IMPROWISE May 2003

- IMPRO SYSTEMS, CAPE TOWN -

Situated 11km from Cape Town, South Africa, Robben Island is visible from the city and it was on this island that Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 18 years, along with other political activists during the Apartheid era. It has now been transformed into a museum and conservation area and was declared a World Heritage site in 1999. Robben Island is very popular among tourists and trips to the island commence from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. Impro Systems, Cape Town is pleased to be the providers of the access control and security products, who strive to meet the industry’s specific needs.

The two Advanced Controllers installed, one on the mainland and the other on the island itself, communicate via microwave. This unique application required the use of etherpads to convert the RS485 protocol to TCP/IP which inturn enters a microwave converter in order to travel across the ocean. As such, inter-controller communication keeps the system in synchronisation.

In addition, zone occupancy reports were introduced on this site and anti-passback is set up across the 2 controllers. A ticket sales system has also been integrated into the software which writes to the database and gives access to visitor tags. There are drop boxes at the exit turnstiles on the island where visitor tags are collected. For insurance purposes, Impro has incorporated a head-count system for the ferry passengers.
- IMPRO TECHNOLOGIES U.S -

An installer in Dallas, Texas, approached Impro Technologies in desperation regarding a marina that was requiring access control. Due to the fact that the marina is surrounded by water, a copper cable run was almost impossible, making communications through the air a necessity.

RF transceivers seemed the only viable method to transmit communications, so the search began. After countless phone calls and e-mails a product was found to suit the quick turnaround time in our communications. However, one minor change that was required was the baud rate which did not comply. The units (controller and terminals) communicating via the RF transceivers had to be converted from a baud rate of 38400 to 19200. The range of the 1 mW transceivers is limited to 100 metres which suited the marina since the longest run over water was approximately 85 metres. The marina has been in operation for 3 months with no communication errors.

Please note that this adjustment in the unit settings was done by an experienced Impro engineer and Impro should be contacted for advice before dealers attempt such an installation.

Q Data DynamiQue, a Division of Comparex Africa (Pty) Ltd, is Africa's largest provider of total human resource management solutions to companies and organisations which need to analyse their workforce while managing their human capital.

With a national sales and support Infrastructure Q Data DynamiQue is able to supply, install and support the following solutions:

  • Human Resource Management Solutions
  • Payroll Solutions
  • Time and Attendance Solutions
  • Access Control Solutions

DynamiQue’s approach to providing solutions to the market place is based upon the “Best-of-Breed” principle. This has resulted in Q Data DynamiQue establishing an agreement with IMPRO Technologies as the hardware platform for all Time and Access related solutions.


As regards to DynamiQue’s Time Management Solution, they have established a relationship and entered an agreement with Lavie TimeTech, Ltd as the sole distributor of the TimeKeeper suite in South Africa and SADC.

Lavie is a specialist in the development of Time Accounting software. It offers a range of innovative PC, LAN and WAN Client/Server based solutions that have won the acceptance of over 7000 customers worldwide.

Timekeeper is a fully functional Time Accounting application that includes various modules that address specific workforce requirements. The application INTEGRATES with IMPRONET and includes the following modules:

TimeKeeper

TimeKeeper is a full featured time and attendance application. It has been designed to support open-ended connectivity for both Input and Output. The flexible rule-based architecture allows for easy customisation to any payroll and financial tracking application.


TimeCosting

TimeCosting is a software module designed to collect, analyse and monitor labour distribution and activity based project information. The software allows both supervisory and senior management to monitor labour information as a job, project or product moves through the company. Both time and cost elements are tracked with each associated aspect of production.

 iBrowse

It is the latest module in QDD's Time Accounting suite. iBrowse is an employee and supervisor-oriented "gateway" to the TimeKeeper database. It allows users to review, edit, add and report on attendance and absence or any activity based costing information via the Internet or company intranet,

allowing for employees in remote sites to be monitored.

TSM

TSM is a module that enables you to pre-schedule your employee’s shifts. TimeKeeper then takes this information from TSM and compares it against the actual hours worked by the employees and performs the calculations. An exceptions report can then be printed and you can choose to authorise any exceptions to the preset schedule.

Hotel Staffing

Specifically designed module for the Hospitality industry. This module provides on a daily and periodic basis the information required to monitor, control and eliminate variance and deviations between scheduled and actual human resource requirements.

By combining IMPRO and LAVIE, Q Data DynamiQue is able to offer a Time and Access solution that meets the complex demands of the South African environment and all its complexities.
The UK based Bioscrypt Inc. is a leading provider of advanced fingerprint technology who stamped their authority on the marketplace when their algorithm won the Fingerprint Verification Competition (FVC) in 2002.

Their system can be used to ensure simple and secure access to facilities, equipment and information and is perfectly integrated into the IXP200 and IXP400 systems to ensure time and date stamped transactions. The V-FLEX, installed next to a Wiegand based reader, adds dual factor authentication to an existing access control system. Organizations with security systems that include keypads, barcode or proximity readers can now add the enhanced security offered by biometric technology without reissuing cards or replacing their existing infrastructure. The V-Flex is a self-contained unit which performs enrollment, verification and can store up to 4000 fingerprints. The enrollment and installation process is user-friendly and efficient, with one-touch enrollment and verification, and has multiple administration options such as stand-alone (using enrollment and delete card), roaming (where a laptop PC is temporarily connected to the V-Flex) or via the network with either RS232 or RS485 comms. Flexible communication options are also available supporting Wiegand formats up to 44 bits.



