Touchless Access Technology
THE business landscape changing so dramatically over the
past few months — possibly irrevocably — the task for many in security, including
for consultants, integrators, dealers and manufacturers. As businesses and organizations
begin to reopen, many are rethinking the way they budget for security,
including access control, video surveillance and intrusion Alarm.
It’s amazing that a microscopic virus from China could
virtually bring the world to a standstill. The 2020 global pandemic has
reshaped the way people work, learn and play on every conceivable level. In
addition to the devastating impact on global health and safety, COVID-19 has
infected the health of the global economy.
The growing call to return to work will surely accelerate many of the social distancing, sterilization and occupancy issues that we are currently facing. Hopefully, modern medicine will rise to the challenge sooner than later with a COVID-19 vaccine, but this may take some time even with accelerated testing and approvals.
Commonly touched items that can cause the spread of coronavirus (and other infectious disease) can include things like elevator buttons, ATM and checkout keypads, door knobs and handles, keyboards and mice, and door/entry access control panels — just to name a few. When you think about all of the “touchable” items that you interact with each day it becomes a daunting task to stay away from them and feel safe, clean and virus-free. Well, it's no surprise that right now, businesses are feeling the need to provide solutions and upgrade their safety and security as the workforce begins to come back to the office or plan for that to happen soon.
By employing touchless credentials such as face recognition, proximity devices, or mobile credentialing, existing and new access control systems can easily be enhanced to provide a fast and efficient means of allowing authorized individuals hands-free entry and egress to a facility helping prevent the spread of contagions that can impact the health of both individuals and businesses. Taking the role of access control further, platforms with open architecture can integrate new thermal detection solutions to instantly identify the surface temperature of individuals.
Types
of touchless technology
Businesses going touchless isn’t new—despite how relevant it is lately. In fact, touchless technology, from gesture sensors to voice recognition, has been widely used since the late 1980’s when automatic faucets and soap dispensers became popular in public restrooms. Today, you likely experience touchless technology multiple times a day such as walking through an automatic door, or asking Siri to set your alarm while your phone is sitting across the room from you.
Sign-in
process
Touchless technology isn’t only about hygiene and safety.
It’s also a way to show that your business is forward-thinking and modern.
After all, who likes being slowed down by an old-school pen and paper
sign-in sheet or a clipboard with long legal documents to read through?
The answer: no one. That’s why we have thought through how
to make the sign-in experience seamless and touch-free. With a touchless
visitor sign-in, guests can pre-register on their phone or computer before
their arrival; scan a QR code at check-in; and be off to see their host in no
time.
For modern offices, creating a touchless experience shows
that you’ve thought of every last detail of your visitor experience and have
made steps to take the burden off of guests when they come onsite. By doing
that, you save your visitors time once they arrive so they’re not bothered with
sign-in and can more quickly get to who they’re there to see.
Plus, while having one visitor come on site might seem
simple, there’s often a lot of info you’ll need to collect from them. Instead
of asking for this information during sign-in, you can collect essential
information about your guest and take care of any additional actions before the
visit, rather than frantically trying to solve issues while your guests wait in
your lobby.
Going touchless is another way to help your visitors, and your entire office, stay healthy. By going touchless, you’re able to minimize the spread of germs and make sure you’re taking care of everyone in your space.
Gesture
recognition
Gesture
recognition is the most common form of no-touch technology. Users can do simple
gestures to control or interact with devices without touching them. Waving your
hand to trigger an automatic door, for example, removes the need to touch
handles or a physical button. Users are positively identified with a simple
wave of either their right or left hand, in any direction. The touchless
technology copes with wet and dry fingers, eliminates ghost images left on the
scanner and mitigates hygiene concerns. The high speed, contactless acquisition
capability allows users to remain in motion while being identified. Faster
access control and time & attendance transactions reduce overall costs and
increase employee productivity.
