While biometric security access used to be a feature of high-profile Swiss banks and government buildings, this technology can now monitor access, time, and attendance in small suburban towns. In the past, places like office buildings have relied on key-card access for entrance and for logging of working hours. However, a key card system enables employees to trade cards, and effectively falsify identity, making the accurate tracking of time and attendance impossible for the company. With biometrics it is now possible to be much more certain of the presence of a specific person.

Because one’s identification in a biometric system is contained in a fingerprint, handprint, or even one’s eye, identity cannot be easily lost or exchanged. Establishing a system of biometric access enhances security without slowing down the process of entrance. In a basic biometric system, an employee can press his fingertip to a screen which will read the print and allow or deny access based on the programming of the system. This type of system is useful at a location where the external doors must be locked, though authorized personnel need access to enter at any time.

There are three accepted ways of proving identity in the world of security systems. One way is having an i.d. that scans to prove identity, like a card or key. The second method of proving identity is to know a piece of information, such as a password or code. The third way is biometrics, which identifies a permanent feature of an individual, such as a fingerprint. A biometric system has the highest level of security, because the identification is always in the presence of the individual to whom it belongs. While cards and passwords can be lost or stolen, it is much more difficult to steal the biometric identity of another person. However, biometrics can be combined with a second or third means of identification to create an even higher level of security, called multi-factor authentication. In a multi-factor system of security, personnel might be asked for a pin number and an identification card, followed by the scanning of a fingerprint. With every additional layer of security, the system becomes more difficult to circumvent.

RD Sales Door and Hardware LLC, a security, locksmith, and door hardware company based in Pompton Plains N.J., installs and maintains biometric security systems at local venues. At a local school, RD installed a biometric access control system to monitor the times of entrance and exit for school employees, which ensures that employees are on the job at the proper time. RD also installed a fingerprint reader at a nearby firehouse, which allows volunteer firemen to enter the house at all hours. It should be known to all those concerned about security that biometric access control, the most advanced form of access control, is now available on the local level.