Hikvision Access Control Tested

Brian it is so nice to see that you have finally "seen the light' and agreed with Marty that Hikvision is the choice of choices. Excellent addition to your limited portfolio!

I think Marty forgot to hit the "post as undisclosed" button...

Good write up

I think both of you need to 'lighten up' and realize that what I said was written as comical satire. Marty takes more heat than anyone, I have never been 'snippy' or felt there was a need for rude comments although many distasteful comments have been directed my way.I can take it and I can dish it out if I wanted to but I always considered this to be somewhat a professional platform, apologies if I upset you with something I considered comical.

Maybe Marty just likes to refer to himself in the third person? Nothing wrong with that, probably very empowering...

Really enjoyed seeing the write ups for both the Hik and Dahua access control systems. Anyone who knows me knows my company switched from Hik last year to Dahua for video. For access our go to is Kantech and I am interested in these low cost access systems for the clients who balk at a 2-3K/door price tag. I must say I was dissappointed to hear that the performance of the Dahua access/video integration wasnt up to snuff (although it seemed otherwise like a very viable basic card access system).

I am hoping to see a head to head comparison between the Hik and Dahua access control systems in the near future and hear any updates on how these systems are performing both in terms of cybersecurity and functionality.

Thanks IPVM for the great tech info and what I consider very unbiased and outstanding journalism.

Hello Brian,

Thanks for the flat but relatively and unexpectedly fair report of Hikvision access control systems. Still as I mentioned before in some of my previous comments ( :) ) for a new companies that start on this market you need to do in-depth research and test in order to make sure you will leave the correct impression for that (good or bad) in IPVM subsribers. I don`t really see it in your previous reports and I don`t even see it now but you can always improve. 

Anyway, let me help in this case by putting some light on this report. 

Hardware range

On the international website  you can find the full hardware range (a lot of new devices coming) starting from IP access controllers (with enough power reserve for additional locks and option to easily restore 80 percent of the data inside the controller if you the server is broken), encrypted bi-directional RS-485 supervised RFID and biometric readers (with in-house developed fingerprint sensor module), face detection fingerprint intercom terminals, IP elevator controller, secure door control module, enrollment stations, buttons, locks and even wiegand LPR camera.

The company also have a distributed access control system with master access controller ( call it control panel) and additional smart "slave" controllers that provide higher level of security of larger projects. For china domestic market there are also turnstiles, door gates, flap briers parking systems, entrance control, face recognition terminals and many many other hardware that completes the huge portfolio Hikvision have. At some point all of this will be available overseas.

Software Range

Here are the market segments segments Hikvision products can cover:

SMB:

iVMS4200 - as we all know this is the free of charge integrated management client that supports CCTV(recorders with ONVIF and 3rd party camera support, cameras and video walls, Access control, Video Intercoms, Intrusion Systems (Pyronix + China domestic systems) . For access control additional modules are:

• Access control - Configuration of groups, users and credentials (supported card, PIN, QR code, fingerprint, face and license number plate soon), set access levels, set readers authentication modes, create multiple authentication groups with operator confirmation, create hardware based cross device global anti pass back that can work without the software running and even without connection between controllers(mifare card based), define multi door interlocking, configure elevator floor settings and finally create custom wiegand protocol to ensure compatibility with wide range of readers
• Status monitoring - Operator specific module for controlling door and elevators (with elevator controller) status and open schedules, filtered window for users credential events with user information screen and shortcuts for captured picture and live view of the linked camera, alarm module where operator can choose by themselves what types of alarms they should receive(live filter)
• Time and Attendance  calculate employees working hours, overtime, absence and many different advance reports
• Electronic map - control and monitor all the doors inputs outputs alarm zones, door stations cameras etc.
• Event linkage - link cameras with events that will cause video pop-up with live view and captured picture( the empty window you have in the pop-up) and option to playback, audio notifications and send email. Create linkages /logic inside the controller that will work regardless of client availability. Create cross device linkages that will perform various actions between devices
• Search module - search any event in the database with linked picture and video recording, export the list
• Storage server -  module that will collect all of the video materials captured on linkages and even record IP cameras. If the cctv system is down the operator can view the captured footage because it is safely store in the storage server module

Hik-Connect - free of charge smartphone app that supports CCTV, Video Intercoms, Intrusion and any moment Access control.

Enterprise:

iVMS-5200E - This is higher version different from 5200P that supports the following modules - CCTV, Access control, Time and attendance, Video Intercoms, Intrusion, Elevator control, Business intelligence (statistics, analysis, system heartbeat), Parking system, Visitor system, entry and exit control, and many more...For access control it supports the same features like 4200 plus the following:

• Multiple Client – Multiple Server architecture
• More flexible configuration structure
• Centralized management
• Active Directory
• WEB client for system management and time and attendance control
• PostgreSQL database
• Server Redundancy
• SDK for integration
• 3rd party and ONVIF camera support

iVMS-5200E smartphone app - control of all of the above mentioned systems and modules.

Also now in development is the next generation VMS Hik-Central that will soon integrate the whole ecosystem. Software customization options depending on the project and customers craziest requirements are also worth mentioning.