The system
uses the passenger's unique Aadhaar identification number to biometrically
authenticate passengers in real time, from arrival at the airport through
boarding. Each checkpoint features high-speed and touchless biometric
technology to facilitate the passenger processing. In less than a second,
this device captures four fingerprints and matches them against the Aadhaar
database. An automated process generates considerable time savings for an
airport like Bengaluru, which experienced a 22% increase in passengers in 2016,
rising to 22 million. Passengers will be able to pass these checkpoints much
quicker, and no longer have to constantly show their ID documents &
boarding pass/e-ticket.
Bengaluru
is the first airport to use a biometric identification process based
on Aadhaar ID numbers, offering a thoroughly modern passenger experience
that will contribute to the digital transformation of India. Indian passengers
with a driver license (which also contains their fingerprints), and passengers
with a biometric passport from other countries can also take
advantage of this e-boarding system. When checking in, they are assisted
by a police officer, who scans their passport and boarding card, and saves
their fingerprints to ensure traceability.
Examples
of this include smart lights that turn on when you walk into a room or
automatic doors that you see at grocery stores, hotels, and commercial
buildings.
Voice recognition
Voice recognition systems let users interact with technology simply by speaking to it. This has become popular especially in our homes. We can make hands-free requests, set reminders, and perform other simple tasks by talking to Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, or the Google Assistant. You’ll be able to use an app to switch on light, or if that sounds a little awkward, even your voice – most systems will integrate with a virtual assistant such as Google or Amazon. One thing to check is that your lighting is compatible with the virtual assistant you use, as not all bulbs work with all systems.
Dozens
of companies now offer smart door locks that are controlled via an app. With
many of them, you can even control access with your voice using virtual
assistants such as the Amazon Alexa®.
It’s also possible, with many models, to send electronic keys to friends and guests when they visit. These keys can be timed to stop working once they leave, giving you peace of mind.
With most virtual assistants, you’ll even be able to remotely operate your lights and set timers so it appears you are home even if you’re away. You can also set routines, so that the house lights up whenever you return home, and switches everything off as you retire to bed for the night.
Most smart
TVs integrate with a virtual assistant, so you can turn on your TV or change
channels using your voice – a particularly useful feature when you inevitably
lose the remote down the back of the sofa, so it’s useful long after COVID-19
is a distant memory.
Facial recognition
Even
before the COVID-19 pandemic, the touchless nature of facial recognition as an access
credential was gaining traction with physical and cyber security professionals.
By using an individual’s face as an access control credential, facial
recognition eliminates the need and expense of physical cards and proximity
devices, or the need to physically enter PIN codes. In addition, facial
recognition readers meet the new emerging need to limit physical exposure to
germs and viruses by offering a highly accurate touchless access control
credentialing solution.
As a
workforce management tool, facial recognition helps preserve the health of
employees checking into work, while providing management with an infallible
means of documenting employee time and attendance while providing a detailed
history of overall workforce activity and individual personnel tracking. Both
of which have been longstanding challenges due to easily compromised time
tracking systems and practices. Now, nothing is left to question based on hard
data.
With the
growing popularity of facial recognition technology, there are many choices
already available with more undoubtedly on the way. Selecting the right
solution for your specific access control and/or workforce management
application is dependent on a very wide range of variables. But there are a few
core characteristics that you should look for when evaluating facial
recognition readers.
Most facial recognition terminals employ some form of IR (Infrared) technology to help ensure high visibility by the unit’s image sensor. This often limits where the unit can be installed such as outdoors or near windows due to strong ambient light. More advanced facial recognition readers employ as many as 80 wide-angle near infrared LEDs and 60 narrow-angle near infrared LEDs, allowing the unit to recognize faces even in full daylight and brightly lit environments (not direct sun). This enables installation at indoor locations near windows, lobbies and building entries.
