Drawings made by cave men show a palm print identifier. The Chinese used palm and footprints five hundred years ago. Skull measurements and lengths of fingers were used as early as the 19 th century to identify criminals. Some say that the fingerprint or face is different for each person.
These ancient uses required a lot of time to find a possible match. Today, FaceKey systems can search through thousands of fingerprints or faces in seconds to find a match, i.e. credential. This credential cannot be copied or transferred to another person ensuring that only the authorized person gains access. Cards, PINs and passwords are easily transferred.
FaceKey’s physical access control products utilize fingerprint and face recognition for identification in four ways: (1) fingerprint recognition only; (2) face recognition only; (3) fingerprint plus face recognition; and (4) a biometric plus a card reader of choice. Generally speaking the more identifiers used the higher the level of security and the slower the process.
So which biometric product to use for the job at hand. Some issues to discuss is the number of users as different products have different capacities and different prices and you don’t want to overbuy. Will the product be outside? And do users have soiled hands, carry things or have clean hands such as in surgery suites which would indicate the need for face recognition.
All biometrics are not created equal! Biometrics can provide more physical security, more certainty about the “who”, more privacy, cost savings and on and on. Whether the application is for one door or a multinational installation, the most important consideration is whether or not the product is right for the application. Customers and integrators should beware of selecting a biometric product based on cost alone. FaceKey has replaced many biometric readers that failed.