Secure entry for Osterwalder at the wave of a hand

Osterwalder is the leading provider of fuel, lubricants and heating oil in the greater Zurich area. As a family run business, Osterwalder takes the safety and security of its employees extremely seriously. When it came to designing a comprehensive security system for its recently built 14-story headquarters building, the company turned to BWO Systems for help.

BWO Systems AG is a Fujitsu SELECT Expert partner and was a finalist in the 2016 SELECT Innovation Awards. The company has worked with Fujitsu for 23 years, and today specializes in solutions for PalmSecure, Fujitsu’s highly reliable biometric authentication system based on palm vein pattern recognition technology. BWO’s experience in the field has led to the company being recognized as the leading European provider of hand vein biometric solutions.

BWO designed and installed a security system based on this advanced biometric palm reading technology. While badges or key cards can be lost or stolen, biometric information is unique, personal and connected to the body. Deploying security based on vein scanning is also more secure than, for example, iris scans or fingerprints as it is an internal structure and therefore cannot be stolen or replicated.

The solution involved equipping all the new building’s entry points with sensors, including the main doorways, the entrance from the underground car park, in addition to access between floors. Even the internal postboxes for employees were kitted out with bio-entry. Now, to access their mail in the 100+ individual boxes, employees simply have to hold their hands up to the sensor which will identify them and then automatically open their personal box. They are able to gain access to their computers in the same way.

The solution is very simple and requires no training. It also makes employees lives easier. Where additional security often requires staff to carry extra keys, passcards, or to remember different passwords, the biometric approach means that they will never forget their credentials – freeing them up to concentrate on doing their jobs. Osterwalder Zurich AG now has a secure access system that is extremely easy to use and also brings significant savings in administrative costs.

To see how Osterwalder and BWO brought the latest biometric technology to secure its office building, watch the video here.