CAMPBELL,
CALIF. - April 5, 2005 - Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies today announced
that the U.S. military is using its biometric Schlage Recognition Systems Handreaders
housed inside a custom portal to ensure only authorized individuals access base
camps in the Middle East. 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. They are not affected by dust, dirty hands, and minor injuries,
which can cause false rejects with other biometric technology.
"The military used the Handreaders as a beta test in the theater for nine
months and had excellent results," says David Slagel, President of Modular
Security Systems Inc. (MSSI), the integrator (Ironton, Ohio). "They specifically
requested the HandKey model because of its reliability, accuracy and durability.
The HandKey unit is then placed inside our proprietary Modular Access Control
(MAC) portal, which provides turnstiles and an access control infrastructure."
The resulting portable, turnkey access control portals are plug-and-play, fully
integrated security systems planned for military bases throughout the world.
To install a MAC portal, military personnel simply set it in place and plug
it into 220-power in a junction box. Since the units are portable, the military
can establish a "moving perimeter," widely used in base construction.
"When they finish with one site, they can simply pick up the portal and
move it to the next site," Slagel emphasizes. "For the military, it
represents zero construction process. They used to spend $80,000 to $100,000
rebuilding these 'brass shacks' each time the perimeter changed."
Using the portals is also easy. Military personnel enter the portal through
one of five roll-up doors. They walk up to the entrance and present a proximity
card and then their hand to the Handreader. If the light turns green, they are
allowed entrance through the turnstiles. If the light is red, an alarm is sounded
that alerts a guard, who then investigates.
The MAC portals, featuring the HandKey units, eliminate concerns about the identity
of the cardholder or "tailgating," in which someone simply follows
the next person through an access point without proving their identity.
"The proximity card in combination with the biometric identifier virtually
eliminates both of these security-compromising practices and establishes a higher
level of security," Slagel notes.
New personnel are quickly registered at the MAC itself and the MACs can communicate
with each other. There is typically a central MAC and the portals can be linked
via a LAN or WAN.
Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies was named recipient of the 2004 Application
Market Penetration Leadership Award for access control and time and attendance
applications in Frost & Sullivan's study, World Biometrics Market.
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