By John Hudson, vice president and general manager of security at Johnson Controls
Now more than ever, we are reexamining the daily interactions between occupants and their buildings, and asking ourselves, “How can we make them safer, healthier and more efficient?” One of the ways Johnson Controls is answering this question is through our touchless access control offering. As part of the OpenBlue suite of digital solutions and services, touchless access control gives our customers the technology they need to ensure their building environments are safe, maintain healthy business operations and provide a seamless occupant experience. And for businesses and organizations in the midst of reopening, achieving these goals is proving to be crucial to long-term success.

In my experience, touchless access control is a perfect example of the unique union of health and safety brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which will continue long after it has ended. From the perspective of health, Johnson Controls touchless access control solution has become a vital part of our customers’ infection control strategies. Through industry-leading facial recognition and machine learning technology, authorized individuals can easily gain entry to buildings or rooms without the risk of touch contamination found with traditional keypads or cards. For facility managers who have been struggling to maintain social distancing compliance within their facility, touchless access control can help by enabling seamless occupant movements to avoid traffic bottlenecks.

Our solution is just as powerful from a security standpoint; in addition to creating the frictionless occupant experiences that are so important to a healthy building, Johnson Controls touchless access control enables customers to optimize their emergency preparedness and response strategies. By connecting a facility’s critical data touchpoints through the OpenBlue digital platform, security managers receive actionable insights into their building’s security operations, allowing them to easily identify any suspicious behavior. And as buildings continue to repurpose spaces during the pandemic, especially in the healthcare space, security managers can make real-time adjustments to individuals’ access permissions.

As we look ahead to the new year, facility owners and managers across industries are ready to take on their biggest challenges. From hospitals enabling sterile, touchless entry into COVID-19 patient wards, to businesses seeking to improve the flow of traffic in office buildings, to schools investing in enhanced perimeter protection, touchless access control creates healthier, more secure facilities.