Ineffective visitor management – it is not worth the risk

CENTURION, South Africa - Oct. 1, 2013 - PRLog -- In most instances, visitors to business premises are obliged to provide details at security check points – usually through a pen/paper or basic registry system. The law makes it clear of the responsibility of businesses to account for their records of visitors and of employers, in short, to strictly adhere to the principles of corporate governance. This has opened the door for greater interest and investment in digital, biometric-based personal identification systems say experts.

One of the main issues with existing visitor management systems and processes is that they are based extensively on the visitor providing true information. For the most part, visitors are received on face value and allowed to enter the premises.

Aside from adherence to corporate governance, compliance with The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) of 1993 has to be factored in as a driver behind the adoption of advanced personal identification systems.

This technology incorporates fingerprint access control, fingerprint scanners and fingerprint ‘NEAR Scan’, amongst others.

Ideco is an established leader in the application of biometric technology and Southern Africa’s primary distributor of Morpho fingerprint biometric solutions.

The Company has entrenched its position with the rollout and integration of Sagem biometric solutions and other visitor management infrastructure.

“The law deals with specific instances where accurate record-keeping of visitors is required,” explains Marius Coetzee, Managing Director, Ideco. “There are two key components to this. The first is that books or registration documents have to be filled out, otherwise there are implications in terms of the law – should there be any emergency situation. The other is that visitors who provide inaccurate or false information are committing identity fraud and can be open to prosecution. There is also the issue of privacy and people who do not want others to see their details in a visitor’s record.”

According to Ideco fear of abuse of the information and intentional deception are two of the more common reasons why people provide incorrect information.

At the same time, the company reminds the market that Right of Admission to a site is the prerogative of the owner or body corporate of that site.

Registration using a biometrics system and based on the acquisition of the vehicle and visitor details and a fingerprint addresses these concerns.

Ideco has introduced Electronic Visitor Identity Management (EVIM), a comprehensive digital personal identification system, to help clients with compliance and to enhance their security procedures.

“Due to the sensitive nature of personal data, some visitors may use the ’invasion of privacy‘ argument to avoid using the system. However, EVIM was most carefully developed to operate entirely within all legal boundaries. The unique way in which identities are verified and information stored, provides an effective crime deterrent with increased security without any risk to the privacy of visitors,” Coetzee explains.

All South African ID numbers can be verified through EVIM and in the event that someone else’s ID number is used, the system will print the details of the owner of the ID number. Misrepresentation is regarded as identity fraud and a fingerprint template can be subsequently used as evidence.

EVIM relies on both the cell phone network as well as the Internet to transact successfully. This means that if any one is down, transactions will not be processed online and the terminal will revert to “offline” mode.

However, no information will be lost. Once the network becomes available again, all offline transactions will be loaded to the EVIM server in order to ensure the visitor register remains complete.

The Primary EVIM Servers are hosted at the MTN Data Centre in Woodmead, Johannesburg. This data center is regarded as one of the most secure, reliable and continuously available data centers in South Africa to ensure a word class service to all EVIM customers and their visitors.