ASSA ABLOY Introduces Centrios, a New Access Control Brand for Small Businesses
Centrios debuts at ISC West and addresses the North American small business market with a new access control platform comprised of an intuitive, secure app, web interface, and purpose-built electronic locks and readers. Additionally, the business Centrios, a brand and platform developed within ASSA ABLOY, leverages ASSA ABLOY’s scale and capacity to innovate with a bold new start-up strategy and digital-first, customer-centric approach.
“The small business market is about to undergo the type of transformation in digital access management that the residential market experienced between the early 2000s and now,” Bryan Lieberman, General Manager, Centrios, said today. “Small business owners are busy entrepreneurs who don’t have time to sort through the complexity of the current landscape of access management options. Our channel partners want to offer these business owners a solution that just works, is easy to sell, is well supported, and helps them grow their businesses. We listened very carefully to our customers and designed our business structure, the product, user interfaces, support tools, and even our sales strategy to help our customers make smarter decisions about access for their business faster and with confidence. Today, all that hard work comes to fruition with the launch of Centrios at ISC West.”
With Centrios, business operators can quickly and intuitively manage scheduled access and retrieve access reporting for employees and visitors across multiple physical sites from their phone or a PC. Systems users can effortlessly unlock or lock doors with a touch of their phone to a Centrios lock or smart reader. Centrios is a free system that offers businesses an upgrade path to enhanced features and capacities, such as the number of users, door devices, or scheduling capabilities. Designed with channel partners and end-users in mind, the Free Plan includes management of up to 5 openings, 24/7 access for up to 10 users, and reporting features. The Select Plan enables up to 20 openings, 100 individuals, and custom scheduling and reporting. Neither plan requires a long-term commitment, and a system can be set up in seconds, 24 hours a day. The Centrios solution also features comprehensive 24/7 North America-based customer support resources and a 2-year electronics warranty.
Centrios software and hardware were designed in parallel so the user has the most seamless experience possible. Centrios cylindrical locks are well-suited for exterior or interior openings such as front doors, back doors, storerooms, offices, and bathrooms. The smart reader is optimal for storefronts, employee entrances, gates, or automatic doors where it can be paired with new or legacy third-party electronic access control devices that a business may already have in place. The Centrios locks and smart reader can be installed in minutes and can then be securely paired with the Centrios Mobile App in seconds via BLE.
Centrios also connects end users with locksmiths, integrators, and security professionals through the Centrios Partner Program. This program offers partners valuable training content, end user leads, and the ability to manage their own details for representation on the Centrios where-to-buy finder. “Centrios is more than a lock, more than a smart reader, and more than an app,” Lieberman explains. “It’s a business designed from the ground up to serve the access needs of small and growing businesses. With this as our mission, we provide small businesses greater freedom and more time to focus on the activities that are important to them, especially our channel partners when it comes to growing and diversifying their businesses.”
Commenting on why Centrios would start from the ground up instead of going the acquisition route that ASSA ABLOY has successfully paved with other businesses, Lieberman points to the need for a start-up mentality from a business, technology, and market dynamics standpoint. “We needed to approach this challenge without prior attachments to or biases for ideas, technologies, or strategy. That is what we have done and why Centrios can capitalize on the strengths of ASSA ABLOY but also do things that ASSA ABLOY has never done before.”