Subscriber Discussion

Question On ICT Products - Mainly POE Based Single Door Controllers

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
•Nov 06, 2018

I know there's a few who are either Canadian disty's or integrators with a lot of experience with ICT access control products.  They are pretty much non-existent down here in the southeast.  

I am looking at a project where we want to install IP-POE controllers at the doors  to take advantage of an existing system which is being replaced which is wired this way.  No exceptions.  

We are going from a single card reader at each door to a reader on each side configuration, so we will need a single door controller (IP-based) with 2 card reader inputs for each door.  The new readers will be Mifare readers with PIN keypads.

We will also need a Visitor Module and an Active Directory bridge to pass over access levels via AD from the client's HR system.

I have been mildly interested in ICT since meeting with them at ISC West in the spring, but there really hasn't been any follow up. Does ICT have a cost-effective solution for the system architecture as described?

Thanks

AM
Andrew Montgomery
•Nov 06, 2018
IPVMU Certified

They have a single door module that can be powered over PoE and has support for entry/exit readers. There is a version for both the WX and GX side of things, but based on your comment on AD and Visitor Mangagement, it sounds like you will end up looking at GX, their enterprise level version that requires a server. I have not personally used either so I cannot speak for how easy to implement it is.

I really like the ICT software and hardware. It's super easy to work with the hardware modules. We have started working with them more and more and our techs that haven't used it before seem to pick it up pretty quickly.

(1)
UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
•Nov 06, 2018
In reply to Andrew Montgomery

Thanks for the detailed info ... how do you find their cost/door compared to other systems?  Also, I noticed that they have a complete line of their own readers ... do you use them or HID, etc?

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
•Nov 06, 2018

Their POE-powered DIN-rail controllers, in your application, must be connected to Protege GX. Note that to be able to purchase and install Protege GX, you need to be certified so you will have to contact ICT USA for this.

The GX POE controllers are all single-door, DIN-rail mountable units. The are able to handle everything that is present on a single door: 2 readers (in/out on 1 door), 2 inputs (door position switch and request-to-exit detector), a relay for the door lock. Note that the 1-door POE controller does NOT support wiegand readers- the readers must be the ICT TSEC line of readers (they are RS-485 readers and both readers would communicate to the door over a single twisted-pair shielded wire; the readers use an "OSDP-style" communication format that is encrypted and supervised between the reader and the module). If you choose the DesFire TSEC reader, it will be able to read the ICT Mifare (what you mentioned) or DesFire cards. ICT encrypts the card number onto the Mifare cards using a high-security Triple DES encryption key.

Each one of these single door POE controllers is also a "site controller", allowing for the addition of up to 127 additional doors (per single door POE controller) to be connected via RS-485. In your situation, this would probably not be the case since they insist on having all-POE controllers.

You can also use each of these single-door controllers as a very powerful alarm system (more than 2000 alarm zones per controller; unlimited number of areas/partitions per controller), communicating with a monitoring station that would have their UL-approved IP receiver.

On the software side, you require Active Directory integration which is an optional licensed feature with the GX software. One caveat is that the AD integration will not pass through the access level of the user, as you request. The AD integration will create (or delete) the user issued from their HR application but the security staff will still have to assign the access rights directly in GX. A better option to AD integration is their Data Sync module which will allow the synchronization of multiple fields of HR data into the GX database. The staff at ICT USA can walk you through an integration using the optional Data Sync license.

Visitor management is handled through an integration with HID's Easy Lobby (which is a licensed feature in GX).

You will have difficulty finding a more powerful and versatile system

(3)
MM
Michael Miller
•Nov 06, 2018

The issue with the single door controller only supports ICT 485 readers.  

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
•Nov 07, 2018
In reply to Michael Miller

Thanks for that important fact ... I knew there was something from the meeting at ISC West that struck me as a little odd about their readers.  With OSDP coming fast and furious as the defacto secure communications standard for readers, I think it is not wise for ICT to instead use their proprietary RS-485 protocol as their only supported reader for the single door controllers. 

I'm sure it works well and is secure, but is out of step with the OSDP story and the momentum behind door controllers being "OSDP compliant".

In reality, the end user who is trusting their integrator to provide a secure and dependable system, especially in a new install, using their proprietary readers is probably not a big deal. 

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
•Nov 07, 2018
In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #1

Just to be clear, the issue is not with their readers.

The ICT TSEC readers are BOTH wiegand and RS-485 (there is a different set of wires for each configuration of either wiegand or RS-485). This will never be an issue on a new installation- you should NOT be installing that wiegand nonsense anymore, no matter what. It is the weakest point of a system and defeats the purpose of using smart cards like Mifare/Desfire or iClass SE.

The issue in this installation is if the customer already has reader wiring for his existing system, it would most probably be of a type to support wiegand (shielded, NON-twisted pair). If he wants to keep the existing wiring/reader, then he cannot use the 1-door POE controllers from ICT. If he doesn't mind changing the wiring/reader, then this will not be an issue at all (actually, the RS-485 communication is exactly what you want to use. Stay away from wiegand).

By the way, the 1-door POE unit is the only ICT module that does not support both wiegand and RS-485. Their 2-door controllers as well as their reader expansion modules all support both wiegand and RS-485 per reader port.

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