Employees in London Building Can Use Their iPhone or Apple Watch to Gain Office Access

  • Apr 03, 2023

Smart Spaces, a leading global provider of smart building technology, has teamed with HID to introduce an employee badge in Apple Wallet, offering a secure and even more seamless building entry for employees at 22 Bishopsgate in the City of London. By adding their employee badge to Apple Wallet, employees and staff in the building can now safely and easily gain access to offices with just a simple tap of their iPhone or Apple Watch.

Following the initial partnership between Smart Spaces and 22 Bishopsgate utilizing HID Mobile Access in 2020, all occupiers and guests at the landmark office tower have had access to a frictionless arrival-experience. Multi-platform QR access will remain available to those that require it.

Smart Spaces provides a suite of cutting-edge smart technologies for workspaces. By utilizing HID Mobile Access and building management systems, Smart Spaces constantly adapts to deliver best-in-class experiences to make daily work life more efficient for occupiers, employees, property owners and managers alike, while optimizing sustainability and wellness.

The introduction of employee badge in Wallet, which is one of the first to debut in the UK at 22 Bishopsgate, is the next step in transforming the user experience in a modern workplace.

Unlike physical cards, there is no waiting time for obtaining building credentials, making building access for new employees quick and efficient. Once an employee badge has been added and activated within Apple Wallet, users can hold their device near a door’s NFC-enabled reader to immediately access secured areas.

With Express Mode enabled, employees do not need to unlock or even wake up their device to use their employee badge — they can simply tap their device. If an iPhone or Apple Watch needs to be charged, employees can still use their device to access their office or amenity areas for up to five hours with Power Reserve.

Employee badges in Apple Wallet take full advantage of the privacy and security built into iPhone and Apple Watch. When or where a 22 Bishopsgate employee uses their employee badge in Apple Wallet is never shared with Apple or stored on Apple servers. If their iPhone or Apple Watch is misplaced, the owner of the device can promptly use the Find My app to lock the device and help locate it.

Gerald Grattoni, VP and Head of Physical Access Control Systems for Mature Markets at HID said: “We are happy to continue to bring yet another deployment of employee badge in Apple Wallet. The broad reach and daily touchpoints of digital wallets will truly impact the way we interact with the world, particularly in terms of convenience and security." Dan Drogman, CEO at Smart Spaces, said: “We’re excited to bring this new service to occupiers at 22 Bishopsgate and to be using Apple Wallet to deliver cutting edge and truly innovative solutions for our clients. Evolving workplace trends mean that we need to think creatively about occupier needs and what draws them to the office. Having seamless access to a building through a commonly held Apple device is a game changer and we’re delighted to be one of the first to bring this technology to London offices.”

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