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New Approach to RFID-Powered Building Security
The facial-recognition software, provided by Fulcrum Biometrics, collects video images from Infinova cameras installed around an entrance. According to Mike Stryczek, president of American Barcode and RFID, the cameras can photograph individuals from as far as 40 to 60 feet from the entrance. The software, meanwhile, can extract from the crowd thousands of faces per second, comparing each one with a database of facial images taken whenever personnel badges are issued.
If the software can't find a match for a face in its database, it e-mails an alert to building security personnel, attaching the captured image. How security officers then handle such exceptions, Stryczek says, depends on the business rules in place at a particular company. For instance, the protocol might be for a security guard to locate any unauthorized persons in the building lobby and ask if they need assistance, or whom they are visiting.
Stryczek notes that Tetragate could be used not only to track unauthorized visitors and monitor employees entering the workplace, but also to determine which company assets, such as laptop computers, they are carrying. To do so, the company would first need to affix EPC Gen 2 UHF tags to those assets.
American Barcode and RFID partnered with epcSolutions to link the Fulcom facial-recognition software with the data pulled form the RFID interrogators. It is presently using Zebra Technology's RFID card printer-encoders to produce the RFID-enabled ID cards.
Thus far, the Tetragate system has been tested only in lab facilities—it has not yet been used in a real-world environment. Still, Stryczek says his firm is in early discussions with a number of interested organizations in the Southwest, including government offices, military facilities and a professional sports arena. He notes that the latter's owners are interested in using the system to track the movement of people in employee-only areas.
Pricing for a basic package, the company says—which includes RFID-enabled ID cards, a Zebra card printer-encoder, a Symbol Gen 2 interrogator, an Infinova camera and all the necessary software—starts at $25,000. The Tetragate platform is not presently designed for integration with building access-control systems, so the UHF card cannot be used as a key card. That means companies deploying the Tetragate system would need to use an HF or LF key card system for access control and the Tetragate UHF cards for ID.
According to Stryczek, companies may also choose to deploy just the RFID-enabled personnel badges, without the Infinova and Fulcom facial-recognition software, at a much lower cost. Before deploying the system, however, American Barcode and RFID says it must perform a site assessment, which costs $8,000. The Tetragate platform is currently available.
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If the software can't find a match for a face in its database, it e-mails an alert to building security personnel, attaching the captured image. How security officers then handle such exceptions, Stryczek says, depends on the business rules in place at a particular company. For instance, the protocol might be for a security guard to locate any unauthorized persons in the building lobby and ask if they need assistance, or whom they are visiting.
Stryczek notes that Tetragate could be used not only to track unauthorized visitors and monitor employees entering the workplace, but also to determine which company assets, such as laptop computers, they are carrying. To do so, the company would first need to affix EPC Gen 2 UHF tags to those assets.
American Barcode and RFID partnered with epcSolutions to link the Fulcom facial-recognition software with the data pulled form the RFID interrogators. It is presently using Zebra Technology's RFID card printer-encoders to produce the RFID-enabled ID cards.
Thus far, the Tetragate system has been tested only in lab facilities—it has not yet been used in a real-world environment. Still, Stryczek says his firm is in early discussions with a number of interested organizations in the Southwest, including government offices, military facilities and a professional sports arena. He notes that the latter's owners are interested in using the system to track the movement of people in employee-only areas.
Pricing for a basic package, the company says—which includes RFID-enabled ID cards, a Zebra card printer-encoder, a Symbol Gen 2 interrogator, an Infinova camera and all the necessary software—starts at $25,000. The Tetragate platform is not presently designed for integration with building access-control systems, so the UHF card cannot be used as a key card. That means companies deploying the Tetragate system would need to use an HF or LF key card system for access control and the Tetragate UHF cards for ID.
According to Stryczek, companies may also choose to deploy just the RFID-enabled personnel badges, without the Infinova and Fulcom facial-recognition software, at a much lower cost. Before deploying the system, however, American Barcode and RFID says it must perform a site assessment, which costs $8,000. The Tetragate platform is currently available.
