Genetec releases access control feature to help organizations identify people who are at increased risk of being in contact with contaminants or contagious individuals

Genetec Inc. (“Genetec”), a leading technology provider of unified security, public safety, operations, and business intelligence solutions today announced that it has released a new reporting function for its Security Center Synergis™ (Synergis) access control system that is designed to help organizations find all people who went through a door in close proximity to someone thought to be contagious. It is conceivable that they may have contaminated the door handle or other surfaces or left aerosol contaminants in their passage. This report helps identify all people who are at increased risk of being in contact with contaminants or contagious individuals. This feature will be also useful for customers that handle dangerous substances and is made available to all Genetec Synergis Access Control customers at no cost.

Developed at the request of McCormick Place in Chicago, North America's largest convention Center, the reporting function correlates physical proximity of an infected individual with other employees and badged visitors based on the use of the access control system. A report can quickly be generated to correlate access events by time window to identify people who are at increased risk of being in contact with contaminants or contagious individuals. This will allow enterprises to proactively advise individuals of their potential contamination and take the necessary hygienic precautions, as outlined by health and safety procedures and regulations.

"With Synergis, any organization can produce a detailed report that shows exposure metrics for employees and visitors utilizing existing access control data," said Thibaut Louvet, Product Group Director, Access Control at Genetec.  "It considers that if two people went through the same door in a short period of time, chances are high that they had some level of interaction. This forensic analysis can be extremely beneficial to organizations seeking to use technology they already have to better protect employees, visitors, and the broader community."

"Our number one priority is to ensure the health and safety of our guests and staff, so we knew we needed to be prepared for any eventuality," said McCormick Place Security Systems Coordinator Brett Zelnio. "In the fight against a contagion that can be spread easily through surfaces or proximity to infected individuals, knowledge is our best defense to stem the spread of these types of viruses. Being able to utilize technology to provide these additional metrics available through this system is a new and critical tool."

"Only about half of Security Center features are a result of Genetec anticipating which technology will be useful for our customers. The other half are as a result of what our customers dream up. They regularly imagine clever and innovative ways to use the system and suggest useful new feature ideas.  The Contagion/Contaminant Proximity Report is a case in point," said Pierre Racz, President, Genetec Inc. "A clever member of the technical staff at one of our public infrastructure customers requested the Contagion/Contaminant Proximity Report and we were taken by its usefulness and brilliant simplicity - so we fast tracked its development."

Existing Synergis customers who want to find out more about the Contagion/Contaminant Proximity Report can go to the Genetec Customer Portal or contact [email protected]