Frictionless access control: 5 minutes with Rick Focke Tyco Software House

SourceSecurity.com (SSC) What Is Frictionless Access?

Tyco Software House: It is the application of non-contact, physical security for the movement of people through a building, through a secure layer. In its extreme form, it's the ability to not have to break stride when you go up to a door, just keep moving, get to your place of work more effectively.

SSC: Tell us about the complete frictionless access solution with the Tyco Illustra Insight and Tyco Software House C CURE 9000 integration.

Tyco Software House: Illustra Insight uses facial recognition, with machine learning and an AI algorithm in the background, to do your initial authentication for access control. That gives you that frictionless experience because the unit can pick you up ahead of the door and allow you to not break stride, get authenticated and through the door in the best way possible. It is purpose-built for access control. It has great audio and visual feedback features built-in. It will actually say your name if you want it to as you enter the door. It processes multiple personnel in a high traffic area to help them get through the building.

SSC: Have you had any issues with local privacy laws due to the use of facial recognition?

Tyco Software House: We have taken pre-emptive steps with the design of the product. For example, the personal information and images are not stored in the units, they are back at the server under lock and key. We only have a hash template arrangement in the units themselves. As far as local laws, we have advised our integrators to take precautions, advising personnel that they are in an area where facial recognition is being used. Also to consult with your local authorities because the laws are changing and every jurisdiction is different.

SSC: How does Illustra Insight with C CURE 9000 differ from other solutions on the market?

Tyco Software House: There are a lot of solutions on the market for facial recognition, it's a great industry. What sets Insight apart is that it has a unique two-piece design so that the network is on the secure side of the building or area. The camera module will be on the outside but the network layer is on the inside under a separate tamper enclosure. It is also unique in that it does frictionless access really well. It can pick up a face at 10ft if you want and you can also tune it. The unit can be tuned up to 3ft, 4ft, or closest face only being processed. You can tune it with a region of interest, so only half the frame for example is for facial recognition application and the other half is ignored. You can really tailor the applications that are hard to do with facial.

SSC: Can you give us some examples of how the solution can be applied?

Tyco Software House: Turnstiles are a great application for high traffic areas as you want to get people in and out quickly. You can use the region of interest so that only one lane of the turnstile is being processed by each unit. Healthcare settings are great, especially with masks being worn, the unit can operate with or without masks on the individuals to give them the frictionless access experience. Also, data centres have a real interest in this solution, particularly for two-factor authentication application so that they get recognised by facial and then receive a push notification on their phone to confirm that it is truly them to ensure 100% accuracy for the authentications. The solution can be applied to a lot of different areas in our industry.

SSC: How do you see the future unfolding for frictionless access, any additional applications that we are not seeing yet?

Tyco Software House: The future is bright. We have tailgating coming out, tailgating detection with different alarms and also ties into access control to prevent access in various situations. You can go to the next step and measure the emotions of the people and do person of interest alerts. You can tie the information back into access control for the occupancy verification. You can use the same camera to do social distancing rules, in fact, you can layer on different algorithms on the same unit. The unit is a sensor for us to apply business analytics and machine learning on top of it. It's a very robust roadmap that we have.