BIO-key Collaboration Delivers Timely School Safety System

“The RallyPoint/IdenitiMetrics solution, including BIO-key’s finger matching technology, securely connects loved ones and will thereby have an immediate and positive impact in emergency situations.”- Mike DePasquale, CEO, BIO-key

A new trilateral partnership is aimed at using biometrics to help keep kids safe during emergency situations at schools.

The principals with respect to biometric technology are fingerprint recognition specialist BIO-key, and IdentiMetrics, a firm that has established itself as a leading provider of biometric student identification systems for schools over the last couple of years. A third partner, BrightArrow Technologies, specializes in mass notification systems.

The companies’ collaboration has produced a solution called RallyPoint Control, which is designed to operate through rugged tablets. The idea is that in an emergency situation, each student would scan their fingerprint on a tablet connected to AT&T’s FirstNet emergency network, which would identify them and then direct them to the appropriate safe area to gather with other students and school staff. The system is designed to immediately check students’ biometric scans against any uploaded attendance lists, providing real-time information about who has checked in and who is unaccounted for – information that could be quickly communicated to parents, guardians, and first responders, thanks to the text notification technology provided by BrightArrow Technologies.

In a statement announcing the solution, BIO-key CEO Mike DePasquale commented that as a longstanding champion of biometric identification technologies, “it’s rewarding to be part of this school safety solution,” adding later, “The RallyPoint/IdenitiMetrics solution, including BIO-key’s finger matching technology, securely connects loved ones and will thereby have an immediate and positive impact in emergency situations.”

With biometric identification technologies increasingly being used in schools, and the threat of active shooter emergencies more top of mind than ever among American parents and teachers, it’s a timely solution that could be embraced by educational institutions.

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January 24, 2019 – by Alex Perala