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Let’s take a look at fail secure vs. fail safe, what they are and the differences between each type.
What are fail safe magnetic door locks?
A fail safe lock is a common type of lock that requires power consumption to keep it locked. They can be unlocked when a valid credential, like a keycard or a fob, is presented. This briefly interrupts the flow of power and the door can be opened.
If there is a power failure, the door will be unlocked completely, allowing people to get both in and out of the room or building and keeping your people safe in emergency situations. In the event of an emergency or natural disaster, people can escape easily, making them a popular choice for main access doors and entry points like office doors.
Using fail safe locks on entry and exit doors in commercial buildings or for classroom locks also allows emergency services access, even if the power goes out.
What are fail secure magnetic door locks?
Fail secure products, or a fail lock, on the other hand, need electrical power to unlock. If your power goes out or fails, then your doors will remain locked from the outside, keeping the room secure. That’s the main difference between fail safe and fail security – one stays locked even if the electricity fails, and the other doesn’t.
If there’s a power outage, types of commercial doors with a fail secure magnetic door lock will remain locked from the outside. However, a fail secure magnetic door lock can be unlocked manually from the inside. So, while fail secure locks make it harder for unauthorized persons to gain access during an emergency, anyone inside the room can still get out with ease. This type of lock can also be overridden to allow for emergency egress.
However, this type of fail secure electronic lock does provide more security. That makes a fail secure lock a good choice for areas which require additional protection or robust secure locks, such as server closets or rooms with valuable data or equipment.
Now you know the difference between fail safe and fail secure locks, but which kind do you need for your workplace or commercial setting?
It’s important to check your local building codes and regulations for emergency systems to ensure you’re complying with the rules in your local area.
Generally speaking though, it makes sense to use fail safe locks in high-traffic areas, where people are continually coming and going. That means that, in the event of an emergency, people can easily get out, and the emergency services can get in without any access issues.
Smart homes take a step closer to interoperability with Matter 1.0 release
After several false starts and delays, the Connectivity Standards Alliance announced on Tuesday the much-anticipated release of the Matter 1.0 specification and the opening of the Matter certification program, which many predict will revolutionize the smart home and residential security technology markets.To get more news about commercial safe locks, you can visit securamsys.com official website.
As Security Business magazine reported in February, Matter is a proprietary, royalty-free home automation connectivity standard. First announced on Dec. 18, 2019, it aims to reduce fragmentation across different vendors, and achieve interoperability among smart home devices and Internet of things (IoT) platforms from different providers.
The release of Matter 1.0 represents a great step forward in the world of interoperability, and I look forward to working with and helping with the maturity of the standard as it moves forward,” says Avi Rosenthal, managing partner for smart home and security consulting firm Bluesalve Partners LLC . “This release is the beginning of a long and hopefully, successful future for Matter. I am excited about its prospects and how the consumer will benefit from its launch.”
As part of the Matter 1.0 release, authorized test labs are open for product certification, the test harnesses and tools are available, and the open-source reference design software development kit (SDK) is complete – all to bring new, innovative products to market. Further, Alliance members with devices already deployed and with plans to update their products to support Matter can now do so, once their products are certified.
What does it mean for the residential security market?
“It is too soon to tell how the integrations between the security panels and Matter devices will shake out,” Rosenthal says. “One of the features of the standard is something that allows for multiple ‘managers’ of a device. This gives control of a specific sensor to both the security panel and the Matter ‘controller’ (Google Home or Amazon Alexa, for example). But it is unclear how that data will pass from a security panel if they have not allowed this feature.”
This initial release of Matter, running over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Thread, and using Bluetooth Low Energy for device commissioning, will support a variety of common smart home products, including lighting and electrical, HVAC controls, window coverings and shades, safety and security sensors, door locks, media devices including TVs, controllers as both devices and applications, and bridges.
“This release is the first step on a journey our community and the industry are taking to make the IoT more simple, secure, and valuable no matter who you are or where you live,” Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, explained in a press release. “With global support from companies large and small, today’s Matter 1.0 release is more than a milestone for our organization and our members; it is a celebration of what is possible.”
The Matter 1.0 standard launches with test cases and comprehensive test tools for Alliance members and a global certification program including eight authorized test labs who are primed to test not only Matter, but also Matter’s underlying network technologies, Wi-Fi and Thread. Wi-Fi enables Matter devices to interact over a high-bandwidth local network and allows smart home devices to communicate with the cloud. Thread provides an energy efficient and highly reliable mesh network within the home. Both the Wi-Fi Alliance and Thread Group partnered with the Connectivity Standards Alliance to help realize the complete vision of Matter.Matter and Thread resolve interoperability and connectivity issues in smart homes so manufacturers can focus on other value-adding innovations,” Thread Group president Vividh Siddha said in the release. “Thread creates a self-healing mesh network which grows more responsive and reliable with each added device, and its ultra-lower power architecture extends battery life. Combined, Thread with Matter is a powerful choice for product companies and a great value for consumers.”
Matter is also striking new ground with security policies and processes using distributed ledger technology and Public Key Infrastructure to validate device certification and provenance. This will help to ensure users are connecting authentic, certified, and up-to-date devices to their homes and networks.
“There are still lots of questions, but it is going to be very exciting to see how they are solved,” Rosenthal says. “I hope to learn more when I attend the Launch in Amsterdam next month.”
The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) is spearheaded by some of the heaviest hitters in the smart home and residential security technology space, with its Board of Directors including executives from Amazon, Apple, ASSA ABLOY, Comcast, Google, Huawei, Latch Systems, Legrand, Lutron Electronics, Resideo, Samsung SmartThings, Schneider Electric, and others.
“We would not be where we are today without the strength and dedication of the Alliance members who have provided thousands of engineers, intellectual property, software accelerators, security protocols, and the financial resources to accomplish what no single company could ever do on their own,” Bruno Vulcano, Chair of the Alliance Board and R&D Manager for Legrand Digital Infrastructure, said in the release.