PSIA License

PSIA is the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance that connects various physical security systems, devices and services together in a simple plug and play mode. The primary aim of connecting the, security systems in this manner allows seamless sharing of intelligence and information among the various devices. With this idea, the plug and play interoperability is brought to the entire security landscape, culminating in benefits that modern day technologies provide.

As stated by PSIA on their website, https://psialliance.org, the benefits delivered to the security industry are as follows:

• Ability to choose best products and solutions for a specific situation without compromising interoperability
• Faster solution implementation by eliminating the need for custom interfaces
• More powerful security solutions with better information exchanged between systems and devices
• Lower total cost of ownership.

The Purpose Of PSIA

PSIA was formed in February 2008 and incorporated officially in March 2009. The purpose of this alliance was to develop specifications in the area of physical security that enables plug and play interoperability across the entire security ecosystem.

Advantage Of Adopting PSIA

The advantage of adopting PSIA specifications is that it follows industry-wide accepted technology practices. Members of PSIA come from a varying set of companies that collaborate together to define the specifications that are best suited for the industry. These members include a host of different stakeholders including manufacturers, consultants, system integrators and end users.

The Physical Security Interoperability Alliance has developed a total of seven specifications that allow different devices and systems to interoperate as well exchange data and information seamlessly in the security landscape. Three specifications are referred to as “reference works” or “common models” that describe the different security related events as well as network protocols that are relevant to security systems and devices. The other four specifications within the PSIA are related to the domain in the security industry.

There are many benefits to be had with a PSIA membership. Not only will you stay up to date with all the contemporary happenings but will also be a strong influencer and contributor in determining how the standards in the security industry are adopted on a global level. There are three membership levels in this alliance offered by the consortium:

• Board
• Associate/Venture
• User

Depending on which level of membership is chosen, you may have the right to vote in the organization’s decisions, get early access to specifications, get your company logo featured on the PSIA website and get the test tool licenses free of cost.

Currently, PSIA is a consortium of more 65 system integrators and manufacturers of security systems. The task of PSIA is to promote open specifications across various segments including storage, video, intrusion, analytics and access control. PSIA also has a partnership with International Electrotechnical Commission on two specifications pertaining to access control and video.

PSIA Members

The PSIA members include Cisco Systems, Honeywell, NICE Systems, UTC, and Verint, to name a few. PSIA periodically releases profiles and specifications for adoption. For instance, in June 2013, the PSIA released profiles for access control and intrusion detection.

PSIA is thus one of the consortiums in the industry that is helping the adoption of state of the art technologies and providing significant advantages to the members cooperating in this effort.