Designing intercoms’ graphical interface can help address the ‘flight to quality’ trend in real estate

One of the most important trends in commercial real estate is the ‘flight to quality’, with businesses who are trying to encourage employees back to the office and appeal to the best talent prioritising top-tier office buildings.

Based on CBRE research in the US, effective rents have risen for top-tier office buildings and fallen for lower-quality properties since 2021, and, CBRE predicts, “top-tier office buildings should continue to outperform lower-quality ones over the near term”. The trend is just as real in Europe, and the consensus in the real estate sector is that it is changing the relationship between building owners and tenants – which is, according to JLL, “increasingly becoming one of cooperation and partnership”.

Why does this matter for access control? For two main reasons:

First, we know from our own discussions with system integrators and installers that their customers are prioritising design – including the design of intercoms and answering units – to an even greater extent now than they did before the pandemic. The bottom line is that, when it comes to office space, every detail matters.

Second, in a highly competitive market, there is a premium on innovation to enhance the desirability of buildings, and building owners are looking to give their tenants the flexibility to shape the space according to their needs.

This second driver has been tougher for the access control industry to address, but 2N has found a way through the recent firmware upgrade to two of our flagship intercoms – the 2N® IP Style and the 2N® IP Verso. By making the display API available to integrators and installers, the upgrade allows tenants to design the graphical display interface as they wish.

Does the customer want to add the company logo or brand colour to the background of the intercom display? Or do all the companies in the building want to add their logos for people to click on when they arrive? Or do they want a personalised layout? Or additional information? Or special icons? The display setup manual includes the complete list of possibilities – but the options are almost endless.

To make it as easy as possible, there is a detailed description of how to work with the API display in the user manual and our pre-sales department is always available to help if needed.

And this won’t just enhance commercial projects. We have developed a custom code to illustrate what a customised 2N® IP Style video intercom GUI can look like in a typical residential project. And in this picture, you can see what the interface of the residential project in the example consists of and how it works.

Taking a step back, this is yet another example of the impact that IP technology continues to have on the access control industry. Previously, in the RFID era, trends in the real estate sector were a little bit incidental to access control because there were very few ways in which intercoms and answering units could adapt. Now, when we see trends like ‘flight to quality’ and the push for innovation to give tenants the flexibility to shape space to suit their needs, we see an opportunity to offer further added value. It’s a fundamental shift, and the most exciting thing of all? We’re still in the early stages of exploring what IP technology can do for access control.

For more information visit www.2n.com or call 0203 510 5770.

-ends-