Biometric Access Control for Access It!: Facial Recognition Without the Rip-and-Replace
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If you're running Access It! today, you've already made a real investment — in Mercury panels, in wiring, in workflows your operators know cold. The question isn't whether biometric authentication is worth adding. It's whether adding it means starting over.
It doesn't.
The ASSA Control iD integration brings facial recognition and multi-factor authentication into Access It! through the Mercury controllers you're already running. No new panels. No rewiring. No new system for your team to learn.
Why facial recognition, and why now
Cards get shared. PINs get guessed. Badges get left in cars. Facial recognition closes that gap — it verifies the person, not just the credential they're carrying. For access points where speed and certainty both matter, that's a meaningful upgrade over card-only authentication.
The objection most security teams raise next is predictable: does this mean replacing what we have? It doesn't. That's the design principle behind this integration, not a footnote to it.
How it works: your Mercury panels, doing more
The architecture is deliberately simple, and that's the point.
- A Control iD face reader performs the facial recognition and captures the presented credential.
- The credential number is sent to your Mercury controller, over Wiegand or OSDP, whichever you're already using.
- Access It! remains the system of record. It applies access rules, schedules, and anti-passback, and logs every event exactly as it would for a card swipe.
The net result: biometric authentication at the edge, with no system redesign. Your Mercury controllers, your wiring, your Access It! workflows — unchanged. The reader does new work; nothing else has to.
Four ways to authenticate, one system managing all of them
Different doors carry different risk. The integration supports four authentication modes, and you choose which applies where:
- Face only: the fastest path through the door, built for speed at access points where a quick, frictionless walk-through is the priority.
- Face + Card adds a second factor for higher-security doors. Works with physical cards and mobile credentials over NFC or BLE.
- Face + PIN: a third option for areas where you want elevated assurance without issuing a new credential type.
- QR Code: built for temporary or visitor access, where supported by the reader.
Every mode reports back through Access It! the same way a card read would. Your operators don't learn a second system, they keep using the one they already know.
What changes for your security team and what doesn't
This is where the integration earns its place, not in the feature list but in what it leaves alone.
What changes:
- Facial recognition processing happens at the reader itself, so the time between presentation and decision stays fast.
- Identity verification is backed by Control iD Vision AI with liveness detection, built to tell a real face from a photo or a video.
- A double-tap on the reader can trigger configured actions, mirroring the double-card behavior your team already uses.
- Provisioning and deprovisioning follow Access It! automatically: assign someone a Control iD-mapped access level and they're in; remove that access, or remove them from the host system, and they're out. Records stay synchronized automatically, with face photo sync available as an optional, separately controlled setting.
What doesn't change:
- Access decisions, schedules, and event logging all stay in Access It!.
- Administration stays in the Access It! desktop client — no separate database, no second login.
- Your operators' monitoring workflow is exactly what it was yesterday.
Application data and biometric data are encrypted in transit, and the system is designed for always-on, 24/7 operation, which matters because access control doesn't get a maintenance window.
Where this fits
Facial recognition earns its place fastest in environments where identity certainty matters and foot traffic is constant: corporate offices, data centers, healthcare facilities, and education campuses. Anywhere a card alone isn't quite enough and anywhere “replace the whole system” was never going to be the answer your budget or your operations team wanted to hear.
What you need to get started
- Access It! version: 12.4 or higher
- Controllers: Existing Mercury-based panels: MP, LP, and EP series are supported. No controller, panel, or wiring changes required.
- Readers: Control iD iDFace biometric readers. Validated models are the IDFACE MAX and IDFACE PRO.
- Communication: Wiegand or OSDP between reader and controller. OSDP (version 2.2) is required if you want door-status indication at the reader.
- Capacity: No limit on the number of Control iD readers a system can support.
- Licensing: Control iD is licensed per reader. Talk to your Acre representative for current licensing details for your deployment.
Frequently asked questions
Does adding facial recognition require new access control panels?
No. The integration works through your existing Mercury-based controllers: MP, LP, and EP series. There's no panel or wiring change involved.
What if we're not running the latest version of Access It!?
You'll need Access It! 12.4 or higher. If you're on an earlier version, an upgrade conversation is a separate, smaller step, not a system replacement.
Is our biometric data secure?
Application data and communications, including biometric data, are encrypted in transit between the reader and the controller.
Can we use facial recognition alongside cards, not instead of them?
Yes. Face + Card mode is built for exactly that — facial recognition as a second factor on your highest-security doors, while lower-risk doors can run on whichever mode fits.
Who manages users — do we need a separate admin tool?
No. Provisioning, deprovisioning, and sync are all managed from the Access It! desktop client. There's no separate database to administer.
Ready to see what this looks like in your environment? Talk to an Acre representative about adding facial recognition to your existing Access It! deployment.
