Biometrics: Flexible and effective across different industries

Biometric devices provide unique advantages for security applications. For a long time, security solutions such as access control had only one option for evaluating access authorities: “Something you have,” in the form of a key. As technologies improved, keys became key cards, and programmable systems added enhanced functionalities like multiple door access, time of day limits, and so forth. But, despite these advancements, the system still relied upon something you had. Access codes and keypads, alone or in concert with cards, boosted security to include “something you know.” The problems with these systems remained because both cards and codes could be lost, forgotten, stolen, or passed along to others. Biometrics finally made the jump to “something you are” — and suddenly, it was no longer possible to lose, forget, or pass along your credentials.