The global, COVID-19 pandemic shook up the world and every business in it. Every industry was impacted in some capacity, and many were forced to shut their doors due to national and state mandates. Alternatively, others were able to relocate employees to remote workstations to reduce the interruption of workflow. However, now as employees are beginning to return back to work, employers are trying to find ways to keep their staff and facilities as safe and secure as possible.
Pre-pandemic, organizations were already migrating towards frictionless or touchless access control, enabling employees to move throughout the premises without the interruption of entering passcodes or scanning their proximity cards. Now that employees are returning back to the workplace after a global pandemic, going touchless has become a higher priority.
By reducing the company's touchpoints for access control and reducing friction, the organization can enhance its workplace health and safety. They can do so by mitigating the spread of germs in conjunction with verifying identities to confirm individual access to privileged areas. This not only protects employees but also third-party individuals and the public who frequent these facilities.
Biometric technology that was once used for helping secure the most high-risk areas, has become easier to use and more flexible as to be the primary credential for access. For example, banks, which may have used facial authentication to monitor access to their high-risk areas in the past, are now adding it where traditional card readers are stationed either to create two-factor authentication at the speed of single factor or as the primary authentication method. Data centers can use touchless access control to thwart unauthorized access, detect and alert tailgating incidents, as well as to reduce theft and data exposure.
As employees return back to work, organizations will begin utilizing frictionless access control, like facial authentication, to bolster the integrity of their workplace security and create a touchless environment. Unlike other security controls, facial authentication uses an individual’s face as their credential. Therefore, employees cannot share credentials with others, nor is there a risk of them being lost or stolen.
In addition to advanced security, facial authentication, like what is offered with Alcatraz AI’s technology, the Rock, offers an entirely frictionless approach. The Rock uses artificial intelligence to account for basic changes to an employee’s appearance. This includes such changes as aging, changes in facial hair, weight fluctuations, adjustments to one’s hairstyle, whether or not they are wearing glasses, and even identification while employees wear facial protection-like masks.
Utilizing this advanced AI technology is not only convenient for employees who are going back to work, but is also efficient for the technical staff responsible for setting up the hardware and software. The Rock’s initial setup scan of employees is all that needs to be done. Unlike other facial authentication solutions, the AI technology found in the Rock reduces the need for rescanning control images with basic changes to one’s appearance.
Additionally, the Alcatraz Rock also uses an anti-tailgating feature. Tailgating is an issue that is often overlooked or left for live security guards to control. Yet, for facial authentication solutions, it should be a vital element if you want to consider your solution to be an all-encompassing security solution. Tailgating occurs when an authorized user unknowingly allows an unauthorized individual to pass through a controlled area after they have gained access. Many of the anti-tailgating products available today are not effective, yet still quite costly and rather difficult to install. However, a real-time facial authentication solution such as the Alcatraz AI Rock detects this type of breach by identifying individuals as they attempt to access restricted entrances.
For highly secure areas, organizations may opt for a multi-layered approach for their workplace security. The Rock is able to integrate easily to allow for two-factor or three-factor authentication. It does so through a basic ethernet connection, making set-up and integration incredibly fast and easy.
Implementing advanced, hands-free identity verification as employees return back to work, is vital for enhancing the overall integrity of your security infrastructure. Not only can you mitigate the risk of internal threats, but you can properly secure your organization from outside third parties.
With the Rock’s simple installation and setup, employees and the IT staff will experience a fast auto-enrollment process that integrates seamlessly with existing security solutions like proximity cards and/or passcode systems. The Rock also provides hands-free facial authentication, promoting ease of use for staff, in addition to a better workplace health and safety security setup.
Once the Rock is installed and set up, video authentication will take place at designated entry points. The Rock is not video surveillance, as authentication only occurs when an individual is accessing a controlled point. However, given the Rock’s intelligent tailgating features, if an unauthorized party does access a restricted area, real-time alerts will be sent to the appropriate individuals.
Alcatraz AI leverages analytics and artificial intelligence to keep organizations safe and secure from internal and external threats by utilizing facial authentication as access credentials.
Contact Alcatraz AI today to discover how you can use the Rock to secure your spaces.