Another facial recognition reader advancement to look for involves three-dimensional pixel intensity analysis. Ambient lighting contains ultraviolet rays which can negate near infrared LED lighting, and can also cast shadows making it difficult for a facial recognition reader to pinpoint the facial recognition points required for identification and authentication. Three-dimensional pixel intensity distribution analysis minimizes the effects of ambient light when acquiring facial images by minimizing lighting contrasts. As a result, it is easier for the algorithm to recognize the shape of the face enabling it to extract more facial features and create higher quality face templates, which are critical for accurate facial recognition.
The angle and position of a facial recognition reader directly impact the performance of the unit. Facial recognition readers with different viewing angles for built-in visual and infrared cameras allows users to stand at positions that are most suitable for facial recognition with little or no effort of contortions. This results in a faster, more comfortable, and convenient user experience.
It is most important that the facial recognition readers you evaluate are capable of analyzing faces in real time to maintain fluid entry/egress even during high volumes of employee traffic. Hardware-dependent live face detection systems employing technologies such as facial thermogram recognition and facial vein recognition require expensive hardware components, provide less accurate matches and slower authentication performance, which is counterintuitive for mainstream access control and workforce management applications.
Thermal Camera integration is expected to enhance security and safety at sites by combining face recognition and skin temperature measurement with facial recognition hardware unit. It increased the accuracy and consistency of the temperature measurement by using the face recognition algorithm to pinpoint the upper area of the face. It displays skin temperature and thermal image of a subject’s face on its intuitive GUI, giving audio and visual alerts when higher than threshold temperature is detected.
Personal
devices
For
technology to be completely touch-free it must operate without the need for
physical contact, like in the examples above. However, the introduction of
smartphones and other personal devices have made nearly touch-free technology possible
as well. Anything that operates at the command of your own personal device
allows you to avoid touching public surfaces. The emergence of smartphones
using iOS and Android is rapidly changing the
landscape of the IT industry around the world. Several industries, such as
digital cameras, car navigation, MP3, and PNP, have been replaced by equivalent
or even better performance using smartphones. Smartphones provide increasing
portability by integrating the functions of various devices into a single unit
which allows them to connect to platforms with network-based services and offer
new services and conveniences that have never been experienced before.
The combination of smartphones and access cards is creating a new value that goes beyond the simple convenience of integration enhancing the ability to prevent unauthorized authentication and entrance. People sometimes lend their access cards to others, but it is far less likely they might lend their smartphone with all their financial information and personal information – to another person. This overcomes an important fundamental weakness of RF cards.
Another valuable aspect of mobile credential is that it makes it possible to issue or reclaim cards without face-to-face interaction. Under existing access security systems, cards must be issued in person. Since card issuance implies access rights, the recipient’s identification must be confirmed first before enabling the card and once the card has been issued, it cannot be retracted without another separate face-to-face interaction. In contrast, mobile access cards are designed to transfer authority safely to the user's smartphone based on TLS. In this way, credentials can be safely managed with authenticated users without face-to-face interaction.
Mobile
cards can be used not only at the sites with a large number of visitors or when
managing access for an unspecified number of visitors, but also at the places
like shared offices, kitchens and gyms, currently used as smart access control
systems in shared economy markets.
While NFC could be an important technology for mobile credential that is available today on virtually all smartphones, differences in implementation and data handling processes from various vendors prevents universal deployment of a single solution to all devices currently on the market.
Accordingly,
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) has been considered as an alternative to NFC.
Bluetooth is a technology that has been applied to smartphones for a long time,
and its usage and interface are unified, so there are no compatibility problems
－ however, speed becomes the main
problem. The authentication speed of BLE mobile access card products provided
by major companies is slower than that of existing cards.
AirFob Patch addresses the need for technological improvements in the access control market in a direct, cost effective, and reliable way – by offering the ability to add high-performance BLE to existing card readers – enabling them to read BLE smartphone data by applying a small adhesive patch approximately the size of a coin.
This innovative breakthrough applies energy harvesting technology, generating energy from the RF field emitted by the existing RF reader – then converting the data received via BLE back into RF – and delivering it to the reader.
