An Eye-deal Access System

There are multiple ways to monitor access to your campus recreation facility. Patrons could show their student IDs, scan a key card or use a biometric touch pad.

Georgia Southern University has taken a different approach, with the use of iris scanning technology in its Recreation Activity Center (RAC).

According to America Minc, the director of recreational facilities and fitness, Georgia Southern University chose to take this approach due to the trouble it had with bio-metric fingerprint readers, which they found to be time consuming, mostly due to user error.

“Students would forget which finger they used, wouldn’t place it correctly, would miss the turnstile unlocking, etc.,” explained Minc. “Lead times on the fingerprint reader were anywhere from five to 13 seconds, and if it didn’t work, the trouble shooting process would then back up our patrons, who would be trying to access via an ID swipe, or purchasing a guest pass.”

With the iris scanner, RAC no longer experiences these problems. “The iris scanner allowed us to drop our lead time down to two to five seconds, with minimal room for error,” said Minc.

Other merits of the iris scanner include the fact it’s very secure. “There is virtually no way to deceive the unit and gain access,” continued Minc. “Any access controlled facility should look into the iris scanners as a time efficient, consistent and reliable method for managing access.”

Additionally, Minc explained patrons are a big fan of the technology.

Although installation took a bit longer than other access systems, “Once this was worked out, installation was a breeze,” said Minc.