Georgia Southern University Steps Into the Future With Biometric Turnstiles
A Boon Edam Trilock 60 tripod turnstile is integrated with Iris ID IrisAccess solution to enable swift user verification and access with minimum effort by students, faculty and staff.
STATESBORO, Ga. — The campus of Georgia Southern University has upwards of 27,000 students enrolled in its classes. Its Recreation Activity Center (RAC) welcomes over 5000 students a day.
Originally opened in 1998 with 80,000 square feet, the facility was expanded in 2006 to its present size of 215,000 square feet. As the database of users began to grow, the university realized it needed an upgrade.
In 2006, its Boon Edam turnstiles were paired with fingerprint scanning technology to confirm the identity of each member. But in 2014, when the Iris ID IrisAccess solution was paired with tripod turnstiles at two dining centers on campus, the RAC facility managers decided to investigate integrating an eye scanner with their current access control software.
“With each passing year, the size of the database would grow, leading to an increase in the time it would take to verify each member. The process slowed, taking five to 12 seconds to grant access, causing unwanted delays for our users,” says Jason Schmidt, facility coordinator at the RAC. “When students used the iris scanners in the dining halls, it took no more than 2 seconds to process their entry. Once we realized that Iris ID was the superior method for access control, we decided to upgrade our system to better meet the needs of our members.”
Currently, as members enter the RAC in the main lobby, they can choose from two different access points: they can scan their iris at the iCAM7000S Series mounted on the turnstile, or swipe their ID at the main desk and proceed through a gate. Boon Edam Trilock side gates are used on the other side of the main desk for dedicated egress.
“The arrangement of a turnstile paired with the iris scanner technology is extremely fast and we’re encouraging our members to use it,” says Schmidt. “Once they purchase a membership and are entered into our database, the system grants them access to the facility and it is pretty seamless.”
The RAC is planning to renovate in the near future to have a total of 4 turnstiles integrated with the Iris ID IrisAccess solution.
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