Rhombus Systems, Inc. - Experts & Thought Leaders

When school leaders think about school security, they often picture cameras, access control, badging, and guest management. Students think about something else entirely. They think about whether school feels welcoming when they walk through the front doors. Whether they know where to go when they need help. Whether the adults around them seem approachable. Whether they feel like they’re being protected - or watched. For students, safety isn’t just about physical security. It’s about confidence. Stronger mental health outcomes It’s the confidence to walk through the front door without feeling anxious. It’s knowing where to go when something feels wrong. It’s feeling supported by the adults around you. It’s being able to focus on a math test, a soccer game, or a school play instead of worrying about what might happen. That’s why the most effective school security strategies don’t just protect buildings. They support the students, teachers, and staff inside them. Research shows that students who feel connected to their schools experience stronger mental health outcomes and a greater sense of belonging. According to the Journal of Applied Juvenile Justice Services1, “Perceptions of safety within the school environment enhance the protective effects of school connectedness on mental health outcomes.” Building positive relationships In other words, feeling safe and feeling welcome aren’t separate goals. They reinforce one another. When students feel secure, they’re better able to learn, participate, and thrive. They are more likely to engage with their school community, build positive relationships, and focus on what matters most: their education. Creating that environment requires more than policies and procedures. It requires security strategies that support the overall school experience. The schools that get security right understand that protection and approachability aren’t competing priorities. They’re complementary ones. Technology plays an important role in making that possible. Providing greater visibility The right technology can help schools create environments that feel both secure and welcoming. When security systems are easy to use, investigations move faster, and critical information is easier to access, staff spend less time managing technology and more time supporting students. That’s why schools use Rhombus to build safer, more student-friendly environments. By simplifying security operations and providing greater visibility across campus, Rhombus helps schools focus less on managing systems and more on supporting the people those systems are designed to protect. Because the goal isn’t simply to secure a school. It’s to create a place where students can be students. A place where parents feel confident, staff feel prepared, and students feel safe enough to focus on learning, growing, and building the future in front of them.

Physical security has always involved a trade-off: the most capable systems were often the most complex to run. On-premise servers, siloed video and access control platforms, and multi-dashboard workflows became the norm; not because anyone wanted it that way, but because the integrations weren’t there to do better. That’s changing. Rhombus is excited to announce their strategic partnership with Honeywell, bringing Rhombus’ cloud-managed video security platform together with LenelS2 Elements - Honeywell’s cloud-native access control system - in a deeply integrated, single-pane-of-glass solution. This isn’t a standard API handshake; it’s a purpose-built integration between two platforms that were both designed from the ground up for the cloud. Why this partnership, why now The physical security market isin the middle of a genuine platform shift. Organizations that have spent years managing disparate on-premise systems are moving to the cloud; not because it’s a trend, but because the operational benefits are real and measurable. Faster deployment, lower infrastructure overhead, remote management, automatic updates, and AI capabilities that simply can’t run cost-effectively on local hardware. Rhombus has been building toward this moment since day one. Thier platform is cloud-native by design; every camera, sensor, and AI capability is managed through a single console, with noNVRs or on-site servers required. LenelS2 Elements takes the same approach to access control: cloud-managed doors, mobile-first credentials, and centralized control across any number of sites. When both your video and your access control are built for the cloud, connecting them becomes significantly more powerful than bolting two legacy systems together. That’s the foundation this partnership is built on. What the integration actually does The practical outcome is bidirectional: Rhombus cameras, AI analytics, and IoT sensors are accessible directly within the Elements platform, and LenelS2 access control events are surfaced within the Rhombus Console. Security teams can work from whichever interface they prefer without losing visibility into either system. A few things this unlocks in practice: Correlated access and video: When a badge event fires -a door access, a failed credential attempt, a forced door - Rhombus automatically surfaces the relevant video clip alongside it. No more jumping between systems to piece together what happened. Edge AI built into your access control workflows: Rhombus’ on-camera AI - human detection, facial recognition, vehicle and license plate recognition, tailgating detection, anomaly alerts - surfaces directly within Elements, giving access control events the visual context they’ve always lacked. No on-premise servers required: Both platforms arefully cloud-managed, so there’s nothing to rack, patch, or maintain on-site.Deployment across new locations is fast, and management stays centralized regardless of how many sites you operate. Rhombus Relay for existing infrastructure: If you’re not ready to replace every camera on day one, Rhombus Relay lets you pull existing ONVIF cameras into the Rhombus cloud platform, turning them into AI-enabled devices; protecting your current investment and avoiding a full-scale rip-and-replace while still unlocking the integration benefits. AI that does more than detect motion The security industry has used the word “AI” loosely for years. Motion detection got rebranded, filters got repackaged, and not much actually changed for the people trying to run buildings more safely and efficiently. What Rhombus has built is different.Rhombus processes AI inference directly on the camera, which means analysis happens in real time without routing video through the cloud for every frame.The result is genuinely fast, accurate detection that works at scale, whether you’re managing five doors or five hundred. Combined with Elements, thoseAI Analytics capabilities become part of your access control story. Occupancy data helps you understand how spaces are being used. Movement analysis surfaces patterns you wouldn’t catch manually. And Rhombus Insights - thier LLM-powered investigation tool - lets your team ask plain-language questions about what’s happened across your facilities, getting answers in seconds rather than spending hours scrubbing footage. Security data becomes operational intelligence. That’s a meaningful shift for the teams managing these environments every day. Open by design One thing Rhombus feels strongly about: physical security platforms shouldn’t lock customers in. The integration between Rhombus and Elements is built on an open architecture, so organizations can deploy the combined solution through their existing reseller relationships and continue working with the partners they trust. This isn’t a case of two vendors building a walled garden together. The goal is to give customers the best tools available, connected in a way that actually works — and to keep extending that openness as the platform grows. What’s next: Global expansion and deeper LenelS2 integration The initial launch is focused on North America; a region where both Rhombus and Honeywell already have strong customer bases and established go-to-market infrastructure. But this is explicitly a starting point, not a ceiling. Expanding availability globally isa core part of the roadmap, and Rhombus is building toward that with their own teams on the ground and Honeywell’s international reach behind us. On the product side, theLenelS2 integration extends well beyond Elements. Rhombus is actively working toward deeper integration with the broader LenelS2 portfolio, including OnGuard, one of the most widely deployed enterprise access control platforms in the world, and NetBox, LenelS2’s networked hardware management solution. For organizations already running OnGuard or NetBox deployments, this means Rhombus video and AI capabilities will be available within the systems they already rely on, without requiring a platform migration. Rhombus will have more to share on timelines and specifics as those integrations mature. The direction is clear: we’re building a comprehensive bridge between Rhombus and the full Honeywell LenelS2 security ecosystem.

