Video Reader Pro access control
Long-term readers of this column will by now be familiar with Openpath, a trailblazing Los Angeles-based proptech startup specialized in touchless access control and workplace safety automation. They are fast-growing leaders in their niche, as well as being an excellent case study of how crises such as the ongoing pandemic can be strong catalysts for expansion when you have a truly value-adding solution.
So, when Openpath president James Segil called to tell me they were about to launch a new product that could potentially be a game-changer, I was all ears. Since we last spoke a year ago, the company has continued on its impressive growth curve. Segil shared that their tech is currently installed in more than 40 million square feet of real estate globally, without counting customers that are tenants in a multi-use building. He claims that more than 800,000 people use Openpath to access over 26,000 doors daily, across a wide range of sectors including enterprise, commercial real estate, schools, places of worship, retail, multi-family residential, gyms, manufacturing, and more. The company has gone from zero to 23 countries globally since its inception two years ago and has launched a suite of products along the way.
Its core business remains its award-winning touchless access reader, for which it has deployed a suite of iterations such as keypad readers, embedded readers for turnstiles and elevators, printer readers to authenticate printing jobs via one's phone, and oh-so-sexy architectural readers which are hidden into the drywall in very high-end buildings.
According to Segil, the next frontier for the sector is visual verification, and he believes Openpath's new Video Reader Pro, which launches today, could be the answer. He shared that "the gap in the market today is in security cameras. The challenge current solutions are up against is distance and their positioning. You are missing people's faces because nobody looks up at the camera. We realized that if you can’t see who is on the other side of the door, you are n0t doing a good job at providing security. So, since seeing faces matters, we integrated cameras into our access reader, creating a video reader with a built-in camera to improve security."
Segil claims that Openpath is the first to offer a video access reader in the commercial space, and believes that all access readers going forward will have a video element. He told me that "while there might be some door locks out there that have cameras in them, they don't have video cameras in them and don't have this type of edge processing. We are breaking new ground by putting this kind of video processing power into an access reader (not a door lock), with a tiny form factor so it can be mounted anywhere. We are not a video surveillance system, and this product complements our integrations with our video surveillance system partners, as we provide one more camera angle at the door that would otherwise not be captured."
Segil added that the video reader was conceived as a standalone product – it can be installed into a door and runs off of the cloud, and it can integrate with any existing legacy system. The Openpath control panel and app both have video feeds built into them, so any access event includes video, as well as all reports that the system generates. He shared that the video reader's edge computing platform can run different types of applications on it, claiming it has been futureproofed as it will be able to handle a vast array of future security needs thanks to the powerful capabilities it brings to the door reader - applications like facial authentication, tailgate detection, and many others.
Video Reader Pro launches today and will be available to Openpath customers worldwide over the next few weeks.
