With legacy access cards moving out of the way for mobile phones to take over physical security, it’s high time we look at the benefits mobile phone authentication provides.

Mobile phones come with different chips and features which make them suitable for physical access control and authentication. The best way to use a mobile phone for authentication is through its NFC chip or its Bluetooth interface. In this authentication ecosystem, your phone passes your authentication information to the Bluetooth or NFC reader, and from there, the data passes to the main authorization device. From there, the system grants the user verified access.

Most employees are more wary and protective of their mobile phones than their access cards. Therefore, many vendors are enthusiastic about using mobile phones as authenticators in favor of access cards.

Long-Range and Short-Range Mobile Phone Authentication

Through different pre-defined gestures, users can initiate an authentication interaction. For example, tapping on the phone, swiping near the phone, or quickly twisting the phone will indicate to the reader that the user requires authorization and will start a transaction. This prevents unwanted reads. Moreover, this allows the Bluetooth interface to initiate long-range reads, while the NFC reader handles shorter range authentication interactions.

The Advantages of Mobile Devices for Authentication and Security

Here are the main advantages of a mobile device driven authentication ecosystem –

Managing Credentials is Faster and Easier

Administrators can easily assign and revoke access on the fly with a mobile phone access authorization system. Additionally, upon onboarding a new employee, they can immediately incorporate them into the system and provide necessary credentials without having to wait on an access card.

Promotes Futurism

Access cards are a thing of the past – with mobile phone authentication, your company will look tech-savvy and modern in the eyes of your customers. Moreover, the employees will find it more convenient to access restricted areas by the wave of their mobile instead of fumbling around for an access card.

Save Costs

By removing the need for access cards across the organization for authentication, your company can save on the costs of issuing and re-issuing lost access cards.

Better Safety and Security

Mobile phone verification is, in most cases, much safer than access card verification. Moreover, they function in almost the same way. Additionally, with the power of a mobile phone’s processor, you can integrate complicated encryption algorithms to improve security. Altogether, it’s an improvement over standard access card security systems.

Multi-Factor Authentication

By harnessing the power of a mobile phone, you can enable multi-factor authentication for your employees – a security feature you can’t have with standard access card readers. Therefore, through a well-designed mobile application integrated with your physical security solution, you can use pins, patterns, and biometrics solutions to enable multi-factor authentication.

To help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends in physical security and mobile phone authentication services, IDZONE brings you Access360 – a complete physical security solution that offers mobile phone access control and authentication features. Additionally, we’ve developed specialized iOS and Android applications to integrate with Access360 and provide you with a complete physical security solution. Therefore, rely on us to meet all your business requirements with the latest innovations in physical security, access control, and authentication technology.