A Hands-on Approach

Dec 11, 2002 12:00 PM, Jennifer Pero

Boise Airport is using a hand reader from Recognition Systems Inc., Campbell, Calif., to add an additional layer of security to its airport operations center, which houses the airport’s head-end security system and technical information. The reader was installed by local integrator AIC Solutions of Boise and is part of an ongoing pilot program to determine how such technology might help incorporate biometrics into its broader access control systems.

The RSI Handkey analyzes more than 90 unique measurements of the size and shape of a person’s hand, and then compares it to a central database that tracks and monitors employee movements and access to sensitive areas. The reader evaluates the measurements of the hand and gives it a value of 1 to 100, with 1 being a perfect match, and 100 being barely a match.

“Before installing the hand reader, we strictly had card access in place,” says Don Larson, aviation IT manager for Boise Airport. “We’re always looking for new technology, and we selected the hand reader to add an additional layer of security.” The hand reader can be fully-integrated into a variety of access control systems and provides further security when combined with card access.

“What we’re trying to do is ensure we have the right person, and not the wrong person with the right card,” says Bill Spence, director of marketing for Recognition Systems. “Hand geometry is easy to use, unobtrusive and very accurate — and it works.”

Larson says he wanted to install the hand reader in a high-profile location where it would be accessible to many airport employees. Airport environments can be unforgiving when it comes to testing security technology, says Spence.

“Airports have literally tens of thousands of transactions per day and you have to be able to deal with that sort of volume,” he says. “The hand readers were designed for high-volume access control, and our technology has been refined for these types of applications.”

After nearly 21/2 months of testing, Boise Airport has plans to incorporate the system into its new facility, a terminal building expansion, which will open in May 2003. Future implementation plans also include installing the hand readers at outside vehicle gate access locations that lead to the air field.

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