By Shelley Law, Product Manager at OLS Ltd
OLS combines its own in-house integration team, its own OLS Connect platform and specialist cloud migration expertise, bringing installation, integration and ongoing support together.
Whether you are replacing a legacy system or upgrading an existing cloud platform, we consider how your access control will work with your wider business. That means looking at the equipment, data and integrations alongside the needs of the people using them.
Experience built around customer needs
Founded in 2009, OLS brings together a team with over 50 years of combined experience in business security. We launched OLS Connect in 2019, establishing our own platform for connecting compatible security and business systems.
Our work ranges from individual sites to expanding international and multi-site projects. Each starts with understanding the customer’s existing setup, the problems they want to solve and their plans for the future.
Our own in-house integration team
Our software development and integration team develops and maintains OLS Connect. This gives us direct knowledge of our platform and the connections we deliver through it.
We work with customers to identify where information is held, which tasks are repeated and how their systems need to communicate. Our team can then assess suitable integrations and any bespoke development required, based on the capabilities of the platforms involved.
Customers can discuss access control, software integration and technical support with OLS as part of the same project.
Established technology relationships
Our in-house capabilities are supported by relationships with security and workforce technology providers. OLS began its collaboration with UKG in 2019, developing integrations for workforce management and access control.
OLS became an Acre Security approved Diamond Partner in February 2024 and received Acre’s Cloud Solution Integrator Partner of the Year award that year.
Our work with Suprema includes BioStar Air cloud access control deployments, while our collaboration with MHR connects workforce information with security systems. These relationships complement our own development expertise and help us plan solutions around compatible technologies.
OLS Connect reduces disconnected administration
A new employee may need to be added to HR, access control and Time & Attendance systems. Entering the same details repeatedly takes time and creates opportunities for records to become inconsistent.
OLS Connect links compatible HR, Access Control, Time & Attendance and Payroll systems. Depending on the agreed integration, information can be shared between platforms to reduce manual entry and help keep records aligned.
Our team establishes which system holds the main record, what information needs to move and how changes should be handled, including when someone joins, changes role or leaves.
An ongoing cloud migration at Avara Foods
At Avara Foods, OLS is delivering an ongoing migration from legacy Mitrefinch and Tensor systems to BioStar Air cloud access control. The project has expanded to cover 16 sites, more than 10,000 users and over 350 doors.
The solution brings access management and reporting into a centralised cloud environment, with XPass2 readers and XStation terminals configured for Time & Attendance.
This expanding project demonstrates how OLS can support a customer through successive stages of modernisation, combining current operational needs with a platform for future development.
International delivery with workforce integration
For a US food manufacturing customer, OLS supplied an ACT365 cloud access control solution covering two locations, 11 doors and approximately 500 users.
OLS Connect integrates ACT365 with UKG Pro, linking access control with workforce information. Delivered as a supply-only, plug-and-play solution, the project is supported by our in-house software and technical teams.
Cloud upgrades planned around your business
Moving to the cloud, or upgrading an existing platform, requires careful planning. OLS reviews the installation, identifies compatible equipment that can be retained and establishes which records and settings can be transferred or need rebuilding.
We consider working hours, critical entrances and existing integrations when planning the transition. Where appropriate, a phased approach can help manage changes across doors or locations.
For customers already using cloud access control, we can assess suitable options for additional sites, mobile credentials or new integrations, subject to platform capabilities and compatibility.
Ongoing support from OLS
Our in-house software and technical team supports the solutions we deliver, with training, maintenance and support arrangements agreed for each customer.
Because we develop and maintain OLS Connect ourselves, integration support is informed by direct knowledge of our own platform. As requirements change, we can review how the system and its connections need to develop.
Plan your next step with OLS
Whether you are replacing legacy access control, expanding an existing cloud system or connecting security with business software, OLS brings installation, integration and support expertise together.
Our own people. Our own integration platform. Solutions built around your business.
Contact OLS to discuss your cloud migration, upgrade or integration requirements
