Prata Khadilkar, Marketing Manager at ZKTeco USA explores the rise of end users adopting new technologies into their access control systems that incorporate the cloud, AI, biometrics, mobile credentials and much more.
During a recent three-part podcast series “The Future of Flexibility”, access control expert Lee Odess sat down with President and Founder of ZKTeco USA, Manish Dalal to discuss how traditional expectations are colliding with new realities in the world of access control.
With the entire industry facing major change, it’s important to understand how products are brought to market, how dealers, manufacturers and end users can coexist and how to ensure investing in new infrastructure today will be relevant tomorrow.
The podcast series takes a deep dive into the trends, challenges and opportunities that are reshaping the access control industry.
Episode 1 spotlights “The Need for Conversation” and focuses on how the access control model is changing and evolving as we speak.
Episode 2 takes a “Deep Dive Into Trends Live from ISC West 2025” as Odess talks with Dalal, Esteban Pastor at ZKTeco USA and Sal Salvatore – an OSDP expert at ZKTeco’s booth at ISC West 2025.
Discussions include the rapid adoption of mobile credentials, the industry shift of OSDP as the new standard and how to create a seamless user experience.
They examine why OSDP is critical and needed for secure communication between a card reader and door controller.
The episode also spotlights biometrics and the many benefits of using multi-technology readers.
Episode 3, “Solutions for Today and Tomorrow” offers a practical discussion about navigating industry challenges and implementing solutions that meet current needs that assure adaptability for the future.
Odess has an in-depth discussion with Pastor about the importance of being educated on the latest technologies and provides some real-world examples.
“We are excited to have partnered with an industry icon like Odess to help end users and security integrators explore access control solutions for today and tomorrow,” stated Dalal.
“We pride ourselves on being a forward-thinking company that is setting the standards for futureproofing access control and biometric technologies.”
Dalal: The definition of access control has changed in our industry as it’s not just a card reader and panel anymore.
The customer expects a complete solution that includes not only access control, but an integrated solution that offers video surveillance, visitor management, intercoms, etc.
If you are unable to offer a complete solution, then the customer will not accept it as an access control solution anymore.
Dalal: In today’s access control world, we are seeing that the existing infrastructure does not meet the current needs of most customers.
People want to use newer technology as the labor required to replace everything and make it work with a legacy system is just not possible.
It’s an exciting time to be in our industry and with the introduction of cloud, our customers can eliminate the need for costly on-site computers and servers.
I find it extremely interesting to see how different technologies are perceived in different parts of the world and how they all want expanded capabilities.
Customers are demanding more from manufacturers and want a complete solution.
Dalal: We saw permanent behavorial changes take place during the COVID pandemic as suddenly the current infrastructure was not set up for what was actually needed.
With most offices shifting to a hybrid work model and employees working from home, customers needed a remote solution to open and lock doors.
The days of someone physically coming in with a plastic fob to unlock and lock doors between nine and five were over.
We saw a rise in the need for mobile credentials, however the existing readers on the doors could not support this.
Organizations were forced to invest and upgrade their current access control systems to help manage access remotely.
In addition, organizations started to require a unified system to manage everything on one platform due to office expansions in other cities and countries.
Dalal: Customers today expect much more from their security system and security integrators need to scale up and become knowledgeable on the latest technology.
Within the last two years, we have seen the installation costs per door in North America almost double, which has put a lot of pressure on the manufacturer, distributor and integrator.
The end user is well-educated and expects an integrated access control system that offers video surveillance, mobile credentials, biometrics, etc.
To be successful you must provide a seamless user experience each and every time.
The access control industry is experiencing change at the speed of light.
Customers want choice, flexibility and must trust that their security partners are providing the right security solutions that are not only relevant today, but for the long haul.
The future of access control is here now and security manufacturers and integrators need to truly understand customer pain points in order to solve them.
Moving forward, we will see an influx of end users adopting these new technologies that incorporate the cloud, AI, biometrics, mobile credentials and so much more.
Now is the time to continue the conversation started by Odess and ZKTeco USA and keep it going for the long haul.
Visit the video links below to view the “Future of Flexibility” podcast series:
Episode 1: The Need For Conversation