CAMPBELL, CALIF. - March 2, 2004 - IR Recognition Systems, the biometric component of Ingersoll-Rand's (IR) Security & Safety Group's Electronic Access Control Division (EACD), announced today that Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Ill., is using biometric HandReaders to control access to the base from the Shiloh-Scott MetroLink station. The total workforce numbers more than 13,000 people, including Air Force Reserves, National Guardsmen, civil service and other civilian employees. It also provides services for more than 14,000 retired military personnel in the region.
HandReaders automatically take a three-dimensional reading of the size and shape of a hand and verify the user's identity in less than one second. Hand geometry is the most commonly used technology for access control and time and attendance, according to Frost and Sullivan's "World Biometrics Report."
Scott Air Force Base is one of many U.S. Air Force bases to recently employ biometric HandReaders for heightened homeland security and automated access control. Security forces at Scott initially manned the gate between the civilian and military sides of the Shiloh-Scott light rail train station, but access to the base is now controlled using HandReaders in conjunction with a six-digit personal identification number, freeing security personnel for other duties.
HandReaders handle any population volume with ease while providing impeccable reliability. With dramatically lower false reject and failure to enroll rates than other biometric technologies, the value of HandReaders grows as the number of users and/or transactions increases. With so many people coming in and out of the base, HandReaders were essential.
"The successful operation of Recognition Systems HandKey readers at Scott Air Force Base, coupled with similar successes at military bases throughout the US, clearly shows a growing consensus that reflects the significant advantages our hand geometry technology provides for access applications," emphasizes IR Recognition Systems Director of Marketing Bill Spence. "Our list of government and military customers continues to grow."
Scott Air Force Base is the headquarters for the U.S. Transportation Command, Air Mobility Command, 18th Air Force, Defense Information Systems Agency, and the Air Force Communication Agency. It is located on nearly 3,600 acres of land and employs more than 5,000 active-duty military personnel.
The recently opened Shiloh-Scott MetroLink station offers Scott employees a valuable commuting and transportation alternative to the St. Louis metropolitan region, with stations located at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Busch Stadium, Union Station, Forest Park, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and the Central West End among its 27 stops.
About Scott Air Force
Base
The primary mission of Scott Air Force Base is global mobility. The base commands
and controls all logistics of United States military in air, over land and across
the sea. Team Scott sets policies and executes all air mobility operations.
The installation is responsible for providing United States aero-medical evacuation
capabilities, fly operational support airlift in the C-21, and air refueling
missions in the KC-135. Scott Air Force Base supplies forces to theater combatant
commanders.
About IR Recognition
Systems
With over 75,000 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. The company is the world sales leader of biometric verification
devices and 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.
-30-