Hub tenant companies join forces for novel security management solution

Pleased with their joint venture initiative, Ernst Ohlhoff (left) of Tactile Technologies and Jan-Hendrik Otto (right) of Versec Systems. The touch monitor used in the project.

Tenant companies in the Maxum Business Incubator at The Innovation Hub, Versec Systems and Tactile Technologies, have entered into an innovative collaboration to create an estate management and access control system that will enable unskilled and computer illiterate security guards to operate high-tech security software easily and efficiently.

According to Versec’s Managing Director, Jan Hendrik Otto, what sets this system apart is that estate residents control access to their estate. “The key is to prevent prying eyes. Criminals will be less likely to take the chance of robbing a place if they don’t know what there is to steal”, he says.

The software developed by Versec, specialising in security management, is already in use in security estates around Gauteng and incorporates security planning and management as well as visitor access control.

Using a unique security code, residents pre-book their visitors by voice or sms for a specific day or selected period of time. This information is entered into the custom-designed database system, which includes a residential database with full personal information as well as a temporary database to control visitors, contractors and service providers. Visitors arriving at the gate will have to identify themselves and the person they are visiting. This is verified against the database.

Incorporating Tactile Technologies’ touch monitor technology with Versec’s security software, the companies have managed to completely do away with the mouse and keyboard elements of interfacing with the system. This means that, with some training, unskilled security guards can operate the complete system.

Not entering keystrokes also eliminates the risk of user abuse or users inadvertently altering settings in other sensitive areas of the system. The use of Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology, also developed by Tactile Technologies, to detect the finger’s position on the screen allows the use of a glass screen rather than the conventional touch sensitive membrane, which increases the durability of the monitor.

According to Otto, the relationship with Tactile Technologies and the resulting benefit to Versec’s own product offering is a direct result of being situated at the Hub. He says that the exposure to the different technologies of the other tenants in the precinct acts as a trigger for innovation, providing a much larger view of the possibilities of real value-addition for the client. “It really gives you the edge. You approach a client as one company but with the capabilities of 50 companies”, he added.

Versec is already considering more products where Tactile’s touch monitor technology will add considerable value, including an email-enabled visitor booking system and access control solutions for the corporate environment.

For more information on Versec, contact Jan Hendrik Otto on +27 12 844 0830.

For more information on Tactile Technologies, contact Ernst Ohlhoff on
+27 12 844 1005.

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