AudioTel Uses RFID to Protect Financial Data

The battery-powered tags, when activated, transmit to RFID interrogators connected simultaneously to the enterprise system software via Internet web-based, sequel based TCP/IP, to the existing Lenel security alarm equipment that monitors doors and door locks, and to stand-alone management software.

AudioTel is also using RFID for asset tracking. Inside the building, to keep the system invisible, AudioTel mount RFID interrogator antennas in ceiling tiles throughout the building. "We used a variety of our antennas depending on the application but all are hidden beneath floors, walls, or ceiling," says Stark. The antennas, he says, are hidden for aesthetic reasons.

For asset tracking, employees attach an ActiveTag key fob to a bag of magnetic tapes used for backing up data. They also attach tags to electronic equipment such as computers located in each of three secured locations where there is a reader. If an employee attempts to move a tagged asset such as a computer from that location, the computer's tag will pass near an antenna in the office or at a doorway, activating the tag, which then begins transmitting a signal. The system then records the location of the item, who moved it (based on the signal emitted by the person's RFID-enabled badge) and whether the movement is authorized. If an asset leaves a controlled area without authorization, doors such as those at the facility's front entrance can be locked automatically, and wireless alerts can be sent to security personnel to recover the asset before it leaves the premises.

The system also includes RFID tags for company vehicles to allow AudioTel to track movement of its company vehicles in and out of its parking area. The parking control gate, where employees can enter or exit the parking lot, has an RFID interrogator that must read an authorized RFID badge before it unlocks and opens the gate. That feature, says Stadel, is required since the gate opens into Addison Airport, where controlled access is required.

"What we like is that, unlike with some other access-control systems with a badge and lock, we can have multiple people walk through in a group," he says, and have accurate reads of all those who pass through. "We have people coming and going all day, so that is important to us," he says. Before the RFID system was installed, Stadel says, AudioTel used a keypad that required employees to punch in their ID number.

The next step, Stadel says, will be to use the same RFID system to control access to server rooms within the facility.