CAMPBELL, CALIF. - November 19, 2002 - IR Recognition Systems, the biometric component of Ingersoll-Rand's (IR) Security & Safety Group's Electronic Access Control Division (EACD), today announced that students at Johnson & Wales University in northeast Denver are using HandKey readers, which positively authenticate them by the size and shape of their hands, to control access to their dorms and dorm rooms. Soon, they will also use the biometric readers to enter a 24-hour computer lab, obtain meals, check out library books, access the athletic fields and obtain bookstore charge backs. Faculty is using the HandKey readers to enter academic facilities.
"This biometric technology validates people, not plastic, for authorization to a particular facility," emphasizes Lindsay Morgan, Johnson & Wales University spokesperson. "The problem with our former traditional card swipe system is that students lose ID cards which can be picked up by strangers and, thus, grant them access to a resident facility. That's a serious security risk for our students."
At Johnson & Wales University, HandKey readers are at the main entrances of each of three resident halls. In Pulliam Hall, eight additional HandKey readers, two on each opposing wing of the four-story building, are used to open a student's individual room. Doors are timed so that the ones nearest a HandKey reader open for five to ten seconds while those further down the hall open for up to 20 seconds.
Students entering the dorm slide their hands into the HandKey reader and, in less than a second, the door opens and they enter the dorm. As they arrive on their specific floor, they again slide their hands into the HandReader and their personal door opens. Students no longer need to worry about lost keys or the $75 fine they would pay as a result.
"The costs and overhead of managing keys and cards is outrageous," explains Morgan. "Besides eliminating the administrative overhead of dealing with this huge time and money expense, we gain additional benefits. First of all, there is no credential for our students to lose plus the biometric system forces them to be accountable for the people they choose to let into a facility.
"Granting and removing access to a facility from a PC as opposed to having to put in a key request with a locksmith and wait for a few days is a great operational benefit. Access can be removed immediately upon dismissal of a student as opposed to trying to get back a card or change a lock. Management of building access is simplified via the software that controls who has access to what facility and administers what times the facility is open and to whom. Lastly, we can generate reports on building access."
At Johnson & Wales University, the HandKey readers are connected to the institution's switched Ethernet backbone. Switches are on each floor of the resident halls and each building on campus is connected via a gigabit Ethernet fiber backbone to a Master Distribution Frame in the main administration building. Since the network infrastructure is designed to be scalable, Morgan reports, the biometric system is easily expandable.
"Students like the biometric system," Morgan reports. "The technology certainly sparks a lot of interest and they know that they are using the cutting edge of building access solutions. They feel safer and note that it is more convenient. We believe it will improve our profitability in terms of student retention and recruitment. When parents and their prospective children see and understand the safety measures we are taking, it will translate into increased confidence and enrollment at Johnson & Wales."
Vizer Group of Broomfield, Colo. installed the biometric system.
About Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales - America's Career University - was founded in 1914. It is a private, non-profit, accredited institution offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, food service, hospitality and technology. With an enrollment of more than 13,500 students, Johnson & Wales is based in Providence, R.I., and maintains campuses in Charleston, S.C., Norfolk, Va., North Miami, Fla., Denver, Colo., and Gothenburg, Sweden with plans to open a new campus in Charlotte, N.C. in 2004. For more information, visit www.jwu.edu.
About IR Recognition Systems
With over 70,000 hand geometry
units throughout the world reading millions of hands each day, IR Recognition
Systems, founded in 1986, is the pioneer of hand recognition technology used
in access control, time and attendance and identification applications. According
to Frost and Sullivan's 2002 World Biometric Report, IR Recognition Systems
is the world's largest supplier of biometric verification devices for the access
control and time and attendance markets. It serves an international clientele
from its headquarters in Campbell, Calif. The hand geometry website is www.handreader.com.
Phone is 408-341-4100. Recognition Systems is the biometric component of Ingersoll-Rand
Corporation's Security & Safety Group's Electronic Access Control Division.
The Ingersoll-Rand website is www.irco.com.
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