Borealis Release Notes

What’s new on Borealis?

Change Log - March 2025

What changed on Borealis during March?

Feature flags*
A feature flag initially controls some release items to allow us to evaluate and monitor their performance before a wider rollout. These features are marked with an * (asterisk) and require a request for access. If you are interested in enabling one of these features, please contact your Integrator or Regional Sales Manager.

Entraguard Controller Support

Our March Borealis release introduces support for Entraguard telephone entry panels on the Cloud! You can now utilize the Entraguard Titanium, Silver, and Platinum controllers.

Entraguard entry panels allow tenants to access the building using their unique, assigned Entraguard ID. Visitors can call tenants from the Entraguard unit, and tenants can grant access through their phone handsets.

Entraguard units connect to the Cloud via a LAN-520 Ethernet module, enabling management and monitoring from anywhere in the world using Borealis!

It is now available if you have been waiting for Entraguard support to transition your existing solution to the cloud.

Site Calendar*

The Site Calendar features a scheduling system based on the Site’s requirements. It allows for the automatic scheduling of events that need to occur at specific times. This includes hardware control events, such as synchronizing the controller at a designated time, temporarily unlocking one or more readers, and masking door contacts, inputs, and outputs.

Additionally, the Site Calendar can schedule actions like activating and deactivating Site Lock and Site Unlock. When a command is executed to run a scheduled event, it generates new live events as well.

Each event created in the calendar will include a Subject, Category, Start time, and End time.

Site Lock and Unlock*

You can activate a sitewide lockdown from anywhere with one click, allowing you to respond quickly to situations from your phone, laptop, or desktop.

You can use the Site Lock and Site Unlock features to quickly lock or unlock all doors at a site. The Site Lock feature not only locks all currently unlocked doors but also lets you set all doors to Lockout or Lockdown mode. You can activate Site Lock and Site Unlock using buttons in the user interface when logged into Borealis.

The Sites screen updates you on the current Site Lock and Site Unlock status in real-time.

Operator Audits

The Operator Audits feature lets you create reports on actions taken by logged-in operators. You can find out which operator added or deleted a controller, enrolled or deactivated a cardholder, added another operator, or unlocked a door using the user interface.

You can filter the audits to see all actions by a specific operator during a certain time period. You can also view actions by category, such as those related to cardholders or access rights, or all actions linked to a specific hardware item, like a controller.

Event Filtering and Purging

The event filtering option in Borealis helps you hide certain event types from live events and transaction reports. By default, live events show all system-generated events, including non-critical ones like Request-to-Exit (RTE) events and Remote Temp Unlock. The Live Events and Transaction Filtering screen displays a full list of all event types on one page, along with how often each event occurs.

You can also choose to permanently delete all occurrences of selected event types from Cloud storage.

API-Third Party Enhancements

The Borealis API integration lets you connect with third-party applications. We have made improvements to enhance the user experience and strengthen API security. The updated integration allows for better management of user roles and introduces a new operator role specifically for the API. For more information and setup instructions about the API integration, please contact Keri Systems.

Misc Bug Fixes & Improvements

As a continued commitment, this release also includes a series of bug fixes and user experience improvements.

 

Release Notes
Change Log - December 2024

What changed on Borealis during December?

 

Hub Management Improvements

The Hub Management Improvements introduces a range of powerful new features designed to enhance control, efficiency, and visibility across hubs. Key enhancements include new options for restarting services, resetting hubs, and syncing data with greater precision. Operators can now monitor real-time status updates, receive alerts for hub suspension, and track critical sync details. The hub management improvements also adds smart and full sync options for optimized data management and improved system performance, with additional safeguards to prevent sync conflicts and ensure seamless operations.

 

New System Grace Period

New systems enter a Setup period when the system will be fully functional without payment for 7 days. Each time a user logs into Borealis they will see a notification that the system is within the setup period and will state how many System Setup days remain. If payment is not made, the hub will become suspended after the setup period and changes made after that time will not go out to controllers.

 

Bug Fixes and User Interface Enhancements

Corrected a configuration issue where it was not possible to edit the default TCP/IP port number (10001) for a LAN-520 connected to a PXL controller.

Corrected a refresh issue where the hub status would continue to show online (on the hub screen) if the hub was disconnected. User had to refresh the screen to display the correct offline status.

Corrected an issue where the REX 2 operating mode was not displaying on the reader properties after the REX 2 function was assigned to an input.

Corrected the default description for the REX 1 located on bus 2. The default
description stated bus 1.

Change Log - October 2024

What changed on Borealis during October?

 

Bug Fixes

Cardholder custom field values were not being retained after closing and re-opening cardholder records.

Corrected a display issue with changes made to hardware settings via Hardware >> All the modified settings were not being displayed until the page had been refreshed.

Corrected an issue where transaction reports were not being filtered on a per-site basis.

Corrected a notification issue where a user, added to multiple systems, would not see new Borealis notifications on all their systems.

Resolved a reader access filter issue where the returned list of readers may have been truncated on a system that has greater than 30 readers.

