SALTO creates bespoke access control, right down to the lift

SALTO Systems has been at the head of the pack in the field of electronic access control for over 25 years. The innovative solutions that combine advanced technologies with user-friendly interfaces can be found in hotels, offices, residential complexes, healthcare institutions, school buildings, etc. But cities and municipalities also regularly call on this global player. The municipality of Middelkerke is no exception.

A clear example of how SALTO Systems applies its technology can be seen in the new Silt hotel in Middelkerke. Silt is much more than a hotel. It also includes restaurants, event space, an underground garage and a casino/cabaret. Each component has its own concessionaire with specific requirements.

Eric Beling, marketing and business development manager at SALTO Systems, said: "We ended up with Silt because the municipality of Middelkerke played a big role in this project. They manage the hall and event space. We have also known Flow Hospitality Group, another concessionaire, for a while. Therefore, we were allowed to arrange all access facilities for the hotel area. For this unique project, we worked together with Bervan, a dealer/installer with whom we have had an excellent relationship for some 20 years. Bervan implemented SALTO in various buildings of the municipality of Middelkerke in recent years, so we were also allowed to supply all locks and related systems for Compass Group (restaurant) and Belcasino."

Raph Engels, responsible for electronic access control and systems at Bervan: "As icing on the cake, Indigo was finally appointed as concessionaire for the car park. We have been a supplier and installer there too through SALTO Systems for many years. So all five concessionaires chose us. Silt is one hundred per cent SALTO."

"We installed all the access control systems," Raph continues. "Think electronic locks, cylinders and wall readers. In short, wherever a badge or smartphone is needed to enter, we were responsible for the right functionality. We were also responsible for configuring and setting all systems with the right parameters. In addition, we provided good guidance to all parties in drawing up the locking plan, to avoid chaos with so many people involved."

That's where SALTO's (server) systems come in handy. "You can divide everything neatly into partitions, so that each party can do its own key management, including the common and back office doors. For some parts, everyone has to have access, for others not. The concessionaires can manage that perfectly through their own partition. And that goes a long way. At the reception, for example, they can log into their own partition and give a hotel guest access only to the common parts and the desired room. We even set the lift so that the badge only goes to the right floor. The casino opted for a separate SALTO system in addition to the existing one because the municipality of Middelkerke, the builder, wanted to manage the entire management system. Parking manager Indigo naturally also stayed on its own SALTO platform."

Raph: "We naturally have the experience to install such systems meticulously. We have been around for about 35 years ourselves and evolved from pure locksmithing to installer of complete and highly advanced access systems. Of that, we have been working with SALTO Systems, among others, for just over 20 years."

"A huge amount has changed in access control over the past 20 years," Eric adds. "Think software, IT and even aesthetics. Servers remain important, but these days we mainly work from the cloud. Bervan, with their strong IT background, has adapted perfectly to this. That's why we often choose them as our partner for various projects."