Fingerprint-IT (www.fingerprint-it.com) of Vancouver announced today the successful installation of the first residential building-wide biometric access control system in Vancouver. The GRACE development in Yaletown already has a reputation as one of the most unique buildings in Vancouver. James Schouw and Associates, the developers of GRACE (www.jamesschouw.com) have completely secured the building using only fingerprint access control. This means that only the owners and their guests can access the building, no one can steal a fob to get in, there is an un-forgeable record of who entered the building and when, and owners no longer need to carry keys.
“Biometrics is the security of the future” said CEO of Fingerprint-IT North America, Warren Kimmel. “Anyone can steal your key or fob or whatever gets you into your building, and people lose them all the time – that’s not really secure at all, and with what is happening around the world today, security is everyone’s prime concern and rightly so. Canada has been rather lax in taking this threat seriously but the guys at James Schouw & Associates are among the most forward thinking developers in the city and they realize that this is no longer an option but a necessity”
When asked for comment, James Schouw, Chairman of James Schouw and Associates added that “GRACE is a truly unique, ultra high-end custom development and in adding features to the buildings we have kept one simple rule in mind. Only the best. As far as security goes biometrics is the best and we have learned through hard experience that Fingerprint-IT is the best biometric company around. Apart from security though, what’s really great is that no-one needs to carry their keys anymore and you can never lock yourself out of your home. Also if you have guests they can be added to the fingerprint recognition list for the period of their stay and then removed when they have left. The system is totally customizable as well, so cleaners, gardeners etc can be given access to the front door only, or the garden area only, or whatever the building requires. It’s a beautiful system.”
Kimmel added that “We are a Vancouver company and we are really proud to be the first people doing this successfully in the city, doubly so because we were not the developer’s first choice. They have recently thrown out a biometric system sourced from a large international company that was not up to the job. To be fair to the developer though this is not uncommon, Biometrics is on the cutting edge of technology and you have to be careful who you deal with. There are a lot of sub-standard systems out there that just don’t do what they say. We have all seen fingerprint access work on TV, but in the real world these things are tough to get right. Residential installations are the toughest of all – apart from stopping unauthorized access for example, it is completely unacceptable if an owner cannot access their apartment say, at 3am. The biometric system needs to operate at 100% efficiency 24/7 – Even in Vancouver’s fabulous rain! We have spent six years refining our systems and sourcing the best hardware in the world, we have honed our installations in the toughest security market in the world. James Schouw said he wanted only the best. That is what Fingerprint -IT have delivered”.