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Facial recognition overtakes fingerprints?

Fingerprint scanning is officially 'last gen'. That’s the word from ATG Digital’s marketing manager, Megan Oelofse, who reports dramatic uptake in facial recognition technology (FRT) for visitor identification verification.

“You may assume that reason FRT has overtaken fingerprint scanning is that the touchless technology enables Covid compliance, but that’s not it,” says Oelofse.

While the pandemic catalysed FRT adoption, ATG research revealed two practical reasons for the switch. Facial recognition meets security and estate managers’ biggest needs, speed and aesthetics.

“I’ll be the first to admit that it wasn’t the result I was expected when we started our customer satisfaction research. A deeper look into sales and user statistics corroborated the finding and it makes perfect sense in hindsight. Faster, sleeker access control at the gate translates into a positive experience for end-users – which pleases our clients all the more.”

ATG Digital says that it expects its fingerprint devices to slowly taper out as customers continue to exploit the advantages of FRT.

Existing customers also listed pre-visit screening and remote onboarding as benefits that influenced their purchasing decisions. New employees and contractors no longer have to report to the premises to have their fingerprints scanned before their start date. Instead, individuals can be uploaded onto the system via a photograph (selfie). This is especially useful in cases where visitors may be travelling from far away.

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