April 9, 2003—Secure identification specialist TSSI has announced that its Verid+ fingerprint recognition unit will now support HID Corporation’s iCLASS 13.56 MHz read/write contactless smart card technology. This will enable users to include biometric identification along with a wide variety of other data for applications including access control, time and attendance, cashless vending, and photo ID security—all on a single card.
The iCLASS standard allows users to read and write data to the card, enabling them to add further information as required. This greatly extends the life of the system by providing the capacity for additional applications (such as IT secure authentication, parking control, and the storage of data) when the customer chooses to implement them.
iCLASS users have the ability to store their fingerprint templates on the card rather than in the system database, making it suitable for immediate use at multiple sites, regardless of where the holder was originally registered. Even on the entry level 2kbits (256 Bytes) card, TSSI’s unique fingerprint algorithm is sufficiently compact to store two templates, while the larger 16kbits (2kBytes) card size provides room for an even greater rage of possible applications.
TSSI says that including support for HID’s iCLASS contactless smart card allows the company’s customers to “mix and match” a variety of access control systems such as biometric data, proximity reader, swipe-card, and photo-ID on a single card, simplifying security system administration and maintenance.
All radio frequency transmissions between the iCLASS card and reader are securely encrypted and the cards can be fully customized to suit the customer’s individual requirements, adding photographs, logos, bar codes, anti-counterfeiting elements, etc. Adhesive iCLASS Tags are also available for attachment to a customer’s existing cards, tags, or keyfobs if they wish to upgrade their current system without replacing existing cards, thus reducing the cost of deployment.
