Glossary

Access Control System

The software platform (for example, Salto Space) used to control which users are able to access which doors.

Access point

Represents either one smart electronic locking device or a collection of devices capable of granting or denying access to a secured area, such as a room, office or apartment. An access point may also serve to lock/unlock secured containers like cabinets, drawers or lockers. In the real world, it can take on different forms. For example, a door equipped with an electronic escutcheon or a cylinder, a controller with an electric strike, or a padlock. An access point could also represent a turnstile or a car park barrier.

An access point frequently represents one single physical electronic lock. However, an access point could also be made up of more than one device. For example, it could be composed of an electronic lock and a contact sensor or a controller and a reader with a keypad.

The term access point in Salto software products should not be confused with the generic term wireless access point, which is a networking hardware device that allows other WiFi devices to connect to a wired network.

Audit trail

A chronological list of events for each access point showing a date and time stamp for each event. It shows events for the previous seven days by default, but you can see earlier events by defining the specific date range in the Date/Time filter.

Biometrics

Measurements taken of facial characteristics and features that form a unique identifier for a user. Biometric authentication is used as a form of identification and access control. The term expands simply to biological measurements and while it is extracted from pictures of a person, it cannot be used to recreate a picture.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. All other time zones are expressed as offsets from UTC. For example, the time zone in London is UTC+0, while the time zone in New York is UTC-5.

Daylight saving time (DST)

Practice of moving clocks forward by one hour in Spring to extend light in the evening, and moving clocks back by one hour in Autumn.

Device

Devices are pieces of hardware such as electronic locks, gateways and encoders. They can be any item of hardware used in the Salto system.

It's useful to consider that electronic locks are the “core” types of device in Salto. Other devices such as gateways, encoders or repeaters could be considered more “peripheral” hardware in the access control system.

Disenrollment

The process in which a user's biometric data is deleted from the system. This happens when the user deletes it from the OES or when an operator deletes from the ACS. After this, there is no biometric data remaining and the user will no longer be able to gain access using Orion.

Door

A door within the Salto system that has controlled access. Doors can be either online or offline.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

A network protocol that configures and automatically assigns IP addresses to network devices to communicate on an IP network.

Enrollment

The process in which a user provides a picture of their face for recognition at an access point. This is an opt-in process in which the user provides their explicit consent and they can revoke their enrollment at any time.

Face authentication

A biometric authentication method that uses facial recognition to verify a user's identity for the purposes of access control.

Firmware

A software program or set of instructions programmed directly onto a hardware device like an electronic lock or a gateway. Firmware provides the necessary instructions for how the device communicates with the rest of the system.

Installation

An installation represents any entity (company, office, building, hotel, etc.) that uses Salto software. As such, it represents a collection of all the access control elements (such as access points, access rights, users, etc.) that comprise the access control system.

Installer

A person who physically installs and configures Salto hardware devices in situ.

Key

A physical carrier that controls access to an area, building, and/or installation asset (for example, a cupboard or locker). Physical keys come in a wide variety of formats, including wristbands, fobs and keycards.

Keyholder

A generic term that covers all persons issued with a key. Keyholders can be assigned physical or digital keys which they can use to unlock doors. Users with management roles, i.e. people who have permissions to manage other users, can also be issued with keys.

Operator

A person who operates and manages the Salto Space software application.

There are two types of Salto Space operators: admin operator and non-admin or standard operator.

An admin operator has administration rights and is generally responsible for higher administrative functionality, such as software installation and configuration tasks.

A non-admin or standard operator refers to day-to-day users of the Salto Space application involved in routine access tasks, such as assigning and deleting of keys, check-in and check-out, etc.

Orion

The complete Salto Orion system including Devices, Servers, Orion Connect, the Console and the Enrollment Service.

Orion Camera

Connected to the Orion Control Unit (Orion CU) via the supplied blue CAT6a SSTP LSOH 3m cable and located at the entry point. The Orion C contains a camera for acquiring images, a distance sensor for triggering a request when a person is detected and an LED indicator to provide user feedback.

Orion Connect

A set of hosted services that provide the infrastructure to support the deployment and maintenance of Orion Servers. Connect is based within Microsoft Azure and maintained by Salto. Orion Connect is regionalised, so that personal data does not leave the region in which the site is based. No biometric or personal information is stored within, or passed through, Orion Connect. The Orion Server consists of hardware supplied by the customer and software supplied by Salto. It is the responsibility of the customer to maintain it and keep the data backed-up.

Orion Console

A management application for installing, monitoring, operating and decommissioning Orion sites and servers. The Console is accessible on mobile and desktop computers via a web browser. The last 4 versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, Android Browser, and iOS Browser are supported. The Console is multi-language, the current language button on the left menu. Support languages are English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Arabic.

Orion Control Unit

Located in a secure void within the area being secured. The Orion CU is based upon an ARM64 microcontroller with custom firmware.

Orion Device

The combination of Orion C, Orion CU, and the supplied cable that connects them.

Orion Enrollment Service

Allows users to upload a picture of themselves that will be used for facial recognition. Users are invited to use the enrollment service when their details are entered into the Access Control System.

Orion Server

The core responsibility of the Orion Server is to identify which user is attempting to access a door, and pass that identification on to the Access Control Server. In support of this, it receives information on users from the Access Control Server and Enrollment Service. It has no user interface; it is commissioned and managed via the Orion Console.

Orion Site

A licensed instance of the Orion software on an Orion Server for a particular location.

Output

A type of electrical permission or authorization used to activate relays for controllers or energy saving devices (ESDs). For example, you can control elevator access to specific floors by creating outputs. If a controller is connected to a relay extension board, you can use outputs to specify that only a designated user can activate one or multiple relays in an elevator. If you enable Floor 1 and Floor 3 in their access permissions, the user can only access those specific floors and not Floor 2. Similarly, you can control the energy usage in a room or a floor by creating an output. For example, if you enable an ESD for Room 101, only an authorized key will allow the electrical devices in that room to be switched on.

Reader

An electronic device often mounted on a wall beside a door or other type of access point like a car park barrier that is often connected directly to a controller. Readers, also known as 'wall readers', are used to control access to an installation's access points. Users present their keys to the reader to gain access in the same way as they would do with a physical electronic lock. Some readers also have keypads.