Today Verkada is excited to announce that the AD32 Door Reader will be available for purchase starting Monday, March 21, 2022. The AD32 is a new high-frequency and low-frequency card reader that offers users and admins a better and more secure access control experience. 

The AD32 builds upon the capabilities of the AD31 – our industry-leading OSDP based protocol and RS-485 connection with the AC41 Access Control Unit – while adding and expanding Verkada’s card reader capabilities in several key ways, including:

• Increasing scan ranges across low and high-frequency cards.

• Displaying access control unit connectivity status and communicating Command-initiated events like lockdowns and remote unlock events natively on-reader. 

• Supporting more install use cases with a multi-form factor design. 

• Providing end users with a more intuitive and secure badging experience. 

As Access Control head of Engineering Pattabi Seshadri says of the AD32, “the AD32 takes badging and card reading to the next level for Verkada. We’ve been able to take the things customers love about the AD31 while expanding the product in key areas to really bring the badging experience to life for access control administrators and end users. I can’t wait to get the reader in the hands of customers.”

Plug and Play Simplicity, Leading Security 

Like the rest of the Verkada Access Control suite, the AD32 Door Reader brings the power of hybrid-cloud physical security to life through easy-to-install, manage and maintain hardware and a ‘single-pane-of-glass’ physical security management experience.

The AD32 can be quickly installed and configured, and all security settings are cached both on-reader and in the cloud. With Verkada’s approach to hybrid cloud physical security, end-customers get the simplicity and scalability of the cloud with the security and speed of on-premise systems. 

Two Form Factors Support Custom Installations

The AD32 card reader supports customized installs and ships with both a ‘Mullion Mount Plate’ and a ‘Single Gang Mount Plate.’ The Single Gang Mount Plate is a standard card reader format and can be used on traditional installations and to replace existing reader mounts. The thinner Mullion form factor offers a sleek design and can be used in more narrow spaces like door and window frames.

By supporting both form factors, the AD32 Door Reader allows the installer to choose the best plate option for their installation. Within the AD32, the main housing module can be inserted into either the Mullion Mount Plate or the Single Gang Mount Plate to accomplish the desired form factor at installation. From outdoor installs in extreme temperatures to space-constrained indoor installations, the AD32 comes with everything installers need for their use case.

Intuitive Badging and Admin Experience 

The AD32 supports a sleek, modern badging experience with 9 LED indicator lights and a feedback LED light to clearly display the status of any badge events to the end user. Expanding the LED display capabilities of the AD31, the AD32 front panel has 9 soft-white LED lights that clearly display reader status without polluting environments with bright indicator lights. Additionally, the top bar indicator light provides users with an easy and intuitive access experience for interior and exterior doors. 

In addition to supporting an intuitive badging experience for end users, the AD32’s LEDs provide information on the real-time connection status between the AD32 Door Reader and the AC41 Door Controller, as well as a physical display of any Verkada-Command initiated states that impact the badging experience. Specifically, the status LED lights display the following states: 

• Static LED Status Lights display when the AD32 has a successful power connection between the AD32 Door Reader and the AC41 Door Controller, and is ready to receive a badge scan.  

• Green or Red Feedback LED Lights display in response to successful and unsuccessful badge events and/or lock states. 

• Cascading LED Status Lights display when the AD32 has power but cannot connect to the AC41 Access Control Unit. 

• Red Status LED and Pulsing Feedback LED Lights on the Feedback and Status LED lights indicate a lockdown scenario or event has been triggered in Verkada Command.

Extending Verkada Access Control 

The Verkada AD32 Door Reader further extends Verkada’s capabilities in providing intuitive and secure access control solutions for every type and size of organization. With the AD32 and Verkada Access control, organizations can natively integrate door-based events with camera footage.

Like the AD31 before it, the AD32 integrates seamlessly with Verkada Command to give users a single pane of glass to manage and verify:

• All door-based activity and event types – including location, user, type of credential, and associated camera feed. 

• Door-based security threats like person of interest notifications, tailgating, door held open, door forced open and crowd gathering. 

• Access control configurations such as user profiles, user groups, admin privileges, door schedules, locations and more.

“By bringing more doors into Verkada’s integrated platform, we can respond faster and give first responders the access they need to keep our students safe in an emergency. I can initiate a lockdown from my phone or computer, share a video feed or floor plan with police, and create safe zones within the school where we can monitor the incident as it’s happening,” said Meredith Essalat, Head of School, Mission Dolores Academy.

Migrating from the AD31 to the AD32 

With the release of the AD32 Door Reader, Verkada is excited to launch its next-generation door reader. Customers will be able to begin purchasing, demoing and deploying the AD32 Door Reader on March 20, 2022. Additionally, customers can continue to purchase the AD31 Door Reader through April 30, 2022. 

After April 30, 2022 the AD31 Door Reader will be supported on a phased end-of-life plan as all net-new Verkada card readers transition to the new AD32 Door Reader. Customers with existing AD31 Door Reader’s installed will be able to deploy both AD31 Door Readers and AD32 Door Readers seamlessly in their environment, and Verkada will continue to support both readers on an ongoing basis. More information on the AD31 Door Reader end-of-life plan can be found here. 

To learn more about the new Verkada AD32 Door Reader, contact [email protected]. To see how the AD32 fits into the rest of Verkada’s cloud-based access control system, visit https://www.verkada.com/access-control.