We detail how the Halifax has a cashless vending scheme and photo ID besides pure access control.
Halifax plc, the financial services company, has its head office in Halifax, and around 20 corporate offices in the UK. Over the last six years, Public Access Terminals has provided The Halifax with its access management systems. Halifax plc now has in addition to pure access control, a cashless vending scheme and photo ID. Each of the newly built or acquired sites in the Halifax fold has migrated to PAT’s latest ESi (Enterprise Security & Information) system, a modular solution that allows individual functions to be added as needs dictate. These new sites also make use of contactless card technology, rather than the swipe cards previously deployed at the Halifax head office.
According to Tony Ridley, Halifax Plc’s Manager of Security Services, this brings about several operational advantages: ?During our consultations with PAT, it was decided that we should go with their contactless card solution, because this eliminated wear & tear on the card, so there is less need to replace cards as they become worn out. It also reduces scratching on the internal walls next to the card readers.? Furthermore, the contactless cards used at The Halifax’s new sites provide greater control over who gains access, than do conventional proximity cards. With PAT’s contactless solution, the card needs to be held close to the
reader itself, for the door to be actuated. Conversely, a conventional proximity solution can activate door opening from a greater distance, a process that runs the risk of allowing unauthorised users to gain access to secure areas – something that The Halifax was anxious to avoid. Equally, the PAT contactless cards have another advantage – they are extremely thin – an attribute that makes them easier to carry and operate. The pilot programme for the contactless system was pioneered at The
Halifax’s new IF (Intelligent Finance) centre in Edinburgh. Following successful trials, the system has now been rolled out into five of The Halifax’s new buildings. As an organisation employing over 36,000 staff and 4,000 sub-contractors, Halifax plc makes full use of the versatility built into PAT’s access control solution. In a nutshell, this enables individual categories of staff and contractors to be granted access to certain areas,
and yet denied access to other more sensitive areas. The system also allows access rights to be time dependant so that, for example, cleaning staff are allowed to enter buildings at different times to administrative staff. The company makes good use of the feature that enables access rights to be granted or revoked instantly. This facility – standard with every PAT access control
package – assigns appropriate access rights as soon as a member of staff joins the company. Conversely, when a member of staff leaves, access privileges are immediately removed – with obvious benefits for security. As the whole system can operate over a WAN (wide area network), any changes made have immediate effect throughout the entire organisation. As well as carrying access control data, the staff cards incorporate photographic ID. On joining Halifax plc, a photograph is taken of each new recruit, using a digital video camera. The company also possesses a portable camera for more remote sites within the complex. In fact, the PAT photo ID
software is capable of receiving and processing photographic data from a wide variety of sources, including video and stills cameras, CCDs and scanners. The photographs, with staff names and relevant departmental data, are then printed using a proprietary badge printing device. The PAT system then links with The Halifax’s proprietary database, acquiring only the information it needs to process the specific task. The cashless payment solution deployed by The Halifax has been developed by GiroVend, the UK supplier of cashless technology. By coincidence, this represents an ideal scenario for The Halifax, as GiroVend and PAT have now merged to form a transaction management solutions provider. At Halifax plc, the vending facilities controlled by the GiroVend cashless payment technology include tills in the staff restaurants, with the refreshment machines in the various sites, serving hot and cold drinks, sandwiches and snacks. Machines – so-called ‘cash stations’ – located near each canteen allow personnel to replenish their cards with credits, using either notes or coins. The staff restaurants feature tills that are programmed to automatically deduct funds from staff ID cards. Tony Ridley says: ?An unforeseen advantage of using the cards as the basis of a cashless vending scheme is that staff now tend to take greater care of their cards. In fact, losses have reduced significantly since we introduced cashless vending, because staff have already paid for their credits in advance.? Since the migration to ESi, The Halifax has noted that the software provides a more readily available source of management information than previous systems. This information is used solely in circumstances where issues of security arise, or to assist in solving potential breaches and offences. In these circumstances, ESi’s reporting functions can provide a read out of which doors, turnstiles and entrances have been used by particular staff at specific times. This information can then be used with CCTV footage, as corroborative evidence to support any allegations of unlawful behaviour by staff or contractors. On the subject of ID cards, Tony Ridley makes the comment: ‘One of the great things about the badges produced by the PAT system is that security
personnel can see, at a glance, whether the individual is a member of staff, a contractor, or even a visitor. This means that the identification process is both fast and accurate – qualities that the PAT system possesses as a whole. The fact that we can add and remove cards in an instant means that if a card is lost, stolen or damaged, it can be taken out of the system immediately. It is then a simple process to issue a fresh card to that particular member of staff.? Halifax plc is determined to keep in touch with any new
developments devised by the PAT team. Because all PAT systems are designed from the ground up to be effectively future proof, Halifax plc will be able to add new facilities as and when these become available. Tony Ridley again: ?Central to Halifax’s philosophy is the desire to embrace the latest technology, to provide a faster, simpler and more cost effective working environment. Our excellent relationship with PAT means that we can keep our system fully in tune with any new facilities they develop.?
