LenelS2 builds OnGuard and NetBox, access control platforms that manage doors, credentials and audit trails from a central server. SecureComm installs and services LenelS2 systems in Denver and across Colorado, covering controllers, readers and door hardware, credential formats, video and intercom integration, and the administration that keeps a card system dependable.
Two platforms sit under one name, and they were built for different buildings. OnGuard came out of large, heavily administered sites: a badge office, alarm monitoring, access levels and reports that survive an audit. NetBox is browser-based for the smaller site where an IT department will not maintain a server and a facilities manager wants to add a door without opening a project. The company itself was formed by combining Lenel and S2 Security, which explains why the two platforms share a reader and a credential but not a code base.
Where LenelS2 fits is an organization that treats a door as a record: who holds a credential, when it was used, who changed an access level and why. Where it fits less well is a landlord with six doors and no administrator, or a site that wants access control to run without anyone owning the database. We ask who will add a card at nine on a Sunday evening, because the answer to that decides more about the platform than the reader list does.
OnGuard for enterprise doors and audit
OnGuard runs as a server with a database and client workstations, and the parts that matter to a large site rarely appear in a demonstration. Access levels control which credential opens which door on which schedule; areas and anti-passback stop one card being shared between two people; elevator control limits floors; and the alarm view shows a door forced or held without an operator switching applications. Identity records, badge printing and visitor handling sit inside the same system rather than beside it.
Administration is where these systems succeed or fail. A card system is only as good as its list of active people, so an import from HR or student records matters more than the hardware, and a leaver who keeps a working card is the common failure. Reports on door activity, first card in and who changed a schedule are what an audit asks for, and they have to be runnable by the site’s own staff rather than by the integrator. The report a site needs six months later is rarely the one configured on day one, so we build the saved queries staff actually use and show them how to run those.
NetBox, Mercury hardware and the door
NetBox is browser-based and aimed at sites where full client software is more than the job needs. Doors, schedules and cardholders are managed from a page, administration is delegated to people who are not security specialists, and the system scales to a building rather than a campus. It follows the reader and credential conventions of the larger platform, so a site that outgrows it is not starting from nothing, though the move between the two is a project rather than an upgrade.
Underneath either platform, controllers do the work when the server is unreachable. LenelS2 systems commonly use Mercury controllers, open-architecture hardware that holds card data and door logic locally and passes events up to the server. Each controller needs a power supply with battery backup, locking hardware matched to the frame, a door position switch and a request-to-exit device. The reader is the visible part; the door, the power and the egress arrangement decide whether the opening works. A controller in a closet needs ventilation and a lock on the cabinet, not just a shelf.
Credentials, integrations and rebuilding a system
Credential choice is a security decision and a migration risk at the same time. Older low-frequency proximity cards are easy to clone, smart cards and mobile credentials raise the bar, and every format has to be readable by the readers on the doors the site already has. OSDP wiring is monitored and encrypted where Wiegand is neither, and that difference sits in the cable between reader and controller. We test a sample of the population before a site commits to a format.
Integrations are what make the platform useful beyond the door. A video system pulls a camera feed next to an access event, an intercom station triggers a release, and HR or student systems feed the cardholder list. Rebuilding an inherited system starts with a full export of cardholders, access levels and door groups, a re-badge plan where the format changes, and a schedule that keeps at least one entrance working every night of the cutover.
Explore LenelS2 by system
Related:Access Control
Services for LenelS2 systems
Related:Commercial access controlIntegrated security systemsCommercial camera systems
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between OnGuard and NetBox?
OnGuard is the enterprise platform, with client workstations, deep reporting, badging and multi-site administration. NetBox is browser-based for smaller sites that want delegated administration without installed clients. Both manage doors and credentials, so the choice comes down to staff, scale and how much reporting the site actually uses.
Can we keep the cards we already issue?
Often, if the readers and the platform support the format and the credential data can be exported. Proximity formats usually carry forward; a move to smart or mobile credentials needs a re-badge plan, because existing cards cannot simply be re-enrolled. We check the card technology before quoting a replacement.
Do we need new door hardware with LenelS2?
Not always, but every door has to be inspected. Controllers, readers and power supplies are usually replaced; strikes, magnetic locks and exit devices can stay if they are sound and matched to the opening. A door with no request-to-exit device or a failing power supply is a larger problem than the platform choice.
Last reviewed: