Ed Sullivan, Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of EntryReady, discusses how the company's experience in hotel access control is shaping its expansion into higher education. After developing NFC- and RFID-based locking systems for hotels and resorts, EntryReady is looking to bring that technology to campus residence halls, replacing traditional brass keys with mobile wallet credentials.

The company designs its own hardware, electronics and software, with support for Apple, Google and Samsung wallets. Sullivan explains that this approach allows EntryReady to manage the entire credentialing process or integrate with existing campus ID providers.

Adding speed and security with Wi-FI 6

One of EntryReady's primary offerings is its Wi-Fi 6-enabled door locks. Sullivan says these locks can operate offline or connect online without the extensive infrastructure traditionally associated with networked access control, including repeaters and gateways.

The company says it is both a credential provider and a credential manager, so they can deliver a top-to-bottom mobile ID solution.

The online capabilities also give institutions greater visibility into building access. Administrators can identify unusual activity, receive notifications about potential security concerns and revoke credentials across the system when a student leaves the university or loses access privileges.

Working with existing campus systems

According to Sullivan, EntryReady is both a credential provider and a credential manager. Thus, they can deliver a top-to-bottom mobile ID solution.

They can also connect with existing systems and third-party credential managers via their API-driven software. Sullivan says this flexibility is particularly important as the company enters higher education, where campuses often already have established student ID and access control platforms.

Drawing on its hospitality experience, EntryReady also offers hardware installation, software implementation, training and ongoing support.

For Sullivan, the opportunity is to make modern access control simpler and more affordable for institutions while giving students a familiar mobile wallet experience when accessing their residence halls.

TRANSCRIPT:

My name is Ed Sullivan. I'm Chief Strategy Officer and one of the co-founders of EntryReady.

We're a five-year-old company. We came originally into the hotel and hospitality space, where we've become one of the major players.

We had a unique opportunity to come into the market with a blank sheet of paper. We were able to build one of the most advanced door locks because we could use a modern architecture and the most advanced security protocols.

We decided early on to become an NFC and RFID lock. We bypassed Bluetooth, went right to NFC, and partnered with Apple, Google and now Samsung as well.

Our system is designed for a hotel environment. We can handle 100% of the use case, everything from the software to run it to the door locks, wall readers, elevator controls and everything else in between.

That's been our history, and higher education is one of the verticals we're interested in getting involved with.

We want to become known as the folks who are replacing brass keys and bringing Apple Wallet into residence halls.

We're one of the first to bring Wi-Fi 6 into locks, which is what we're calling democratizing online locks.

The first part is that we built Apple, Google and Samsung compatibility right into the hardware itself. We manufacture and design all our own electronics and hardware, and we write all the software that goes with them. Our partnerships are with the wallet providers.

That's given us an advantage in making sure we're bringing out secure locks and access control systems. Because everything works together seamlessly, it's easy to use and brings cost-effectiveness to the entire package.

We're one of the first to bring Wi-Fi 6 into locks, which is what we're calling democratizing online locks.

Wi-Fi 6 doesn't require the same heavy architecture, repeaters, and Zigbee gateways that you typically need for online locks. That makes it cost-effective.

On the credential manager side, we can issue credentials ourselves. We're authorized across a variety of industries and licensed by Apple to do so. We have those relationships with Google and Samsung as well.

Our locks can operate offline, but you can also bring them online cost-effectively. That makes them interesting from an ease-of-use perspective.

We're very Apple-esque because we like the Steve Jobs approach of simplicity. Our software is easy to use, but it's also API-driven.

We can connect with existing systems you already have in place. Or, if we're not connected, we can quickly get systems integrated.

We're built on NXP chips, MIFARE DESFire, and we're an Apple credential manager and credential provider.

The credential provider side involves the chips in the hardware that allow us to interact with wallet technology.

On the credential manager side, we can issue credentials ourselves. We're authorized across a variety of industries and licensed by Apple to do so. We have those relationships with Google and Samsung as well.

That means we can handle the entire credentialing process from start to finish.

But we also have an advantage because of the way we architected our system. We can partner with a student ID provider that is also a credential manager, or another credential manager, and they can sit on top of our chip so we can receive their credentials.

The architecture is designed to be interoperable, but we can do the whole thing ourselves. That's typically what we do in the hotel setting.

Or we can work with partners to handle whatever scenario our customer has.

We're very successful in the hotel and hospitality space, including hotels, resorts and timeshares.

In a project with a customer, we can handle the entire project. To be successful, that means going in and replacing all the door locks.

We do this rapidly. We carry inventory and have a 24/7 support process for clients.

We can partner with a student ID provider that is also a credential manager, and they can sit on top of our chip so we can receive their credentials.

Once we get somebody up and running with our hardware, we help them install the software and provide the necessary training.

The kicker comes when you bring in Wi-Fi 6 and wallet credentials.

Wi-Fi 6 is a game changer when it comes to security posture. Our system operates in near real time, if not real time, from an online perspective.

That means you can see whether people are trying to access locks they're not supposed to, or whether there's unusual activity.

Our system will pick up anomalies. It doesn't necessarily trigger an alarm, but we can send signals back to our own system or other connected systems to indicate there's activity someone might want to investigate.

Another case is blacklisting.

If a student gets expelled or leaves the university, you can revoke their credentials, and that happens across the entire system instantly.

That's one of the benefits of having online locks.

We do that in hotels, too. If a guest gets removed from a property or someone's credentials expire, we can handle that process to make sure the physical property remains secure.

If you want to learn more, go to EntryReady.com. We have a form you can fill out, and we'll give you a call. We promise to call you back within 24 hours.

We're known for our customer service and responsiveness. We take care of our customers. If you become a customer, we're going to take care of you.