Improved the speed of data retrieval of transaction reports where the system has several hundred-thousand stored transactions, or more.

Change Log - August 2024

What changed on Borealis during August?

 

KB Controllers

The August release of Borealis includes the new, entry-level, cost-effective KB 2 door and 4 door controllers. This controller type includes all the essential access control functionality that you would expect, as well as advanced features, such as: Card + PIN (when using keypads), Lockout and Lockdown reader modes and I/O control (when using NXT 4×4 modules). The KB controllers can co-exist on the same site as Standard NXT controllers and can communicate with the same hub. Standard NXT controllers can also be replaced with KB controllers.

Note: The KB controller is designed to work exclusively with Borealis.

 

 

Bug Fixes and user Interface Enhancements

Corrected an issue where transaction reports would crash if the report included Switch Tech device events with an alphanumeric Switch Tech card number.

Corrected a display issue where Switch Tech credentials was incorrectly listed as an available option for credential block enroll.

Resolved a filtering issue with transaction reports where it was not possible to apply the filter to a specific site.

Optimized the display of the System Setup form when using a mobile device.

Optimized the display of hub online/offline event information in transaction reports.

Change Log - July 2024

What changed on Borealis during July?

 

Bug Fixes & User Interface Enhancements

Modified Operator Roles to ensure that the Site – Read option is automatically selected if Live Events – Read option is selected.

An issue was corrected where cardholder custom field data was not displaying for exported cardholder reports.

Optimized data retrieval and memory usage for systems that are configured for Elevator Control.

Optimized the data retrieval and display of transaction reports, particularly for large system transaction databases.

Optimized and generally improved the retrieval and display of real-time hardware status on Hardware >> All screen.

Corrected an issue where Authentic Mercury MR50 panels were missing from the hardware status screen.

Corrected a display issue where the PXL controllers were missing from the hardware type filter on the Readers screen.

Added an additional Credential Type field to the Create Credential form. This allows quick selection of either Switch Tech or Borealis credential types to be enrolled.

Implemented a field validation check to the Create Credential form. An error will be generated if a specific card format has not been selected.

Corrected a display issue on the Hardware >> All screen. The properties of a 4×4 module was incorrectly labeling the 4×4 module as a Controller instead of Panel.

Added the ability to re-add a deleted reader on a Mercury EP-1502 controller.

Corrected a display issue where an Authentic Mercury reader was still displaying on the Hardware >> All hardware tree after being deleted.

Corrected a display issue so that the alarm shunt delay timer options are not displayed if the alarm shunt is disabled.

Corrected a Panel status issue where an Onboard DDM was not showing as offline if the hub was offline.

Optimized the connectivity, status and data querying of the Sync Service.

NXT-MSC Controller Latest Firmware

MSC controller firmware v1.296 addresses the following issue:

Corrects 4×4 elevator control relay mapping issue.

Note: If you are using MSC controller firmware v1.294 and are NOT using elevator
control, there is no need to update your firmware.

 

Compatibility

NXT-MSC Controllers with firmware v1.294 and v1.296 are compatible
with the following:

NXT Readers – 4.00.03 or greater
Reader Interface Modules (RIMs) – 3.03.21 or greater
4×4 I/O Module – 3.00.03

Note: NXT Controllers are compatible with MS readers, 26-Bit Wiegand readers, and
non-26-Bit Wiegand readers only when connected via an NXT-RIM.

Change Log - June 2024

What changed on Borealis during June?

Block Enroll

The Block Enroll feature allows you to enroll a sequentially numbered block of credentials via the Credentials screen.

Up to 100 credentials can be enrolled into Borealis in a single operation. Supported credential types are Keri NXT, Keri MS and most commonly used Wiegand formats (excluding MIFARE Card Serial Numbers).

The feature utilizes an intuitive enrollment wizard to provide a streamlined process for quickly performing block enrollment of new credentials and the enrollment wizard has the same look and feel of enrolling a single credential into Borealis.

The feature also has an associated Block Delete feature, which allows you to quickly delete a block of sequentially numbered unassigned credentials from the system.

Presentation Enrollment

The Presentation Enrollment feature allows you to utilize any reader on the system to function as an enrollment reader simply by presenting the new credentials to the reader.

When the system is in Presentation Enrollment mode the programmed card data will be displayed in live events and multiple presented credentials will be displayed in a list.

You can then select the presented credentials and then enroll them into the system as new cardholder records – or you can simply use the feature to enroll a single, new credential into the system. Presentation enrollment is very useful for enrolling credentials which have an unknown internal card number, such as MIFARE CSNs (Card Serial Numbers) or for credentials where the imprint is known but the programmed facility code is unknown.

As with Block Enrollment, after presenting a credential to an enrollment reader, the intuitive enrollment wizard has the same look and feel of enrolling a single credential into Borealis.

 NXT-MSC Controller Latest Firmware

MSC controller firmware v1.296 addresses the following issue:
Corrects 4×4 elevator control relay mapping issue.

