ID SHORTS
NON-PAYMENT USE CASES FOR NFC The Smart Card Alliance released a white paper looking at non-payment use cases for near field communications technology. While the different payment schemes from Apple, Samsung and Google receive the bulk of the attention, there are numerous other applications for the communications protocol. The white paper explores use cases including marketing, identity and access, ticketing and gaming. Related to access control applications, the paper details use cases for building access, hotel access and even automotive access. The value proposition with NFC over cards is convenience – no need to wait for a visitor badge, streamlined ID issuing, Over-the-Air issuance, and secure storage of IDs. One example of a frictionless transaction is the delivery of a hotel room key or a student dorm-room key to a user as part of a check-in process. Implementation requires a secure means of generating credentials that can be registered with the physical access control system and provisioning such credentials to a secure environment on an NFC phone that can then be used to present them to the NFC door reader. A wallet application on the smartphone can provide the user interface through which the user can select which credential to activate. More sophisticated apps may use Bluetooth beacons to streamline the selection process, waking the app and prompting the user for some form of authentication, such as a biometric. Use of the technology on campus has been popular. Villanova University reported that by removing combination and key locks and using mobile phone activated doors the university saved a tremendous amount of money in the annual turnover that is required to re-key dorm rooms each year.
GALLAGHER RELEASED AN UPDATE TO ITS SECURITY MANAGEMENT PLATFORM, COMMAND CENTRE V7.40, ADDING MULTIPLE NEW FEATURES
The school has also reduced the amount of lockouts because students seldom leave their mobile phone in the room. Another savings is the elimination of the need to rekey all doors if a master key is lost. Now, with a centralized roomkey management system it is easy to do the annual changeover, issuing one-day permission to certain rooms as required, and enabling other key-related actions. The paper is available for free download at smartcardalliance.org.
GALLAGHER UPDATES PRODUCT LINES Gallagher released an update to its security management platform, Command Centre v7.40, adding features to improve operational efficiency and user experience. The introduction of a
bar code scanner for the Gallagher Visitor Management Client and Kiosk can speed up the entry and exit process for visitors to a site. Other enhancements to the Visitor Management suite include customizable branding on the kiosk and further automation of host interactions. Gallagher’s T20 Card +PIN Terminals will also receive a software upgrade with the release of v7.40 enabling the management of perimeter alarms as well the ability to perform overrides and conduct maintenance and repairs on the fence line. The company also released a new mobile reader to extend security beyond the door giving guards the freedom to search cardholder details and access privileges without returning to a workstation. The Gallagher Mobile Reader is designed to work with all the latest Apple devices operating on iOS 8 or iOS 9.
Spring 2016
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