Gulf Harbors Beach Club – Gate Access Control New Port Richey

Gulf Harbors Beach is for members only. Only residents of Gulf Harbors, a 3,000 home community in New Port Richey, FL, are permitted to use this private beach boasting white sand and quiet sunset views. Access to the beach is monitored by a guard at a gated entrance. In the last several years, previous attempts at access control have failed to maintain the exclusivity of entry rights. Card credentials were easily transferred. Stickers were issued for a time, sold only to members. But members were able to rent their stickered golf carts to non-members, who were using the carts to access the beach. This led to guards having to manually verify that the driver of each vehicle is truly a member.

Beach Club leaders recently consulted Surveillance Technology, Inc (STI) for a solution that would not require valid members to interact with the guard to access the beach. STI installed a Rosslare fingerprint reader, which residents can use to gain entry without guard assistance. Although there will still be a guard on duty, the reduced demand from direct interactions at the gate will free up this resource to patrol the beach and provide additional security support around the property.

The biometric reader accommodates 10,000 users. At enrollment, fingerprints are scanned with a USB-powered reader. With 2 fingers recorded per user, this system maintains 20,000 fingerprint templates, which is more than triple the capacity of typical alternatives. Improper access sharing has led to damage to the beach and troublesome behavior from unauthorized users and the subsequent suspension of memberships in the past. To combat the transfer of credentials, the terminal offers a “liveness check”, which detects and rejects fake fingerprints attempted with silicon, rubber, paper, etc. To alleviate privacy concerns, the system offers 256 bit encrypted data storage.

If you have an access control need that transcends traditional card or sticker readers, the experts at Surveillance Technology would be pleased to discuss how biometric credentials might suit your needs.