South African-owned biometrics group Fingerprint-IT today announced the successful installation of the first residential building-wide biometric access control system in Vancouver, Canada. The project is valued at C$100 000 (over R 524 000).
The high-end Grace development, in the Yaletown area of the city, already has a reputation as one of the more unique buildings in Vancouver. Developers James Schouw and Associates have completely secured the building, using only fingerprint access control.
This means that only the owners and their guests can access the building, no one can steal a proximity-fob to get in, there is an unforgeable record of who entered the building and when, and owners no longer need to carry keys.
"Biometrics is the security of the future," says CEO of Fingerprint-IT North America Warren Kimmel.
"Anyone can steal your key or fob, and people lose them all the time - that`s not secure at all. With what is happening around the world today, security is everyone`s prime concern."
"If you have guests they can be added to the fingerprint recognition list for the period of their stay and then removed when they have left. The system is totally customisable, so cleaners and gardeners can be given access to the front door only, or the garden area only, or whatever the building requires," adds James Schouw, chairman of James Schouw and Associates.
"There are a lot of sub-standard systems out there that just don`t do what they promised. We have all seen fingerprint access work on TV, but in the real world these things are tough to get right. Residential installations are the toughest of all - apart from stopping unauthorised access, the system can never deny authorised access - it needs to operate at 100% efficiency, 24/7."
Fingerprint-IT, says Kimmel, had not been the developer`s first choice: "The developers recently threw-out a biometric system sourced from a large international company that was not up to the job.
"South Africa is a unique testing ground environmentally, politically and socially. Biometric software and hardware has to be totally 'bullet-proof`. Take gold mining for example: In this industry, the systems are exposed to the harshest weather conditions with dust and dirt a normal and must not malfunction."
Bryan Kimmel told ITWeb that the company is set to release SA`s first credit-based biometrics system, aimed at the financial sector.
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