Unlike most of  current integration methods that are done typically on the access control or intrusion side, here the integration is done on the VMS side which is the most used system most of the time. And while typically current integration options between two different vendors offers no more than 10,15 percent of integration in iVMS integration is full 100 percent. In other words integrators and customers can use a single software for full configuration of all of the systems. Of course symbiosis between systems could be endless and is something that could be limited only by developers imagination and resources. 

As we can see the company is very serious about access control it is not just a hobby and lets not forget that before coming out of Asia those systems are tested for some years in huge projects there with hundreds of thousands of cameras, doors and users so stability should not be a concern at all.

Still the systems needs polishing to fit better overseas standards(OSDP, Access control ONVIF, PoE),  but people that follow Hikvision development and access control in this case can notice that all of the product family is constantly and frequently being improved . As we know software is the biggest problem of access control and  current market leaders struggle to keep up with trending technologies but as a technological leader in CCTV and as a member of the top 10 most technological companies in the world for Hikvision this should be a breeze.

Hope the above information will help you answer your and IPVM readers questions and sorry for the mistakes, it si 4 am out here!

BR,

Krasimir

Great article. I am positively surprised with this product overall features.

Keep it up guys!

Regards

It wont be long before Hikvision will be dominating the Access Control industry like they already are in surveillance. Boom Shocka Locka!

I'll be happy when they start to offer wireless alarm systems. This industry is begging for a disruptor right now.

Will be nice to tie it all together in one software. I wonder when they will be offering NVR/Access Control plug n play all in one units.

NOTICE: This comment has been moved to its own discussion: It Wont Be Long Before Hikvision Will Be Dominating The Access Control Industry Like They Already Are In Surveillance. Boom Shocka Locka!

There will be a significant “drag” in HIK breaking into the access market place as there is so much legacy kit out there that just does the same boring job day in day out. In the UK the market place is pretty well dominated by Paxton at this level, so I see the HIK as having been specifically developed for the US market as it would not sit comfortably in the UK.

So much about it shouts “US” - the large industrial boxes, screw terminals etc - which is no bad thing - but is not a UK/EU format.

Regarding IVMS5200 - don’t hold your breath. Almost certainly there will be little or no further development of it, as HIK Central will soon take to the stage and is set to be a game changer....

I’m not sure I would place the HIK access in the same context as Lenel, CCure etc that are full enterprise solutions. Interesting that DSX, Continental and Kantech weren’t used as benchmarks as they are the ones that HIK is taking aim at.

I think the review could have included a few more of the positives regarding things like the elevator control and map functions, but generally a good write up.

 It could be that some posters have taken their eye off the ball. HIK acquired Pyronix some time ago with a keen eye on their excellent radio kit. The EU market is considerably harder to crack than the US in terms of intruder due to the standards being significantly more challenging than the UL. So I expect to see the US market decimated when HIK are ready. I’m very familiar with the US side of things in terms of radio, so I know the only commercial issues will be adjusting of the kit to the specific US quirks, latch setting/home/away and radio signalling etc. This will be a very interesting time in the sense that no US intruder manufacturers have ever made it in the northern EU countries, and EU manufacturer had made it in the US. The US fits in any Latin market but is woeful in the Anglo Saxon areas.

Where I’d like to HIK go is the electronic lock sector to smash SALTO, Vingcard, AlarmLock, Simon Voss and Assa Abloy. They have the ability to and it’s a massive sector less reliant on legacy systems - particularly the Hotel locking sector. Similarly, with locker management - a massive growth sector ripe for the pickings.

 as HIK Central will ... be a game changer....

Why? I took it to be just another VMS. What am I missing?

IVMS4200 is often cited as the weak link in the HIKVISION offering and differs little from its original release in terms of the overall feel and user experience. We frequently see HIK cameras sat on expensive licensed platforms for this reason alone. By game changer I mean for HIK. Once implemented it will give a total new GUI that will easily compare with its expensive licensed rivals and help support a full end to end solution. Commercially, it will start to cut off the reliance on Milestone et al.

Ive never been a fan of 4200, not least as attempting to train an end user on it is far from fun. It has improved over the years but still retains the clunkiness and overall poor feel that lacks an intuitive experience.

If you’ve seen the latest interface on the HIK IP keyboard, then you’ll see how they are moving forward on the GUI side of things. The NVRs will soon have their new GUI and HIK Central will be the icing on the cake. It will be interesting if they do take it down a license route (as 5200), but it will undoubtedly be less expensive than the competition.

HIK have often been criticised for the bleeding edge approach rather than cutting edge when introducing hardware and firmware. So I feel they are slowing things down a tad on the HIK Central to get as close to bug free as possible.

On a personal note, I’m looking forward to Central far more than any hardware release as my gut feeling is that it will a real step up for HIK, removing an obstacle for some and excuse for others.

It is interesting that both the HIK Vision and Dahua products are based around an RTOS and an external NOR flash model and ST 32Fxxx processor running a maximum of 180MHz. This goes a long way to explain the lack of OSDP, which would be challenging to implement across 4channels (but not impossible). It does greatly reduce the cost of entry to the market however as the cpu costs $5 against the typical $60-$100 cost of a Linux module.

Most high end manufacturers run full Linux on the panels (Mercury and cCure being good examples) The main reason for this is too simplify the software development process and maintain legacy support for old applications.

So if you wish to install something that does what it claims to do, but is highly unlikely to be capable of future upgrade, go with these products. This does of course meet a lot of the market.

Two very good articles, keep up the good work!