Why more businesses are using biometric fingerprint readers

Fingerprint recognition technology is one of the most reliable ways to control access to unauthorised areas. Once reserved for only the most high tech of businesses, biometric fingerprint readers are now widely accepted and being increasingly used in a broad range of fields.
How do biometric fingerprint readers work?
Fingerprint recognition is the most widely used form of biometric recognition, more popular than both iris and facial recognition techniques.  The first step in this type of recognition is fingerprint template formation, which is also known as minutiae extraction. This is when the sample fingerprint is provided to the scanner and the scanner creates an 8-bit scan of the person’s fingerprint. This scan is then converted into binary code using complex algorithms. When an employee or other authorised person wants to gain access to your building, or a specific part of it, they simply need to scan their finger and the biometric reader checks its storage for a matching approved scan in a process which takes only seconds.
Why are they so popular?
Biometric devices are becoming more and more popular every day as people discover different uses for it. We often see fingerprint scanners used in airports and by police forces, but they are becoming more and more common as a method of access control. While key fobs, cards and keys are useful in preventing unauthorized personnel from accessing your property, there are occasions when they fail, such as if someone loses their keys, or has them cloned. Biometric fingerprint scanners are much more reliable as everyone’s fingerprint is unique and it is much harder to create a copy.  Other examples of biometrics being used in less obvious places include at schools as a method of checking attendance, at gyms to only provide access to paying members and as a means of payment for services and goods.
If your business needs to control access to restricted areas or has another use for biometrics then Gateway Automation can assess your requirements and provide you with a free, no-obligation quotation and feasibility survey. Click here for more information about FR-240 Biometric Fingerprint Readers, click here to arrange a callback or click here to download our free brochure.

How biometric fingerprint scanners can help secure prisons from drugs

clip_image002Last year in the UK there were almost 4,500 instances where prisoners were caught with illegal substances.

This figure is only expected to have risen with levels of drug abuse and use of synthetic drugs such as “spice” becoming widespread.

In fact, The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman found that in 39 deaths between June 2013 and June 2015, the prisoner in question was known to have been using drugs or was highly suspected of doing so before their death.

The level of drug abuse in UK prisons presents a complicated problem for the Prison Service and highlights a need for new strategies to keep drugs from entering prisons. Recent reports have found that while drones are being used to smuggle in drugs, prison visitors remain the most common source of drugs in prisons.

Many prisons in Britain are now turning to Biometric identification systems as a method of identifying both inmates and visitors as they enter our prisons with systems already installed at Woodhill, Bellmarsh, Manchester, Long Lartin & Whitemore.

Biometric fingerprint readers are one of the most secure access control systems available on the market. This is because the person requesting access has to use their fingerprint to gain authorisation – and a person’s fingerprint is entirely unique. This therefore removes the chances of an inmate visitor impersonating someone else to gain access and further propagate the problem of drugs in our prison system.

If you are interested in learning more about Gateway’s range of high quality, low cost access control equipment then call us on 01522 682 255, or contact us here.