Note: If you are using MSC controller firmware v1.294 and are NOT using elevator control, there is no need to update your firmware.

5.0 Compatibility

NXT-MSC Controllers with firmware v1.294 and v1.296 are compatible with the following:
• NXT Readers – 4.00.03 or greater
• Reader Interface Modules (RIMs) – 3.03.21 or greater
• 4×4 I/O Module – 3.00.03
• GIOX Motherboard – 1.00.21 or greater
• GIOX Input Module – 1.00.10 or greater
• GIOX Output Module – 1.00.10 or greater

Note: NXT Controllers are compatible with MS readers, 26-Bit Wiegand readers, and non-26-Bit
Wiegand readers only when connected via an NXT-RIM.

Release Notes
Change Log - March 2024

What changed on Borealis during March?

We are excited to announce the March update, which brings useful changes to enhance your Borealis experience.

API Integration

This month we are introducing API Integration in this release. This feature enables screened dealers or integrators to access specific portions of the Borealis API, facilitating seamless integration with user applications. Access to the API requires a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), and both the vendor and project must be approved by Keri management.

Elevator Control

This feature allows users to configure elevators and floors in a manner similar to Doors.NET. Compatible with NXT-MSC controllers and Authentic Mercury hardware, this relay-based system excludes Destination Dispatch.

Change Log - February 2024

What changed on Borealis during February?

We are excited to announce the February update, which brings useful changes to enhance your Borealis experience.

Organization Credits

Borealis now allows for credit to be applied to an organization as opposed to a system. This will allow the organization owner to distribute the organization credit to any system that is associated with the organization. Please get in touch with Keri Inside Sales to apply
credit to your organization.

Improvements to Data Filtering and Retrieval

Improvements have been made to filtering and optimizing the retrieval of hardware, credential and cardholder data in the user interface.

PXL Sync Service Improvements

The PXL Sync Service has been improved to speed up the downloading of database changes to the PXL controller network.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

Miscellaneous bug fixes, technical improvements and user interface enhancements.

Full November release notes documentation:
Release Notes
Change Log - December 2023

What changed on Borealis during December?

We are excited to announce the December update, which brings useful changes to enhance your Borealis experience.

Automation Rules

Borealis now supports Automation Rules for NXT-MSC and True Mercury hardware types. Automation Rules offers a vastly comprehensive array of custom automation actions that allow you to create extended functionality far beyond the default functionality of the controller.

Support for Authentic Mercury

Borealis now fully supports authentic Mercury hardware on our cloud solution.

Detailed Door Status Information

Borealis now provides detailed door status information for all controller types, which is updated in real-time. The readers screen in the user interface will immediately display if a door if forced or held open, opened or closed as well as the current operating mode of the reader (Card-Only, Card + PIN, Lockout or Lockdown), for example.

Enhanced Hub Password Protection

The cardholder and credential enrollment workflow has been improved with an enrollment wizard.

Enhanced Notifications

Borealis will now post important notifications directly to the admin client so that system users will be kept informed about important information, such as: downtime due to system maintenance, new controller firmware files and upcoming features and enhancements

And Miscellaneous Bug-Fixes

Full November release notes documentation:
Release Notes
Change Log - November 2023

What changed on Borealis during November?

We are excited to announce the November update, which brings useful changes to enhance your Borealis experience.

Increased Credential Count to 50,000

The total number of credentials per Borealis system has been increased from 10,000 to 50,000.

Support for Authentic Mercury

Borealis now fully supports authentic Mercury hardware on our cloud solution.

OSDP Reader Support

Borealis now allows you to add a OSDP readers to any controller type that supports
OSDP readers – (including NXT-MSC controllers). The ability to add multiple OSDP readers to a controller’s bus will be implemented in a future release along with the ability to define custom behavior for the OSDP reader’s LED and beeper.

Mercury Controller ports for NXT-MSC

Allows you to configure the ports on an NXT-MSC controller to support the connection of Mercury MR16IN and MR16OUT modules. These modules offer input and output link actions.

Cardholder Enrollment Flow Changes

The cardholder and credential enrollment workflow has been improved with an enrollment wizard.

2FA using 3rd Party Applications

2-factor authentication can now be set up and used with a third-party authentication app (such as Google Authenticator).

NXT-MSC Controller Internal Configuration

Implemented the ability to access and edit the NXT-MSC controller configuration directly from the Borealis UI.

Changes to the Reader Menu’s

To optimize and simplify the reader control options, command buttons have been replaced with drop-down menus for reader mode control, auto-unlock suspend and restore, and reader masking functions. This change also improves ease of use when administering the system with a mobile device.

Masking/Unmasking of Door-forced and Door-held Events

For controller types that support the masking and unmasking of door-held and door-forced
events this has now been implemented in Borealis. You can select a reader from the readers’ screen and mask the reader’s held-open or forced-open events via the masking drop-down menu.

And Miscellaneous Bug-Fixes

Full November release notes documentation:
Release Notes