Honeywell announced a collaboration with Rhombus, a pioneer in cloud-based video management, to expand its cloud-connected security and access solutions portfolio with new, AI-powered video solutions. This furthers Honeywell's effort to accelerate and modernize how customers approach building security, which began in 2024 with the acquisition of LenelS2. Integrated cloud-based solution Together, Honeywell and Rhombus will deliver integrated access control and video management in a single cloud solution that is easy to deploy, scale and manage. "This strategic alliance combines the strength of Honeywell's access solutions portfolio, domain expertise and global reach with modern cloud video capabilities and AI enhancements," said Billal Hammoud, President & CEO, Honeywell Building Automation. "Together, we will offer an integrated, cloud-based solution that innovates while ensuring reliability and system resilience." Cloud video solutions Companies are increasingly shifting to cloud-based security and cloud video. According to Omdia, cloud video solutions are growing annually at more than 20% and are projected to be the fastest-growing segment in the security industry through 2029. The Honeywell-Rhombus offering is perfectly positioned to support a paced, cost-efficient cloud journey for thousands of commercial and enterprise operations around the world while helping them to reduce risk. Physical security solutions "At Rhombus, we've always believed the best physical security solutions are open platforms. By partnering with Honeywell, a company that shares our vision, we'll be able to offer customers cutting-edge solutions across video security, access control, sensors, building controls and more," said Garrett Larsson, co-founder and CEO of Rhombus. "With access to our complementary expertise and the deep AI capabilities of both organizations, customers will see immediate value from day one. We're excited to work with Honeywell to make buildings more secure and intelligent." Rhombus' AI-powered platform Honeywell, through integration and a reseller agreement, will offer Rhombus products through its channel partners and system integrator networks. The companies will also partner on deeper integrations that bring Rhombus' AI analytics directly into Honeywell's access control platforms. With Rhombus' AI-powered platform, customers will be able to gain insights from video data beyond traditional surveillance, transforming video systems into a source of operational intelligence. Using capabilities such as Rhombus Insights, customers can train AI prompts to analyze activity patterns, investigate incidents more efficiently and better understand how physical spaces are being used. Compatibility The solution is designed for a variety of commercial environments, including retail chains, fitness centers, schools and other distributed sites. Rhombus products will initially be available through Honeywell in North America before deployment across other regions.