MORPHOACCESS™ is a fingerprint identification terminal for physical access control. Designed to create or reinforce security systems, it has all the interfaces (RS485, Wiegand, etc.) required for it to be integrated with new or existing access control systems. In one small box, the terminal has all the components needed to read the fingerprints, store the fingerprints of up to 48,000 people and identify an individual. It can operate in identification or authentication mode. This automatic fingerprint recognition terminal is connected to the peripheral port of an ImproX DL LCD keypad terminal.


The HANDKEY II utilises hand geometry that maps and verifies the size and shape of a person's hand, all in less than one second. Users enter their unique ID either through the keypad or with a card and present their hand for verification. HandKey's reputation for ease of use and reliablility has made it the biometric standard for the access control industry.

The HandKey II is a stand-alone or networked operation with multiple auxiliary inputs and outputs and it's memory expansion ranges from 512 (standard) users to 32 512. Each HandKey II is a complete door controller providing door lock operation, request to exit and alarm monitoring. All information, including biometric data and decision making capability resides locally and this ensures that doors are secure and will continue to operate even if all communications to the main access control computer (server) are lost.

It has become apparent that there is an increased demand for a “Personalised Identification Number mode” in the IXP range of products, where users can be given a PIN number to gain access as opposed to presenting a tag.

Modifications to the IXP100 software suite are currently under way and this is due to be released with V3.0. It will also be available in future ImproNet and IXP200 releases. To avoid confusion with the existing PIN mode, the new mode will be called "Personal Access Code” (or PAC) mode.

In IXP100, the PAC number will be 5 digits fixed and on the entering of the 5th stroke, the number will be accepted. As this will be an added feature, the system will read both a PAC and tag, and so can be used interactively.

The PAC mode can only occur during the standard, allowed or “green” hours. However, if 24 hours of PIN ONLY mode is required, the “green time” can be set to 24 hours.

The PAC mode can also be allocated for “normal users only”, which will mean that administrators and supervisors must present tags. Please note that the current “global” PIN mode will cease to exist, but can be implemented by naming one person “global pin”, and making this code known to all.


Once again, Impro Designers are perfecting the card printing utility in order to gain maximum benefits for both our large and smaller customers throughout the IXP range.

There is a pressing need to simplify and universalise the printing of tagholder details to standard slim tag cards thus, a new programme has been developed whereby users will be able print onto standard paper labels which will then be stuck onto a blank card.

The benefits of this new modification is threefold as it becomes more accessible and affordable due to customers being able to print to regular printers. Whilst at the same time, saving on the extra expense of purchasing new cards when making amendments to tagholder details, because the labels can either be peeled off or re-covered.

The Designer enables all the same features and functions as before, such as photographic images and barcodes and users can edit and save templates in order to suit their specific label structure.

One of the most useful tools introduced with ImproNet V5.8 is the WebReports utility. The ImproNet Engine provides a web service that enables all computers on the network to connect to it using any web browser. Once the URL is launched, the ImproNet WebReports home page appears and from there an array of new and valuable reports can be generated to ensure accurate and complex monitoring of building access throughout the workplace.

Each user can stipulate start and end dates for reports, select either a detailed list of transactions or a more simplifeid summary and browse through tagholders alphabetically from a pop-down menu. WebReports gives our customers a faster and more flexible reporting solution and it's ease of use, convenience and portability has a number of advantages over the traditional reporting stucture.

For instance, a manager can quickly see if his secretary has arrived at the office through the “Absenteeism Report” that lists all employees who have not yet presented their tags since the start of the day. Personnel Management can track employee working hours to the second and security officials can monitor real-time zone occupancy. Personal reports can also be generated to show movement of a particular person throughout the day.

As the ImproNet Suite is designed to accommodate various applications, these reports can be adapted to almost any scenario.

They can also be used to provide basic Time and Attendance data for small companies.

Amano Cincinnati USA, is one of the largest Time & Attendance and Parking Distributors in the United States. Due to an increase in the security markets across the world and especially in the US, Amano recently chose to open a 4th division of their company to include building access control systems and after much deliberation, they chose Impro Technologies as their superior choice for access control.

Amano will use their large Dealer network throughout the USA to market the products. During the week of 10-14 February 2003, Amano Cincinatti’s 5 senior Building Access Executives visited our American office in Tampa, Florida, for intense product and sales training. Their trainees included Gary Vogler (head of the Building Access Division), Laurie Amato (Product Manager), David Lopez (Assistant Sales Support Manager), Tom Moro (Technical Support Manager) and John McGee (Sales Manager).

After 4 days of training with Peter Elliott and CEO, Alan Poulton, Amano were very excited about the product and it’s diverse flexibilty.

Gary Vogler proceeded to say this about our staff and our products