At Coast Guard headquarters in D.C., a voluntary program—which both campuses use—called RapidGate lets vendors gain easier access to the facility by voluntarily registering for a biometric identification card.
“We get a better grade of contractor,” by using RapidGate, Truax said. “These are people who work in our building, and we need to have a level of trust.”
Meanwhile, at the Coast Guard’s Fort Lewis, Wash., facility, RapidGate uses both biometrics and RFID to track vendors, said Steven Larson, chief executive officer and chairman of Eid Passport Inc. of Portland, Ore., the company hired under a five-year contract to install the system.
Fort Lewis officials declined to be interviewed for the story.
Larson said Fort Lewis, which has been using RapidGate for two years, is using biometrics to authenticate and identify vendors, and RFID to track vehicles. The RFID tag is connected to a vendor’s vehicle so the Coast Guard knows when it enters or leaves the facility.
“There is constant exception reporting if someone didn’t leave,” Larson said. “The key is to always make certain that there is a clean ingress and egress for different vehicles that come onto the base.”
The ins and outs
Vendors at both sites must apply to become a part of RapidGate, and employees go through a background check. The Coast Guard collects employees’ fingerprints and takes their pictures at a self-enrollment kiosk. After passing the background check, employees are issued cards.
The vendor’s vehicle also has an RFID tag attached to it, so when it enters the base, a notation is recorded in the database. That same record must be closed out when the vehicle leaves the base, Larson added.
About 700 vendors and 4,000 people enter Fort Lewis every day, and Larson said vendors can enter in as little as 12 seconds.
In D.C., about 50 vendors and 105 card holders use RapidGate, which the Coast Guard runs in parallel with its physical-access control system, called Maxxess.
Truax said vendors who do not normally need clearances go through RapidGate, while others who do need clearances go through Maxxess.
He said with the systems running in parallel, the building is more secure. “If a vendor is fired or quits but doesn’t turn in their ID, within 30 seconds we can kill their access,” he said.
Larson said the cost of the program is covered by the fees vendors pay to register. He said the program, including the use of RFID, likely will be expanded to other facilities.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Jason Miller
Quelle/Source: Government Computer News, 26.06.2006
