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SA utilities move to next generation biometrics

South African utilities, mines and manufacturing are moving to adopt a range of next generation biometric access control technologies and applications, says Morpho.


Johannesburg, 01 Aug 2016
Nicolas Garcia, sales manager for access control, OEM modules and gaming at Morpho Sub-Saharan Africa (Safran Identity & Security)
Nicolas Garcia, sales manager for access control, OEM modules and gaming at Morpho Sub-Saharan Africa (Safran Identity & Security)

National utilities, mines and manufacturers are increasingly extending their biometric-based time and attendance systems to effectively secure facilities and control access, to step up compliance and to mitigate increased risks at key installations.

Nicolas Garcia, sales manager for access control, OEM modules and gaming at Morpho Sub-Saharan Africa (Safran Identity & Security), reports that utilities, mines and manufacturers in South Africa have long used biometrics for their access control and time and attendance. However, growing numbers of key installations are moving beyond time and attendance, he says.

"More organisations are looking to integrate compliance components into their systems. For instance, there is a need to make sure that certain areas can only be accessed by someone with valid health and safety permits and the correct training; or even by people who are not intoxicated. Biometrics helps with the identification of the individual and sends a reference to an electronic controller which is capable of running business rules as determined by the organisation. If any of the organisational or compliance rules are not met, then the system will deny access and if needed, generate a notice to a supervisor at the organisation."

However, he notes, speed and accuracy are of the utmost importance, particularly in organisations with large numbers of employees. "One of the biggest challenges utilities face is ensuring that only authorised staff are accessing strategic secure areas when there is a large number of people to manage."

"Advanced biometrics-based access control systems deliver high levels of speed and accuracy, enabling organisations to extend their use to a range of applications," says Garcia. "For instance, in a mine, blasting preparation time can be reduced dramatically if the appropriate systems are in place to indicate in real time who is where on site, so that nobody is left in the blasting zone."

South Africa boasts a high level of biometrics technology maturity, says Garcia, but major organisations are now looking to extend their systems to multimodal authentication. "We also see definite trends emerging in this environment. For instance, we are seeing more and more requests for mobile terminals in the form of a dedicated biometric terminal such as a biometric embedded tablet, or in some instances, a cellphone or laptop.

Other biometric technologies are also currently being tried and proven in the mining environment, including 3D facial recognition systems which allow one to be authenticated in environments where employees wear gloves or where they are carrying parcels, making a fingerprint system impractical."

Garcia notes that while a range of new biometrics technologies are entering the market, it is crucial that organisations make careful selections based on their unique requirements and the ability of a solution to integrate into enterprise systems. "Biometrics is just one part of the whole solution and there is no point in acquiring a biometric solution that cannot integrate into another access control system properly," he advises. "It is also important to ensure that the overall solution supports workflow efficiency, rather than disrupting it."

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