Page 84 - Security Today, September/October 2021

CoverStory
Enhancing the Student Experience
VE
safety and security by leveraging HID Mobile Access® to deploy campus IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch through Apple Wallet.
The enhancement builds upon the univer- sity’s initial investment in mobile-enabled technologies from HID Global. These tech- nologies capitalized on the ubiquitous nature of smartphones and mobile devices among students—90 percent of whom reside on campus throughout their Vanderbilt educa- tion—and faculty to create a campus-wide identity and access management program.
The investment continues to pay divi- dends.
“Keeping students safe is our top priority. HID Mobile Access was the optimal solution for protecting students and allowing Vander- bilt to move to a mobile solution for securely accessing our campus and services. The inte- gration of campus IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch brings added convenience for our entire campus community,” said Mark Brown, Vanderbilt’s director of business services tech- nology. “Beyond the convenience and securi- ty—two very important considerations—this mobile solution gives us the freedom to provi- sion and modify credentials remotely, which has been significant for protecting the health of our students and staff during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.”
“This initiative has been of interest to both the student body and university administra- tors, as it supports both accessibility and con- venience for our campus community,” said Eric Kopstain, who is the Vanderbilt vice chancellor for administration. “We are also excited about this new option because it provides an added health and safety benefit for students. The con- tactless payment option will allow students to not touch surfaces or other people, thus help- ing to prevent exposure to COVID-19 and other viruses when making purchases.”
Building on its Initial Investment in
Mobile-Enabled Technologies
Vanderbilt initially tapped HID Global to implement a mobile credential solution that
anderbilt University enables faculty and student IDs on iPhone, Apple Watch
mbracing the benefits of touchless access using smartphones, Vanderbilt University has expanded its investment into campus
16 campuslifesecurity.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
was compatible with Near Field Communi- cation (NFC) and Bluetooth technologies. HID Mobile Access, powered by Seos® cre- dential technology deployed alongside a reader infrastructure comprising HID® SignoTM readers, HID iCLASS SE® readers, and OMNIKEY® desktop readers to manage access to buildings. It complements the eco- system by facilitating the usage of the already issued credentials for all other adjacent use cases. The solution allowed Vanderbilt administration to issue mobile credentials that let students, faculty, and staff access buildings and services with their mobile devices, as well as efficiently provision/de- provision credentials remotely without per-
son-to-person contact.
The collaboration between Vanderbilt and
HID Global began in 2014, when the univer- sity first validated the use of smartphones as a convenient and compelling new way to open doors. Pilot participants each used their smartphones for door access at one or more of a half dozen possible campus entry points, including a parking garage. The entry points were equipped with Bluetooth- enabled HID readers that configured to work with existing HID iCLASS smart cards as well as HID Mobile IDs.
In a survey of pilot participants, respon- dents cited convenience as the top attribute of the mobile access experience, since their