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Originally Posted On: https://shop.instantcard.net/news/id-tech-hot-take-choose-card-technology-before-choosing-a-reader/
One of the major developments in access control technologies, multi-protocol readers, is delivering substantial benefits for corporate and business clients. This post will discuss the problems faced in the past, and how the new technology is helping overcome those problems.
Like all tech-based businesses, access control systems are evolving rapidly. In the past, and still today, access control is typically based on RFID technologies which are simple, but no longer up-to-date in terms of security. Older technologies, which have been open to hacking for decades, are still extensively deployed at businesses throughout the United States. This is because, once a system was installed, it became quite complicated to change because all cards and all readers had to be swapped out simultaneously, a complicated (and expensive) logistics problem.
An intermediate step to allow companies to transition from older, less-secure RFID technologies to newer, more secure protocols involved the issuance of dual-technology cards, which could be used throughout the transition period with both older protocol readers and newer readers. Although quite costly, this approach allowed companies the time to update their access control system without interrupting user services.
Today, however, a new development is greatly facilitating the transition from older, outdated RFID technologies. The market today offers multi-protocol readers as a standard, and there is no longer any significant price differential with older single-protocol readers. As a result, readers can be swapped out at will, without relying on dual-protocol technology cards which are significantly more expensive. Nearly all readers available on the market today, from dozens of suppliers, can be configured to support multiple protocols at the low frequency level (125 Khz) and also at high-frequency (13.56 MHz). Older readers can generally be switched to a new reader in a matter of minutes. Then older-technology cards can be phased out, and newer technology cards introduced, at a pace which is convenient for the company.
The advantages to a corporation go beyond facilitating the transition from older, outdated access control technologies to more advanced, more secure technologies. For the first time, companies can now first choose the appropriate card technology that meets their overall security profile, secure in the knowledge that all of the other elements of the access control system will be able to be adapted to function seamlessly end-to-end. This is primarily because the proprietary protocols of yesterday are being supplanted by standards-based protocols.
In the past, companies were generally counseled to first choose their access control system, but then found themselves locked in to a proprietary RFID protocol which was costly, and often became more and more outdated over time. However, today they can choose the RFID protocol first, secure in the knowledge that the readers and other elements of the access control system will integrate whatever choice they make.
With the cost of 100’s or 1000’s of ID cards adding up to a substantial part of the security budget, this development has an important, positive financial impact. Without impacting the other budget elements, enterprises can choose a technology which is both secure and low-cost. This is because many protocols in the RFID space are based on international standards, and they are therefore available from multiple suppliers, rather than the pre-existing situation where protocols were proprietary and therefore not subject to pricing competition.
As an example, the typical cost of an ID card using the Mifare standard, which is based on ISO standard 14443, is half the cost of a proprietary Prox card from an industry leading provider. And not only is the cost lower, the security is enhanced through implementation of a number of technology features which were not available in the last century when many of the older technologies were developed.
In the past, the security installer was typically in the drivers’ seat, recommending technology choices that only the largest corporations had the ability to question or challenge. But today, the business decision-maker is once again in control, and can choose the appropriate technology to impose on the security installer.
The benefits of this market evolution extend even further when a corporation has multiple physical locations. Many companies find themselves in the situation of having different RFID technologies at different sites, since each site tended to choose its own access control system without consideration of corporate standards. As a result, having ID cards which function across multiple sites became challenging.
Now that multi-protocol readers are the standard in the market, each location can swap out readers at its own rhythm, and cards do not need to be replaced at the same time. Each reader can be configured to accept both previous, legacy technology cards as well as the new, enhanced security cards. They can read the cards of existing employees as well as those issued to new employees. It is up to the company to establish the rate at which it wishes to enhance the security of existing ID cards via re-issuance.
In the past, companies were typically told that higher security was always associated with higher costs. For the reasons outlined above, they are now able to choose both higher security and lower cost through the implementation of RFID protocols based on international standards.
The standards-based protocols available include:
- EM4200 Low Frequency
- Mifare Classic High Frequency
- Mifare DESfire High Frequency
Corporate security buyers should be encouraged to obtain quotes on these technologies, to be compared with the costs of proprietary technologies.
