iLOQ is a provider of smart locking and secure access to buildings. Originally from Finland, iLOQ now has offices in nine countries around the world and is adding more all the time. iLOQ’s innovation centres on self-powered digital locking and mobile access management solutions. iLOQ’s system reduces opex from lost keys or lock battery maintenance while also improving operational efficiency by enabling enhanced access control and site monitoring. TowerXchange spoke with Nicoleta Hajek, their Export Sales Director to discuss iLOQ’s work in the telecom infrastructure sector.
TowerXchange: Please introduce your company – where do you fit in the telecoms infrastructure ecosystem?
Nicoleta Hajek, Export Sales Director, iLOQ Oy: iLOQ provides smart locking and secure access to buildings and spaces we use daily and caters to the needs of industry and the utility sector with mobile and digital solutions for efficient access sharing and management. iLOQ S50 allows telecoms providers to focus on their core business – managing and maintaining sites, not providing access to them.
TowerXchange: How have your developed a digital battery-less locking system? What are the key benefits?
Nicoleta Hajek, Export Sales Director, iLOQ Oy: Developing a self-powered digital locking system that does not need batteries was the initial idea behind establishing the company. The idea was first researched jointly with the University of Oulu, then followed by multiple years of internal development and patenting of the needed technology. Our first products were launched in 2007 and our technology has evolved even further with new generations of products.
iLOQ S50 is the first locking system on the planet to harvest energy for unlocking from a smartphone. This combines digital and mobile access management with a maintenance free and sustainable solution.
TowerXchange: How does iLOQ ensure its battery-less locking system complies with international standards?
Nicoleta Hajek, Export Sales Director, iLOQ Oy: iLOQ has been certified by leading authorities in various countries to both international and local standards. We regularly check the needs of the markets and perform the necessary certifications if these are not yet available.
TowerXchange: The first question our readers will want to know is ‘how proven is the solution in the field’ – please tell us about the performance of your solution in the field – who is using it and what results have been achieved?
Nicoleta Hajek, Export Sales Director, iLOQ Oy: iLOQ has been supplying battery free locking systems for more than 15 years. More than 2,500,000 iLOQ cylinders are installed and in use around the world. The iLOQ NFC solutions especially will mainly be used by energy providers, telecommunication, datacentres, or service providers.
TowerXchange: What is the typical capital outlay per site to install your solution? Is your system compatible with most smartphone handsets?
Nicoleta Hajek, Export Sales Director, iLOQ Oy:
We cannot say a price for each location, it all depends on the project and on the needed features to be included. But our major benefits are listed below:
Fast ROI – there is no key handling; no costs for key copies or cylinder replacements; no battery-related maintenance of locks; and towercos can delegate access management to customers.
Lower opex – consolidate numerous unmonitored sites hosting critical equipment and multiple access possibilities into one user-friendly, customised software platform
Operational efficiency – create and update access rights for thousands of property locks in real-time and share them instantly and remotely
Maximised security – No risk of key copying; instantly revoke access rights to lost, stolen or unreturned keys
TowerXchange: How can data from your system be integrated with maintenance workflows and job ticketing to reduce O&M costs and improve H&S?
Nicoleta Hajek, Export Sales Director, iLOQ Oy: iLOQ 5 Series offers an open application programming interface (API) that enables integration to virtually any system. This helps improve customers’ flexibility and operational efficiency by sharing data between the different information systems they use. This integration allows, for example, the technicians to “self-serve” requesting access for a given site for a given time slot. According to the business rules set into the platform, the tech is granted access and automatically receives the mobile keys thanks to the integration with iLOQ.
TowerXchange: Please sum up how you would differentiate your solution from your competitors’?
Nicoleta Hajek, Export Sales Director, iLOQ Oy: Absolutely the biggest differentiating factor is that iLOQ is a battery-free (and cable-free) solution. With minimal maintenance needs, time, costs and use of resources are dramatically reduced. The utilities operate reliably in all harsh environments and remote locations. There is never any worry about not being able to gain access because a battery has run out or there is an electricity outage. Site workers get their access rights updated remotely to their phone so they cut out excess travelling between admin offices and sites. This also has a knock-on effect on the environment – lower carbon footprint through less travelling.
