Today, smartphones are widely used, they easily replace everything in the modern world, including the industry of physical access control.
In search of better convenience and security, the real estate industry is actively researching and implementing smartphone technologies to control access to replace obsolete smart cards.
We’ve recently integrated SALTO JustIn Mobile SDK into a mobile application for one of our clients, and in this article we will share the implementation experience and our findings of this technology.
What is SALTO JustIN Mobile
SALTO JustIn Mobile technology is developed by Salto Systems, a company that creates wireless electronic access control solutions. It is designed for integrating and using a smartphone in the access control system.
This solution can be used in any room where access control to the door is required, it can be used on the main front door, conference rooms, parking lots, etc.
With JustIN Mobile from SALTO, users can receive a digital key anytime, anywhere, which is very flexible and convenient.
The main components of SALTO JustIN technology include:
1) SALTO locks with built-in BLE/NFC technology;
2) Standard software and control complex SALTO;
3) Mobile application with SALTO JustIN SDK integrated, for mobile devices supporting BLE technology.
How does it work?
The process of key management and the door opening is quite simple and easy for both end-users and system managers.
- The user makes a request to access the selected room or zone. In our case it was done inside the app, when the user booked the meeting room.
- The access management software generates and sends the digital key to the mobile app with JustIN Mobile SDK integrated into the user’s smartphone.
- The user receives a message or notification about the new digital key, also specifying which door will be accessible with this key.
- Then, to access a door, the user will simply place the smartphone in front of the hardware and start communication via the mobile app. The protocol implementation details are encapsulated inside the mobile SDK.
JustIN Mobile uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to transfer data between mobile devices and digital locks and also other access points equipped with readers with a BLE antenna. All data transitions and the mobile key itself are encrypted and secured.
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Advantages of mobile access compared to card access
It is cheaper, even if virtual key identifiers are worth the money, they cannot be lost, broken, they are easier to manage.
It is safer, because the process of duplicating a physical card is not trivial and can be made not only by highly qualified specialists.
As it was said, digital keys are easier to manage. When a physical card is lost, broken, forgotten at home etc, you need to find someone to solve the problem, and this someone, depending on the size of the company, can spend a significant amount of time on it.
Mobile access is more convenient. Accessing using SALTO Justin mobile app can be a faster and more convenient process, and you don’t always need to reach for the card to the reader, but you can just press the key button on your smartphone and unlock using bluetooth with a wide range.
And the last but not least important thing, SALTO Justin mobile app is more environmentally friendly, because you don’t need physical cards, which are made of plastic and will decompose for hundreds of years.
How much time does it take to integrate JustIN Mobile SDK?
The time needed to integrate mobile digital access depends on both business and technical requirements and is individual in each case. For more information about the time scopes according to your case, you can contact our technical specialists.
Get inspired by our recent blog post about property management software costs.
What development team is needed to integrate mobile access using JustIN Mobile SDK?
To integrate mobile access using JustIN Mobile SDK, you will need an Android and/or iOS developer, as well as a backend developer. If you have a web version, the engagement of the frontend developer is also required.
Option for Mobile SDK
For making custom mobile apps that interact with digital door locks, Salto Systems provides SALTO JustIN Mobile SDK.
The SDK and its documentation is not publicly available, that’s why to start integration you will need to obtain a copy of the SDK from Salto Systems. You can contact them here.
From our experience it took us about a few days to receive the sdk after the request.
Once you have this copy, you can start using the SDK.
We could not share with you the code examples of our implementation because of confidentiality policy, but the general SALTO Justin mobile app scenario is pretty straightforward:
- Create an instance of the digital key inside the door opening use case.
- When the user presses the ‘Key’ button -> trigger sdk interface method to initiate the opening door process. The opening process will run in the background thread, so you don’t have to worry about that.
- Handle success or error results from SDK and inform the user.
Comparing other libraries, we can say that this one has a well-described structure and technical parts of SDK, and allows us to easily integrate into our client’s app.
How secure is SALTO?
All data transitions that are made to deliver the key are secured by encryption. It means that the mobile key, which the user receives inside the app is also encrypted.
When the lock opening process is initiated, the encrypted mobile key is sent to the SALTO lock using SALTO’s secure protocol that is encapsulated in the SDK.
Conclusions
The use of mobile devices in access control systems to open the electronic door locks will help you to save the time for key management, and you will no longer need to replace lost or forgotten keys or cards. Axon provides companies with senior tech talent and product development expertise to build world-class software.
The integration of SALTO JustIN Mobile SDK in pair with mobile user authorization will allow you to restrict access to the key, and provide access only if the user is authorized.
We recommend you to take a look at this solution from the integration perspective and contact us if you have any questions.
