Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies Discussed Security Innovation with BOMA Focus Group
Seventeen BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) members and commercial real estate professionals participated in a focus group discussion hosted by Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies at the BOMA Winter Business Meeting in Waikiki, Hawaii, on January 19, 2013. The focus group’s objectives were to better understand BOMA member views on security, get to know their needs and determine what impacts their decisions, as a foundation, for innovations to support commercial building applications. As a result of this and other meetings with BOMA constituents, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies will be offering an exclusive innovation reveal to BOMA members at the Every Building Conference and Expo in San Diego, June 23-25, 2013.
At the Winter Meeting, the focus group advised that an overwhelming 90 percent of BOMA members’ tenants were still using mechanical locks and keys in their offices and workplaces. Yet, over 70 percent of the property managers use access control and card credentials on the perimeters of their properties. According to the building owners and managers, they perceive complexity, cost and ease-of-use to be barriers to access control within the commercial building. Nonetheless, property managers, owners and clients continue to search for ways to improve security and intelligence in their buildings.
“[The] facts are that adding or improving an electronic access control system in a commercial building doesn’t have to be complex, costly or hard for associates to use,” said April Dalton-Noblitt, Ingersoll Rand director of vertical markets. “Besides finding out what types of solutions property owners and managers want through our focus groups and challenging our engineering staff to create them, we also provide a library of information devoted solely for commercial property professionals in a section of our website.”
For help, commercial property owners and management can go here to discover information such as what types of security solutions to consider, case histories of commercial building owners and management that have migrated to electronic systems, and other resources and contacts.
“Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies’ commitment to BOMA members continues to expand,” added Dalton-Noblitt. “Over the past several years, our involvement has grown from being a BOMA Cornerstone Partner, supporting at the national level, to becoming BOMA 360 Ambassador, offering BOMA 360 resources. In 2013, we are now concentrating on expanding our BOMA local-level participation as well as determining security innovation needs with BOMA.”