Hungarian border guards increase trans-national security using high-tech briefcase and wireless technology from 3Com.
With international border security tightening worldwide, the Hungarian Border Guard is using a high-tech briefcase to catch unauthorised travellers and speed up cross-border traffic.
Guards along three Austrian border crossings carry specially-designed cases fitted with a computer notebook using wireless technology from 3Com Corporation and an optical character recognition (OCR) device. The guards go directly to the business or tourist travellers` vehicles, including inside coaches where they can immediately scan passports using the OCR device which "reads" the document and converts the information into computer data. Data can then be transferred back - or retrieved from - the border point`s nearby computer network using the 3Com AirConnect high-speed wireless solution.
The combination of wireless and OCR technology has reduced the time required to process coach passengers by more than 10 minutes per vehicle.
Hungary has been extending its international relationships and seen a signficant increase in the number of visitors and transit passengers entering the country`s western region. Despite recently deploying an effective Unix-based solution to provide OCR functionality to quickly recognise and identify passports, it was still time consuming to check a coach full of tourists so the Border Guard and the Ministry of Economy looked into the advantages of incorporating mobile wireless technology into its border point checks.
Profon Informatikai Kft., the company awarded the contract, selected 3Com`s AirConnect family of products to add wireless mobility to the border process. The solution included the AirConnect 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Access Point, which transmits radio waves and can communicate with 63 wireless mobile devices: 3Com AirConnect 11 Mbps Wireless LAN PC cards, a credit-card sized device that fits into a portable computer notebook and provides wireless network connections using the access points; and the 3Com AirConnect 11 Mbps Wireless LAN PCI Card, which provides wireless network connections for desktop computers.
Profon Informatikai Kft. first developed the compact solution for checking coaches at the border. The onboard OCR device is connected through the notebook`s serial port. Once scanned, the border guards are able to check passengers` passports on the coach since the notebook`s AirConnect PC Card connects immediately to the border station`s Local Area Network (LAN) and the necessary data is displayed within seconds. Since the fixed components of the system are in direct view of the coaches, the speed of data communication between the network and the notebook is at its optimum.
The first experiences of the new system show that if there is no shielding object between the two stations, the system can ensure reliable communication up to distances of 300 metres, exceeding the guaranteed distance of 100 metres.
The system is currently in use at border crossings in Hegyeshalom, Sopron and R'abaf"uzes, but due to its highly mobile nature it can also be used at temporary border stations as necessary.
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