What would you do without your smartphone? How would you find your way to a new restaurant, call your children, or get the latest news? We rely on mobile devices for many everyday tasks, so it’s no surprise that mobile credentials are taking the physical security industry by storm.
Here are three reasons for the exponential growth in the popularity of mobile credentials, and why you should care.
Mobile Credentials Have the ‘Wow’ Factor
Everyone loves new gadgets, especially ones that make their lives easier. Mobile credentials are no exception. Our salespeople tell stories of closing deals as soon as they show prospective customers that they can unlock their doors with their smartphone. Property managers have begun listing mobile credentials as one of their high-tech amenities to attract new residents. Users of mobile credential apps write glowing reviews about convenience.
Mobile Credentialing Technology Abounds
When they first appeared about 10 years ago, mobile credentials used near-field communication (NFC). Since Apple never provided API access to its NFC capabilities, adoption was limited, because the technology was only available to Android users.
Today’s mobile credentials use Bluetooth, which is supported by all smartphone manufacturers and many wearables, such as smartwatches, and is therefore available to virtually everyone with a smart device. Bluetooth also ups the convenience factor since Bluetooth readers allow users to open doors without even taking their phones out of their pockets. By contrast, NFC required users to hold their device within inches of the reader.
No Bluetooth readers? No problem. If your customer uses a cloud-based access control system, mobile devices can communicate directly with the cloud via wifi or cellular.
Mobile Credentials Are Quickly Becoming the Norm
As mobile devices become the default way that people interact with the world, more consumers are demanding that they should be able to use them to open doors too. A recent Forbes article stated that half of the respondents to a survey would prefer mobile credentials over a keycard to access their office buildings.
Businesses are already responding to this demand from their customers. Research firm Gartner predicts that 20 percent of organizations will be using mobile credentials in place of keycards within the next year. This statistic is not surprising considering that in a recent Brivo survey, almost two-thirds of respondents reported using multiple mobile business applications already. If you’re not offering mobile credential solutions, you soon won’t be able to meet your customers’ minimum requirements.
There’s obviously the demand for mobile credentials, but what are the benefits to your business of adding them to your product offerings? Read on to find out 4 ways to grow your business with mobile.