Inner Range SIFER & Integriti / Concept Cards Explained

Inner Range: Integriti and Concept Platforms

Inner Range is an Australian access-control manufacturer whose Integriti and Concept product lines are widely deployed in commercial, government, and institutional buildings across the ANZ region and beyond. Both platforms support a layered credential architecture, meaning a single site can simultaneously use high-frequency smart cards at the primary entry points and standard proximity cards on secondary or legacy doors — all managed through the same controller.

That layered approach is a practical reality for facilities teams: a corporate headquarters fitted out with Integriti controllers may have SIFER DESFire smart cards at the front of house while older Concept-era prox readers remain on car parks or back-of-house zones. Credential procurement therefore needs to address both tiers, and they are not interchangeable. The Inner Range ecosystem is a good example of why a blanket 'just order more cards' approach breaks down without first identifying the read technology at each door.

Because Inner Range occupies the enterprise-proprietary segment of the market, its formats are not cross-compatible with readers from other manufacturers. A card ordered for an HID-based system will not present credentials in the Wiegand structure an Inner Range controller expects, even if both cards superficially look like 125 kHz proximity cards.

SIFER DESFire EV3 (AES) vs the 56-Bit LF Format

SIFER is Inner Range's high-security credential layer. Each card is built on genuine NXP DESFire EV3 (or EV2, in earlier deployments), running 128-bit AES mutual authentication. The system relies on site-specific cryptographic keys held by the Integriti controller; a credential only becomes valid for a given site once it has been enrolled and the controller has written the appropriate application and keys to the card's secure memory. For a detailed look at the underlying chip technology, the MIFARE Family Explained guide covers DESFire's sector structure and AES key management in full.

The SIFER 56-bit low-frequency format is a separate, simpler tier on the same platform. It uses a 24-bit site code and 32-bit card number, transmitted as a Wiegand data stream with no parity bits. This is a 125 kHz low-frequency format, distinct from the 13.56 MHz DESFire layer, and the two operate on entirely different read frequencies. Readers fitted with SIFER LF capability decode that 56-bit stream directly; they do not read DESFire cards, and vice versa, unless the hardware is a dual-frequency reader.

The distinction matters enormously for replacement orders. A site running SIFER DESFire at the card reader needs a compatible SIFER DESFire blank enrolled by its own system, while a site running the 56-bit LF format needs a compatible 56-bit LF card programmed to the correct site code and card number. Ordering the wrong tier produces a card that cannot authenticate at any reader on the site.

Configurable Wiegand Proximity on Inner Range

Below the SIFER tiers, Inner Range controllers also accept configurable Wiegand proximity formats commonly used across the broader access-control industry. These include 26-bit standard and a 36-bit proprietary variant that Inner Range has used on Concept and earlier Integriti installations. The Inner Range compatible proximity card in 36-bit format is among the more frequently requested replacements, particularly from buildings that were fitted out in the 2000s and early 2010s before the SIFER smart-card layer became standard.

The 125 kHz proximity landscape within Inner Range is further complicated by the fact that controllers can be configured to read multiple Wiegand bit-lengths on the same reader bus. A facilities manager inheriting an older site may encounter both 26-bit and 36-bit cards in circulation simultaneously, because the controller accepted both without complaint during earlier expansion phases. Auditing each card's actual bit-length — readable from the card's facility code and card number format — is a necessary first step before placing a replacement order.

Standard proximity formats reproduce faithfully on T5577 and EM4305 substrates, which are the industry-standard writable 125 kHz chips. The Compatible vs Genuine Access Cards buyer's guide explains the substrate choices and what they mean for long-term read reliability in high-cycle turnstile and barrier installations.

Compatible LF Cards vs Compatible SIFER Blanks

The compatibility model diverges sharply depending on which credential tier the installation uses. For the 56-bit LF and 36-bit proximity formats, a compatible card is pre-programmed to the site's facility code and card number at the point of manufacture or configuration, then presented to the reader — it either authenticates or it does not, based solely on whether the Wiegand data string matches what the controller expects. There is no cryptographic handshake; the reader decodes the RF transmission and passes the Wiegand number to the controller.

SIFER DESFire is fundamentally different. A compatible SIFER blank is a genuine NXP DESFire EV3 card that has not yet been enrolled with any site's keys. It carries no credential data at the time of supply. Once your Integriti or Concept controller performs an enrolment — writing the site's AES application and keys to the card's secure memory — the card becomes a valid credential for that installation and no other. This is the standard lifecycle for any site operating a managed smart-card programme, and it is exactly how 13.56 MHz HF smart cards work across enterprise access-control platforms generally.

The practical implication is that SIFER DESFire blanks cannot be pre-configured off-site to match your installation: your controller holds the keys, and enrolment must happen at your site using your system's card management software. What a compatible blank supplier provides is the correct DESFire EV3 substrate in the right physical format, with the correct NXP application identifier structure that the Integriti firmware expects to find during the enrolment dialogue. See the Corporate 1000, FlexSecur & Custom Facility Codes guide for how this enrolment-based model applies across other enterprise proprietary platforms. The Inner Range SIFER compatible cards and fobs range covers both card and key fob form factors for sites requiring both.

Ordering Compatible Inner Range Credentials

Before placing an order, the first task is identifying the exact format in use at each reader on your site. The three questions to answer are: (1) read frequency — 125 kHz LF or 13.56 MHz HF; (2) bit-length and structure — 26-bit, 36-bit, or SIFER 56-bit; and (3) whether the 13.56 MHz readers expect a pre-enrolled DESFire credential or simply read a UID. Integriti and Concept documentation, or a query to your installer's records, will typically resolve these questions, but the fastest method is to present a known working card to a reader with diagnostic mode enabled and read the Wiegand output on the controller's event log.

For inner range compatible proximity card requirements on Integriti sites, orders need the facility code and card number range. For SIFER DESFire blanks, orders specify card count and substrate (card, fob, or sticker), since no site-specific data is pre-loaded. The inner range 36-bit compatible card for Concept-era sites follows the standard facility-code-and-range ordering model used across the 125 kHz prox industry.

Tenants in multi-tenancy buildings should note that credential ordering authority typically rests with the building owner or their appointed security integrator, not the tenants themselves. Inner Range controllers store facility-code ranges per tenant partition, and adding cards outside the authorised range — even correctly formatted cards — will not grant access until the controller partition is updated by the system administrator. Coordinating with building management before ordering prevents the most common fulfilment issue on enterprise Inner Range sites. To discuss your specific site requirements, contact our technical team with the controller model, software version, and a sample card if available.

Security ID Systems is an independent manufacturer and supplier of compatible access-control credentials and is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by Inner Range.