According to a study, the implementation of biometric systems for access control in buildings has increased by 60% in the last 3 years. Today, they are one of the most reliable methods for identifying people and their movements in a given space.
In newly constructed buildings, the installation of these new systems predominates due to the security and amount of useful and significant data they provide when optimizing the available resources to the maximum. The most common systems chosen by companies are fingerprint recognition and iris scanning.
In this post, we tell you in detail what these new systems are about, how they work and their advantages over traditional access systems.
What is biometric access control?
Biometric access control is a system supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the identification of people. Each individual possesses biological information that differentiates them from others and makes them unique. Biometric access control restricts access based on these unique biometric characteristics. Some of them are: fingerprints, iris pattern, gait or facial structure.
How does biometric access control work?
A biometric access control system that does the following:
- Scans the biometric characteristics of the subject.
- Matches these characteristics with a pre-established database for previously defined candidates.
- If the parameters match, it allows access.
Biometric systems are customized and multi-layered, making valuable data secure against attacks. These systems have gained special prominence in buildings with high security requirements such as banks and hospitals, although the trend in demand is extending to other public buildings and companies that want to have greater control and more detailed for the management of internal personnel and external services.
Types of biometric recognition
- Fingerprint. The most commonly used in the business sector. It is very common to see them in accesses to office buildings that work with fingerprint, as well as clocking-in machines that allow the control of entrances and exits.
Since no two people in the world can have the same fingerprint, this system ensures a totally unique, valid and legal identification of persons.
- Iris. This is also a unique feature that can be used as a method of identification, especially in very high security enclosures.
- Voice. Voice recognition consists of several layers that identify acoustic, phonetic, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic signals. The unification of all these layers forms a unique data set that allows a person to be unambiguously identified, which enables artificial intelligence devices to recognize the person speaking, being virtually impossible for another person to imitate in order to fool the system.
- Movement while walking. This is a new system that makes it possible to recognize a person while walking, being able to identify him or her from 50 meters away, even with his or her back turned, without the need to verify the face. Biometric recognition by the way of walking is very useful in surveillance, to solve crimes and prosecute crime.
- Facial structure. Systems that use this type of biometric authentication are able to create templates of a person’s face based on a few key points that are combined to form unique data sets. A camera captures the image of the individual’s face and compares it to its database of authorized persons.
- Hand Veins. This system relies on pattern recognition of hand or finger veins. A bright near-infrared light penetrates through the skin, distinguishing more precisely the shapes and courses of the veins. In addition, the blood circulation in the veins during identification ensures that the person is alive and real, preventing the machine from being fooled.
Biometric access control in buildings
Buildings have to be functional, accessible to people on a day-to-day basis, but this creates certain vulnerabilities. In commercial centers, with offices and stores, where there may be a large movement of individuals, employees, customers, suppliers or visitors, entrances and exits become much more difficult to manage than in residential ones.
Access controls play an important role in meeting their security objectives. Those based on biometric data have proven their efficiency for access needs at both low and high security levels.
In addition, biometric recognition technology can be leveraged to identify known criminals or terrorists with support from other systems. It can also be used to identify people in the vicinity of the building and generate an alert if a subject under surveillance enters or leaves the building.
The transformation of traditional buildings to Smart Buildings
Biometric recognition applications
Advances in the field of biometric technology mean that biometric characteristics can now be captured and processed quickly and discreetly. Some application areas are:
- Main building entrances. Entrance to main installations, distinguishing types of individuals: employees, visitors, external services, logistics, etc.
- Restricted areas. Access is limited to areas that require high security due to the data or content they contain.
- Internal processes and document validation. Some company processes and protocols require approval by supervisors and senior management, so that the process is validated at different points.
- Data access. Accurate information of each user and last movements. Import and export tools with other applications.
- Schedule control. Verification of personnel movements according to calendar and work schedules, being able to disable access outside of it.
Advantages of biometric access control in buildings
Biometric access controls have become the most widely used and reliable means of identifying individuals. They have many advantages for both companies and users.
- Security. One of the main reasons for their use, as they provide high security as it is not possible to replicate the unique characteristics that another individual possesses.
- Low maintenance cost. Once these systems have been implemented, their maintenance costs are low, since they do not usually present hardly any incidents during their useful life.
- Absolute control. Thanks to the information collected, it is possible to have total control over the entry and exit of the different profiles that access the facilities. In the case of employees, it is possible to know their performance or unpunctuality, or even the overtime they work.
- Convenience. Users do not need to carry identification elements such as cards, or memorize codes, they are simply “the access key”.
Manage your building’s access control with Nexus Integra
Access control has become a crucial challenge for increasingly complex organizations.
The ability to collect and process all this data centrally is the key to efficient management of resources, processes with maximum functionality in the day-to-day running of a building.
Nexus Integra is the platform that will allow you to connect all your biometric and traditional access systems for control and management. Data is collected, processed and displayed visually through software making daily operations easy.
In addition, it can be integrated with existing systems and with Smart Solutions, you will get in one place the control of systems such as video surveillance, climatization, fire, parking spaces, water and electricity supplies, air conditioning, among others.
