Making airports safer with integrated access control

Business Solutions
The airport terminal’s security infrastructure is two-fold: the Security and Access Control (SAC) division is the physical access control system (PACS) which is requirement-driven, while the Permit Control System (PCS) is IT requirement-driven. This infrastructure — a Honeywell system — was installed in 1998 and upgraded in 2009. Last year, Honeywell announced that it would no longer support the system, as the platform had reached end-of-life (EOL). For the terminal, this meant that the entire cargo security infrastructure needed to be replaced.

Technical Situation

There were several other issues facing the terminal beyond the product EOL concern. The terminal needed to secure 140 doors, replace 36 controllers, and maintain complete integration with IT and backend systems, including database and credential migration. All new hardware needed to be installed, and yet the high-security system itself had to continue functioning, especially its complex database. Additionally, the new security system had to be flexible enough to interact with all the other existing systems within the terminal.

Solution

Identiv creates government-grade physical access security solutions with more than 30 years of physical security experience and features packed into one set of great products. Inherently, Identiv’s solutions are robust, extremely reliable, and feature rich. These solutions are designed and developed with the most secure facilities in mind, but are priced to install anywhere. When considering integration with the terminal’s high-security, complex infrastructure, Identiv proposed installing its Hirsch Mx Controllers with Velocity Software and uTrust TS Readers.

Benefits

The terminal chose Identiv’s complete access control solution over a replacement Honeywell system, HID Global, and other local Asian competition, feeling confident in Identiv’s 30+ year history with its Hirsch products, and knowing that Identiv’s hardware and software is built to last without an EOL threat down the road. Identiv’s Hirsch Mx Controllers are designed to integrate seamlessly with current systems, ensuring that existing credentials, readers, and user databases can be retained. The Mx Controller is the core of Identiv’s physical access control solutions and its modular design and scalable architecture enable an installation to start small and grow large, from a single controller system to a larger, multi-site enterprise.

Identiv’s Hirsch Velocity Software is an integrated software platform that manages access control and security operations in hundreds of different facilities, from single high-security rooms to multi-building, multi-location campuses. Velocity allows end-users to control doors, gates, turnstiles, elevators, and other building equipment, monitor users as they move around a facility, prevent unwanted access, maintain compliance, and provide a robust audit trail. Additionally, Identiv’s uTrust TS Reader family offers a comprehensive range of PACS readers based upon secure open standards and an interoperable platform, designed to support most card technologies from proximity through public key infrastructure (PKI) at the door. By choosing Identiv for the complete replacement of its entire cargo security infrastructure, the terminal provides its airline customers safety and reliability through integrated access control.