Kastle, Apple Partner on Office Access Management

Kastle Systems, whose 10-city average of office badge entry swipes has become a staple of measuring office occupancy levels, is partnering with Apple on office access management, integrating badges into Apple Wallet so iPhones and Apple watches can tap for entry.

 Apple Wallet deploys Apple’s near-field communications technology (NFC), which allow devices within a few centimeters of each other to exchange information wirelessly using NFC scanning.

 The partnership was trumpeted by Kastle in a marketing flyer at CREtech New York.

 “Employee badges in Apple Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch seamlessly integrate into your company’s existing access control systems,” the flyer stated. “Employee badges in Apple Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch allow your staff and customers to open doors. Thanks to NFC technology, they can access places quickly and safely, all without opening additional apps.”

 Kastle CEO Haniel Lynn told GlobeSt. that Kastle is developing a system—a combination of hardware and software that Kastle is calling Dynamic Access Management—to enable office building operators to match hybrid workers with collaborative space on a real-time basis.

Traditionally—meaning before the pandemic—office access control usually involved two benchmarks, Lynn explained.

“You got (an entry) badge five years ago when you were hired, and then you gave it back when you left the company,” he said. “Those were the only times when access control mattered.”

“Now, it’s more like, I’m going to be in this space on this date and I’m going to be in that space on that date,” Lynn told us. “Our app enables people to get into space on a dynamic-space basis. We can assign reservations that enable people to go in there.”

Kastle is deploying the system at a time when it’s weekly badge-swipe surveys—which now reflect daily as well as weekly office occupancy levels—have consistently shown that office attendance swells in the middle of the week before dropping off sharply on Fridays.

 “Hybrid work is going to last for a long time. Your Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which are big days [for office occupancy levels] are starting to go up higher and higher,” he said.

We asked Lynn if he expects overall office footprints to shrink. That remains to be seen, he told us, but the primary issue is how people will be using their office space.

“Hybrid means that there will be days in [the office] and there will be days out. How do they manage the days in? Do they maximize their return to the office?” he said. “How do they foster collaboration, how do they build teams, how do they create [a corporate] culture?”

“Collaboration only happens in real space. You want to think about which teams you want to collaborate on the days they’re in,” Lynn added.

“We want to figure out who is going to be there, when they’re going to be in these spaces and to have more seamless access to spaces that they may not be resident in. This technology makes those experiences possible,” he said.

Dynamic Access Management, with its specific space reservations for hybrid workers, also may help curb a persistent post-pandemic problem, the Kastle CEO told us.

We’ll call it the “punch the time clock for me” syndrome: workers giving their badges to co-workers for a phantom swipe that will convince the bosses they’re coming into the office when they’re not.