George Mason University needed to address today’s increasing security challenges, but also recognized that with any new technology deployment on campus, they had an opportunity to lay a foundation that would help the university meet the needs and the expectations of a very technology-savvy generation of students. Greater campus security could be achieved by moving to a new contactless smart card technology, but the greatest efficiency and convenience would come from leveraging the power of a flexible, “one card” Seos-based solution that enabled the Mason ID to be used with not only access control systems, but other value-added applications.

By working with HID Global and its parent company ASSA ABLOY, George Mason was able to design a cost-effective and comprehensive, end-to-end ID solution that would enable university administrators to migrate their existing card system over an expected five years. The solution was simultaneously compatibility with the legacy student ID cards and the existing hardware on campus and would be deployed over time, allowing the university the benefit of a complete change of its student ID card system without a rip and replace of its current solution.