Security Journal Americas catches up with Steve Bell, Chief Technology Officer, Gallagher Security.

How has demand changed for integrated technologies over the past few years?

We have seen end users lean into new technologies at pace in recent years. Taking this to the next level with efficiently linked business and security systems is now a given. Integrating these systems can save staff a significant amount of time, ensure data integrity across the enterprise, and most importantly, ensure the user experience is as good as it can be.

Customers are certainly more empowered to choose applications to best meet the needs of their specific operational and business functions. However, it is also important to them that the functions work seamlessly together. A centrally managed platform such as Gallagher’s Command Centre builds connected, layered security solutions that will meet the unique needs of each site.

What is the value of an integrated system for the end user specifically?

The shift to integrated technologies has brought with it huge advancements for end users. For many Gallagher Security customers, the Command Centre system is one of the critical systems where reliable operation is vital to business performance. As an example, we have a manufacturing customer who requires robust access control security where staff must badge to not only gain entry to the facility, but also to enable the piece of machinery they are assigned to. In this case, the physical access control system is critical to achieving manufacturing targets.

The customer also created integrations to many of their other business systems. Active Directory ensures that staff details are automatically loaded into the access control system and linked to the provision of access privileges to operational areas. A REST API connection to Gallagher Command Centre extracts information about staff beginning their shifts to the manufacturing system. This allows early highlighting of absentees that will impact production. Furthermore, during COVID-19 restrictions another business system interacted with Command Centre to ensure that access was only enabled once a staff member had completed a health declaration.

High value manufacturing integrations can dramatically improve the accuracy of data, reduce the cost of the many compliance requirements for manufacturing staff, and of course, reduce the burden for administrators.

Who does Gallagher partner with to help build connected, layered security solutions?

At Gallagher we place real value in long term partnerships with our technology providers. By leveraging each other’s strengths, we can add achieve genuine business value for end users. We also view the relationship with our customers very much as a partnership. We have found over the years that our customers have their own views of best-in-class VMS. Our strategy has therefore evolved to provide tools which allow a VMS to write their own integration or we are equally happy to write the integration ourselves. What is most important to us is that the experience of the security control room monitoring staff is consistent, regardless of the VMS that is streaming the video.

Wireless door locks are another important integration which is much utilized across many of our Gallagher security systems. A sizeable number of wireless locks are used within sites which provide accommodation, such as Universities and Mining facilities. Gallagher has long term partnerships with three key vendors of wireless door locks, Salto Systems, the Aperio Team at Assa Abloy and Allegion. These partnerships provide our customers with three different implementation architectures. This gives customers and systems integrators the freedom to choose an approach to wireless doors that best fits their operation.

Another important and long term partner of Gallagher is Idemia. We have tightly integrated the Idemia fingerprint readers into the Command Centre solution to achieve a consistent experience for the administration team which leads to high accuracy and efficiency.

Can you tell us more about Gallagher’s team of expert technicians?

Our team is comprised of world-class, in-market systems engineers who are positioned across 13 regions in the US, Canada and Latin America. Each team member brings diverse skills and career backgrounds to the company, creating a well-balanced and efficient working environment for internal and external customers. The team consists of six engineers, servicing the entire globe during their shift, with one member who can provide technical support in Spanish too.

Additionally, Gallagher’s Professional Services team works in partnership with customers to deliver complete integrated solutions that integrate seamlessly with business systems. We recently expanded our 24-hour technical support services to the Americas with a dedicated team of people based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team in the Americas will create stronger connections in the region, while also alleviating our New Zealand team’s current load of operating all day and all night.

Gallagher’s team goes beyond, with hundreds of Certified Authorized Channel Partners located across all 13 regions, who complete certified courses to become in-house experts of the Gallagher system. We help our channel learn how best to configure the system to meet and exceed a site’s requirements.

How is Gallagher continuing to grow within the Americas region?

We are expanding our sales, marketing, operations and support teams exponentially to provide world class service and support to our channel and customers. Gallagher is continuing to widen its portfolio of products and services for sites, from the simple to the complex. For small and medium-sized businesses, there’s the cloud-based SMB security solution, which was launched earlier this year in the Americas and was recently released with added support for a wider variety of doors including gates, roller doors, and cabinets.

We prioritize innovation and revolutionary security products. We understand the future of enterprise and we believe you should be able to manage your system from anywhere as we introduce our new release of Command Centre Web. In addition to developing our software products, we have expanded our hardware products with the Single Door Controller 7000 that maximizes ease of installation and is designed to protect against cyber-threats to networked devices.

We are on an exciting journey to build a team of superstars with diverse superpowers to help protect what matters most to deliver brilliant customer outcomes and have awesome days at work. If you fit this description, reach out to us to learn how you can help leave the world safer and more secure than you found it.

For more information, visit: security.gallagher.com

This article was originally published in the October edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.

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