01 January, 2003
category: Biometrics, Contactless, Education
15 High Security HandKey Hand Geometry Readers in Denver Dorms Only theBeginning
at America’s Career University(r)
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.
For a downloadable, high-resolution photograph of a HandKey at Johnson &
Wales, go to http://www.brighamscully.com/ and click Photographs/IR
Recognition Systems.
For more information…
Bill Spence Tom Brigham
IR RECOGNITION SYSTEMS BRIGHAM SCULLY
408-341-4100 818-716-9021
[email protected] [email protected]
Lindsay Morgan
JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY-DENVER
303-256-9452 (wk) 303-883-0690 (mb)
[email protected]