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HAI Offers Electronic Access Control for the Home

System records comings and goings of guests, and sets access privileges for visitors.


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You can swipe a card the old-fashioned way or do as HAI chief Jay McLellan does: put the card in your wallet and wave your tush at the reader.

Home Automation Inc. (HAI), developer of home-control systems for the mass market, is getting into the access control business. The company is launching a system comprised of proximity cards and readers, door strikes, and software for logging comers and goers.

"We're starting to see door strikes in residential applications," says HAI chief Jay McLellan, who keeps his own proximity card in a wallet.

In his case, the card reader is "mounted at butt level," so he needs only to wave his tush at the door for access.

While access control systems for commercial applications abound, HAI's version is tailor-made for homes. The installer need not run AC wiring to the door-mounted components. Instead, they are powered over Cat 5 through a hub that plugs into any AC outlet.

The Cat 5 runs from the hub to the card reader. A small-gauge wire connects the reader to the door strike for both power and communications.

The access control system supports 16 door strikes and 99 users. It integrates with HAI's Omni family of controllers to log access events, namely, who entered the premises and when. In addition, a card-swipe can trigger other HAI events such as arming and disarming the security system, or setting the user's individual "I'm Home" scene – perhaps playing a preferred playlist, setting back the thermostat and lighting a pathway to the bedroom.

Users can be granted privileges based on time of day and day of week as well as any other desired events.

A four-door system, including cards, card readers and door strikes, is expected to retail for less than $2,000. The HAI Omni control system (required) is sold separately.




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About the Author

Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.

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