The Innovator – Sarah Thompson

October 1, 2024

Rebecca Spayne of Security Buyer speaks with Sarah Thompson, Chief Product Officer, Integrated Control Technology about all things access control and building management

Please introduce yourself and give us a brief insight into ICT.

I have a background in strategy development, business transformation, and executive leadership. It’s always been in product development at global tech companies, and I’ve always worked for organisations that I think do some good.

ICT started more than 20 years ago as Integrated Control Technologies, and as a manufacturer of security solutions, we’ve led the way with unified systems for access control, intruder detection, and building automation – long before this was fashionable.

So, for me, the attraction of ICT is around making people and property safe – and not just to be safe, but to feel safe.

Is the way people are interacting with security systems changing? How?

There’s massive variation in the environments that security systems go into, and therefore there are very different approaches in how those environments are managed.

I think we need to recognise that the training and experience of the person administrating the system day to day can vary wildly. Dependent on the system installed and the location, it could be anyone from an HR employee or an office manager, all the way through to a fully deployed 24/7 Security Operations Centre with full time eyes-on-glass.

Similarly, we also see a high variation in how people want to interact with their security system – again from a fully staffed 24/7 SOC to someone who just wants to be able to easily manage things from a mobile device on the go.

A common thread for everyone though, is that people want a system that is flexible and can be configured to their specific needs. They want choice on the supporting applications that make up the system (like VMS, or visitor management etc), and they want something that is approachable, intuitive and easy to use.

We must recognise that our user base is constantly evolving. Turnover in some roles can be high, so security systems need to be easier to learn, easier to use, and much more approachable. On top of this, we also need to train people who operate the platform day-to-day to ensure they get the most benefit of their investment.

You mentioned working to make security more approachable. Can you explain what that means?

Our CEO, Hayden Burr, talks about the transition towards allowing people freedom to access while controlling and managing movements in a more efficient way.

If we make it easier to use for the least qualified users, all users ultimately benefit. Securing an environment is serious, but at the same time it doesn’t need to be hard.

Does this ultimately mean a different experience for all users?

Absolutely. A regular user wants a system that they don’t have to think about, it needs to be almost invisible for them without unnecessary hold ups.

For administrators, security may not be their primary role, so they need something which is easy to use & learn and helps them make the right choices to keep things secure.

And for integrators, while providing a product that has the flexibility to meet their customers’ needs is important, having easier to use systems that reduce training time and mistakes, are an easier sell to the end user. And, easier to configure systems also minimise programming and lessen the physical time on site.

Tell us about ICT’s journey from a feature-rich platform that can do anything if you know how to program it, to a more intuitive one.

I’ve had many a customer tell me there is so much that you can do with an ICT system. Our Protege platforms are very configurable and offer such a wide range of options to the integrator. This means they suit a wide range of environments, like these real-world examples such as an enterprise level local government install in Australia that spans across a city, to remote monitoring of a de-icing system in Canada, to a recently opened self-service hotel in Iceland.

Traditionally, our focus has not been on how we make the system easier and better to use – capability has come at the expense of usability. That has meant that integrators really need to know the system well to get the most benefit out of it.

Last year we started to change that with a series of User Experience design workshops looking at how we make the lives of our administrators, users, and integrators better.

We will bring out a new look and feel starting with our mobile platform (which covers both users and administrators), before rolling out changes across other platforms and interfaces. And this is just the start of what we’re doing at ICT to bring a more customer-focused experience.

Technology has evolved and manufacturers are no longer ‘penned’ into one sector, for example Access Control, but instead are integrating a number of services into their offering. Does this change the customer’s approach to selecting the right solution?

As company that was founded on an open, unified approach over 20 years ago, this is something we’ve always passionately believed in at ICT. Of course, we’ve seen an increased focus on the importance of integrations and the value they can bring.

And while the industry will keep pushing towards more cloud-based systems, there is a percentage who will remain on premise due to the security requirements of the location….