Facial Recognition and Temperature Sensing – the New Standards in Building Security

Video surveillance has been a primary method of providing building security for decades. Advances in technology have significantly improved the image quality, perimeter coverage, and recording capabilities, capturing valuable evidence for identifying and prosecuting unauthorized intruders, thieves, and vandals.

Even with continuous improvements in the capabilities of physical security, surveillance equipment, and motion detection systems, there are breaches in security – often within occupied commercial buildings and public places – that must be addressed to protect individuals and property.

Today there are new standards in building security, including facial recognition and temperature sensing camera technology.

How Does Facial Recognition Technology Work?

Facial recognition uses biometric technology to map an individual’s facial features from an image such as a photograph or video, including video surveillance images.

Although the technology implemented by different companies varies in some respects, the basics of such systems follow a similar process:

• An individual’s photo or video image is captured electronically.
• Using facial recognition software, the geometric attributes of the face are translated into digital mathematical formulas and stored in a database.
• Attributes include such elements as the distance from the subject’s chin to forehead, the distance between the eyes, jawlines, cheekbones, and many other factors that combine to create a “faceprint” or digital representation of facial characteristics.

This mapping data is used to match against a database that contains the like data of known individuals who have been mapped previously.

Implementing a facial recognition security system involves the installation of software that scans video images from surveillance monitoring against the database of known “faces” and alerts security teams or authorities of potential risks.

Benefits of Facial Recognition Technology

With facial recognition systems in place, everyone detected by surveillance equipment – even in a crowd – is scanned for a match against the facial database.

A match indicates that the system has successfully identified the individual who has been observed by the surveillance camera or video. This can be a major benefit for security forces by recognizing:

• Known criminal elements or terrorists
• Undesirable visitors such as those who are under restraining orders from contacting other parties
• Terminated employees who should no longer have access to a facility

This technology equips security teams with real-time alerts for:

• Unauthorized entry to restricted areas
• Criminal or high-risk events in process
• Tracking visitors throughout the facility
• Reducing theft

Many companies feel secure in their use of access cards or keypads that require PINs to enter buildings or secure areas. The problems with this outdated technology are many:

• Lost, stolen, or duplicated access cards
• PINs may be written down or compromised in other ways
• Scanning cards and entering PINs slows access, especially where many employees or individuals are impacted, as in high-traffic areas such as airport terminals or large businesses

Your buildings will have increased security through “whitelisting” authorized employees, denying access to anyone the facial recognition system does not recognize. When an employee leaves or is terminated, removal from the whitelist instantly creates alerts should that individual attempt to re-enter the building or secure area.

You can track visitors throughout their time in the building, so you can contact them immediately if necessary, knowing their movements and their departure.

Facial recognition technology provides key advantages over standard video surveillance or biometric security such as fingerprint or retinal scans:

• More secure access control with whitelisting or blacklisting individuals
• Employee and visitor tracking
• Automation without the use of PINs or access cards that can be shared or compromised
• Faster verification and centralized management

COVID-19 and Temperature Sensing Technology

Recent spreading of pandemic conditions due to COVID-19 has many citizens and businesses monitoring for symptoms of the disease. One of the primary screening methods is to monitor individuals for fever, refusing access by anyone showing a fever greater than an acceptable level such as the 100.4⁰ F proposed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

To maintain compliance with CDC recommendations, many businesses have asked employees to self-monitor before they go to work each day, and some have instituted policies to take the temperature of each worker or visitor as they enter company facilities. This process can be time-consuming and inaccurate, as employees enter from multiple entrances or come and go throughout the day.

There is an easier and more reliable way to keep your business safe from those who are running a fever – implement temperature sensing cameras. As employees enter the monitored area, scanning technology measures body temperature accurately – many cameras are accurate to within 1⁰ or even less.

Integrating temperature sensing cameras with monitoring software can alert management or security teams to the presence of an individual exceeding accepted levels, so that appropriate action can be taken to safeguard other employees.

Solve Security Problems with Doing Better Business

Facial recognition systems are already in use for many applications:

• Casinos have implemented the technology for identifying VIPs and to spot suspected felons
• Law enforcement agencies use it to identify suspects
• Logging on to smartphones or tablets with face sensing technology
• Tracking the movement of individuals in airport terminals

Doing Better Business (DBB) works with our customers to identify use cases for implementing facial recognition and temperature sensing systems to improve building security and keep your facilities and personnel safe. GoSafe body temperature and facial recognition scanners with QUALCOMM Octacore processors deliver scan results in < 1 second, with centralized management and accurate results – with or without the presence of face masks.

Contact DBB today to learn how technology can address building security solutions for your business.