IR Recognition Systems Biometric HandReaders Support BioAPI

Hand Geometry now has 'Plug-and-Play Compatibility with BioAPI-compliant Applications

CAMPBELL, CALIF. -- May 12, 2003 -- IR Recognition Systems, the biometric component of Ingersoll-Rands (IR) Security & Safety Groups Electronic Access Control Division (EACD), today announced that its HandKey II access control readers and HandPunch time and attendance terminals support BioAPI, the widely available and accepted Application Program Interface (API) that serves as a plug-and-play" standard for biometric technologies. RSI is the first hand geometry vendor to offer BioAPI support. Hand geometry readers positively identify users by the shape and size of their hands and is the most widely used biometric technology for access control and time and attendance applications according to Frost & Sullivans World Biometric Report 2002. More HandReaders are used for these applications than all fingerprint and face systems combined.

As more and more organizations, including the government, implement biometrics, there is a growing diversity of applications. Standards such as BioAPI make the integration of biometric technologies simpler, thereby accelerating the proliferation of the technology and it benefits," emphasizes Bill Spence, IR Recognition Systems director of marketing. With BioAPI compliance, HandReaders are easily integrated into applications supporting BioAPI standards, including those at government buildings, military bases, airports, law enforcement facilities, correctional institutions, utilities and other sensitive locations."
   
Over 70,000 HandReaders are installed throughout the world, in a wide variety of applications. The 1996 Olympic Games utilized HandReaders to protect access to the Olympic Village. More than 65,000 people were enrolled and over 1 million transactions were handled in 28 days.
   
In the United Kingdom, Her Majestys Prisons rely on the HandReaders for prisoner and visitor tracking. Universities use the HandReaders for their on-campus meal programs and to safeguard access to dormitories and protect their computer centers. Hospitals utilize the HandReaders for access control and payroll accuracy.
   
There are more than 900 HandReaders that control client and employee access to special areas of Italian banks and over 100 units perform similar functions in Russia.
   
Over 20,000 Owens-Corning Illinois employees punch in and out each day using the HandReader. Millions upon millions of transactions have been generated, each biometrically verified.

Since 1991, at San Francisco International Airport, HandReaders have produced more than 100 million biometric verifications, with more than 50,000 produced on high volume days. HandReaders span the entire airport, securing more than 180 doors and verifying the identity of more than 18,000 employees. The use of biometrics at San Francisco is airport-wide and fully integrated into their primary access control system.

Israeli citizens and frequent international travelers at Ben Gurion now go through one of the airport's 21 automatic inspection kiosks. During arrival or departure, travelers use a credit card for initial identification and the system verifies their identity with the HandReader. The system then prints a receipt to allow travelers to proceed. It is now processing approximately 50,000 passengers per month.

About IR Recognition Systems
With over 70,000 hand geometry units throughout the world reading millions of hands each day, Recognition Systems, founded in 1986, is the worlds pioneer of hand recognition technology used in access control, time and attendance and identification applications. The company is the world sales leader of biometric verification devices and serves an international clientele from its headquarters in Campbell, Calif. The hand geometry website is www.handreader.com. Phone is 408-341-4100. Recognition Systems is the biometric component of Ingersoll-Rand Corporations Security & Safety Groups Electronic Access Control Division. The Ingersoll-Rand website is www.irco.com.

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For downloadable, high-resolution photographs of the HandReaders, go to http://www.brighamscully.com and click Photographs/IR Recognition Systems. Several photographs are available.

For more information...
Bill Spence            
IR RECOGNITION SYSTEMS
408-341-4100
bill_spence@irco.com

Tom Brigham            
BRIGHAM SCULLY         
818-716-9021            
tbrigham@brighamscully.com