“For Indian workers to return safely back into office buildings, there must be a comprehensive system in place that integrates technology and new safety protocols both for the building and for tenant spaces alike. It can't be every building owner, tenant and occupant for themselves. We are all in the business of public health now to protect each other’s lives and help India get back to work”. - Arindam Bhadra
Iris
Every
human iris has its own unique traits. An iris scanner identifies pits, furrows
and striations in the iris and converts these into an iris code. Comparing this
code to a database subsequently determines whether to allow access. Iris
recognition terminals provide 100% touchless user authentication for a variety
of applications, spanning access control, time & attendance, visitor
management, etc.
Touchless
wall switch makes opening a door simple and germ free. Blue LED back-lighting
highlights the switch at all times, other than during activation. This provides
a visual reference of the switch’s location in low light conditions. Its
low-profile design makes it blend into your wall.
Touchless Visitor Management
The
visitor management system is the first point of contact for every visitor. To
help maintain the spread of COVID-19, several organizations are implementing
health screening procedures for visitors and employees entering their building.
Touchless
technology doesn’t only provide protection and safety to the workplaces. It
also provides the seamless modern experience to the workplace. The paper-based
manual system is not safe enough and also slowed down the productivity of the
business. That’s why we have thought through how to make the visitor check-in
experience seamless and touch-free.
A.
With
a Touchless visitor management system, visitors can pre-register on their
smartphone before their arrival; visitor screening; check-in with a QR code;
can meet their host in no time; and record the last details of the visitor
experience.
B.
Going
Touchless is a way to help your visitors, and your workplace, stay healthy. By
going Touchless, you’re able to reduce the spread of viruses.
C.
The
Touchless visitor management system saves your visitors time once they arrive
so they’re not bothered to check-in and can more quickly get to who they’re
there to see.
D.
When
Visitors arrive, you can collect essential information about your guest and
take care of any additional actions before the visit.
E.
Touchless
Visitor management System isn’t only about hygiene and safety. It’s also a way
to show that your business is forward-thinking and modern.
Kiosk
Companies
have to now restart the Touchless visitor management system after lockdown is
over. To help maintain the spread of COVID-19, several organizations are
implementing health screening procedures for visitors and employees entering
their building. Touchless self-check kiosk automatically measures body
temperature in seconds. It is an invaluable solution for quick detection of
illnesses and reduce the spread of bacteria & viruses, it vets staff
members and the public before entry to premises such as Schools, Malls,
Restaurants, factories, Railway stations, Airports, and Corporate offices.
The kiosk
features a touch-less UV-C Box to disinfect the bag, cell phone, and keys in
less than 10 seconds. UV-C Box kills 99% Viruses and Bacteria within 10 seconds
on exposed surface.
Preparing
before anyone even arrives onsite
There’s a lot you can do before your employees and guests arrive to make the experience frictionless. Start by pre-registering anyone coming into your office. This way you can gather important information to make sure they’re safe to enter and give them what they need to feel comfortable in your workplace.
Start with
pre-screening them and approving their entry to make sure only the right people
come on-site each day. This gives your team important control levers, like
inviting healthy employees into the office in shifts.
Create a touchless sign-in experience.
A.
Post clear signage at the front desk so people know
what to do when they arrive
B.
Allow people to check-in using their personal
device rather than an iPad Kiosk
C.
Put a bottle of hand sanitizer next to your kiosk
if you do need to use it
D.
Update your settings so guests don’t have to tap to
take their photo when they arrive
E.
Create a welcome guide and customize it
by employee or visitor type to make sure everyone has the information they need
F.
Make your badge printer easily accessible to
guests
G.
Update your hospitality practices. Instead of
having a receptionist hand a guest a drink, make personal beverages available
to grab without hand-to-hand contact
H.
Set up your final screen to give instructions to
guests about what to do next, like where to go or where to wait for their host
I.
Opt for a sign-in system that notifies your
employees automatically when their visitors arrive