12.10.2020 г.

ID documents scanning as the way to avoid queues and improve safety at major public events

How the lack of an entrance tickets scanner slows the queue

It is common knowledge that the biggest challenge public events at large open areas are facing today is the inevitable queues at the entrance. The queue usually occurs when a large number of visitors pass through narrow turnstiles and checkpoints, where entrance tickets are checked or validated. In accordance with the law, an entrance ticket is a form of strict accountability, and the organizers of public events have to observe regulatory guidelines when issuing and distributing them.

Nowadays manual inspection for prohibited items has already been replaced with scanners and metal detector frames, which practically do not slow down the stream of visitors, but manual ticket inspection which causes certain problems in many cases has not been left behind yet. We can witness that tickets for expensive sports events are often forged and individual tickets are usually stolen. Inspectors are not always able to determine immediately whether they are presented with an original or a high-quality fake ticket. Moreover, modern printing technologies allow you to print tickets that visually do not differ from the original.

ID documents recognition on mass events

The problem associated with the queues at the entrance and ticket checking for authenticity can be solved by installing turnstiles at checkpoints which should be equipped with entrance ticket scanners with an integrated recognition system. The easiest way to make a ticket is to put a unique barcode on it, which will contain all the necessary information: the seat at the stadium or in the auditorium, the time when the ticket was purchased, a unique verification identifier that allows you to distinguish the original from a fake.

If a more complex document is used instead of a ticket, for example, a personalized badge with a photo and personal data (it usually practices at major national and international events such as exhibitions, congresses, competitions, and access to such events is limited and the ticket price is comparable to the cost of a budget car), a module for checking complex documents on the basis of a web camera, smartphone or tablet should be integrated into the system. To pass, it is enough to show the ticket to the camera: the software with the recognition module automatically reads the data from the badge/ticket and compares the extracted data with the data provided during the registration process.

Integration of the optical recognition module is more cost-effective than providing individual badges with an electronic chip and installing an RFID tag reader at a checkpoint. It is essential to note that both tag reading and recognition process take approximately the same time, no more than 2-3 seconds. This solution becomes worthy and valuable when a visitor has to move between different zones within the stadium or exhibition grounds during the event, or if it’s necessary to limit access for different categories of visitors. Automated document control during the event will eliminate the possibility to enter twice using the same document.

The methods of document printing protection and the implemented optical recognition system will improve the document authentication procedure on the way in. Computer vision technology automatically detects polygraphic security elements, compares them with the original images and provides the document fake detection much more accurately and faster than the staff.

For event organizers, checkpoint automation ID document scanner has obvious advantages. The number of staff involved in the document checking process is minimized, it allows the security staff to monitor civil disturbance and looting more attentively without being involved in the checking process. And what’s more, the risks of using fake tickets and badges are minimized, it obviously reduces the risk of financial and reputational losses for the organizers and minimizes possible conflict situations between visitors. The visitors, in their turn, save time when passing through turnstiles and reduce the time spent to communicate with the staff, which may not always be desirable.