 months’ time?
AS: “What I’d love to see in a year is widespread knowledge among our installer community of what Solo is, what it can do, and the types of applications it is uniquely suited to. That’s our mission for the next 12 months. The aim is to communicate its capabilities in a way that really connects. There’s nothing better than trying Solo yourself, which is why we are offering 10,000 starter kits free of charge to security installers.
PM: “How would you sum up Solo to an installer that might have heard of it but doesn’t know much about it?”
AS: “I’d say that you’ve never seen an access control system that is so easy and cost-effective to deploy to customers, that also offers so much functionality. Get hold of a starter kit and try it for yourself.”
Read more about Solo, here
For more Paxton news, click here
