Enhancing your building with bespoke access

When it comes to personalisation, what has now caught up with other product categories? 2N takes a closer look.

It might be hard to remember, but a few years ago, personalised products were rare. It was mainly gift items – often from specialised small firms – showcase products or marketing merchandise.

But, things have changed radically in the last few years – and the customer demand for customised, personalised products has come to affect the access control industry as well. The motivations, though, vary for the different segments the access control industry serves.

In residential buildings, the trend is similar to other consumer products. Many homeowners like the idea of being able to personalise their intercoms – to customise it for them. It’s fun to play around with and it can add a certain level of character to a home.

In the office environment, on the other hand, it is seen as a detail which can enhance and help personalise a building. In an era where many companies are struggling to attract employees back into the office, they are looking at all of the little details – the “one percenters”, to use a sporting analogy – which can make a difference.

Taking access devices to custom heights

So how is the access control industry responding? One example is the 2N IP Style, its flagship intercom – where you can take full control of the display, from custom colour schemes and layouts to additional information and even animations.

The 2N IP Style was the obvious choice for an upgrade like this because it is a video intercom with a ten inch touchscreen display. Not every intercom would have the same personalisation options, but the display API has been fully ‘opened’, empowering customers to create their own graphical interface.

The potential applications – and benefits – are very broad: It’s not just about a company ‘branding’ the intercom with their corporate colours. Perhaps they want to have a special icon for couriers to press when delivering packages? Or a big “help” button, which will connect users directly to the security department or other responsible people?

Or maybe a customer is visiting their office that morning and they want to make a memorable first impression by welcoming them through the intercom? The options are almost endless.

The technicalities behind the upgrade

How does this interface work in practice? Let’s break it down: Image exchange via API: Your server or computer, running your customised code, sends the main display image to the IP intercom using the API; user interaction: The IP intercom’s display is touch sensitive, allowing it to detect where the user has touched it; response generation: Once the intercom detects a touch, your server or computer receives an indication of the touch’s location and can send another image via the API.

Moreover, you can utilise other supported API functions to perform actions like making calls, activating switches, taking pictures with the intercom’s camera and much more.

This exchange happens within milliseconds and is continuously repeated, creating a seamless and interactive user experience. One of the beauties of this is that it’s remarkably straightforward to deliver to customers. Not everyone is a developer and you can customise the intercom without delving into complex coding.

In the web interface of the 2N IP Style, you have access to options:

• Idle mode display – you can choose from three modes: Presentation mode, Logo mode and Address mode. These modes allow you to display images, company logos and even time and weather information on the intercom’s screen
• Multilingual support – you can customise the language of the text displayed on the intercom, offering a choice of 16 languages
• Home screen display – you can tailor the directory listing by selecting either the classic design or a large tile view, which tends to work for office buildings because large company logos can be prominently displayed on these tiles
• Keypad customisation – you can modify the appearance of the keypad or choose not to display it. You can even configure the intercom to respond to touch with sound and personalise the background image

Intercoms have caught up with other product categories, enabling homeowners and managers of office buildings the same kind of personalisation options.

Right now, the ‘first movers’ in this area are standing out, creating tailored graphical interfaces which have the capacity to catch attention, create talking points and provoke surprise. Very soon, though, as with other product categories, it’s anticipated that this will become the norm.