As challenges continue for many organizations in enabling access for employees, members and visitors to their facilities and workplaces, Precise Biometrics showcased its innovative technology that makes facility access easy at Fastighetsmässan & Säkerhet Syd 2020 in Malmö, Sweden. Sarandis Kalogeropoulos, Director Sales/ Business Development, shares his insight from the event on the latest trends and opportunities in this growing market…
“Last month’s Fastighetsmässan & Säkerhet Syd 2020 was a new event for us at Precise and great opportunity for us to share Precise YOUNiQ for access, our flexible and easy solution which allows you to simply walk in to your office, gym or other facility with a selfie” says Sarandis Kalogeropoulos, Senior Manager Sales/Business Development.
“Everyone who visited our stand had common issues around credential cards and access tags – the amount of time it takes to handle them, the admin costs and security concerns since they find that they can easily be used by people not authorized to enter a building. Our on-site demo therefore was a real talking point as it clearly showed how easy the Precise YOUNiQ solution is to use, with facial recognition removing the need for access cards or tags, enhancing security, convenience and reducing costs, particularly as it can be integrated with a customer’s existing access system.
“For instance, if an organization is in the process of buying a number of security cameras for its facility, then just one of these can be installed in such a way that it can also be utilized for access – it’s very cost effective!”
Remind us with a quick ‘crash course’ about how Precise YOUNiQ works please
“Of course. Imagine you have a new employee starting at your company. There’s just four easy steps to follow: firstly you need to send them a link to digitally onboard to the access system. This link takes the employee to a web app, where they provide YOUNiQ with a selfie (similar to the normal procedure when starting a new job when someone will take a photo of you, only this is done at a time convenient to the employee). Depending on local requirements, identity is also added if required for further security. Next the selfie is transformed into a biometric template and securely stored in a server connected to the camera at the facility’s entrance. Finally when the person arrives at the facility, the camera will live video stream them approaching. As the system recognizes the individual, the door opens automatically with no need to stand and wait. The process for visitors is very similar – all quick, convenient and secure.
“As you can imagine, this type of solution is perfect when you want to give access to people when your reception desk is closed, for instance if members want to use their gym early before they go to work, or employees want to come into the office outside of the usual hours. It is also ideal for overcoming the issues and effort for providing access cards or tags for temporary visits, particularly where a person needs to visit several times over a relatively short period e.g. short term contract employees like summer workers. The usual initiation process is especially cumbersome in these instances and has a high administration cost. We’re proud to offer facial recognition as a third option.”
What was your key take-away from the event?
“The mobile phone or device is becoming increasingly important in enabling facility access. This is natural of course since the mobile industry is the most digital right now with cars just starting to get connected. In the future, as Real Estate catches up, we’ll see much more digitalisation of buildings with a new focus on convenience for individuals, in tangent with the security priorities. So there’s lots of opportunity here for Real Estate managers to modernise facility access and for the biometrics industry to deliver creative solutions to enhance customer experience without compromising security.”