Specifications

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8
A Touch Too Far?
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PRODUCT GSD Samsung
1FP Fingerprint Switch SSA-S3010
PRODUCT DESIGN 80% 80%
FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS 80% 85%
INSTALLATION 85% 80%
PERFORMANCE 85% 85%
OVERALL RATING 83% 83%
W
hen biometrics first burst into the
mainstream access control market-
place many years ago, it was greeted
with near hysteria by some. A few over-eager
manufacturers praised it to the rafters, even
predicting the death of the traditional lock and
key! Whilst that might have been a little over-
the-top, it does indicate the level of optimism
that some felt about the technology.
Others viewed the technology as solely
designed for high-end military-type
applications. They saw it as a specialist
solution that few in the wider world would be
able to appreciate, understand or accept. They
claimed it was too complicated, too processor-
hungry and too expensive. They also claimed
that some users would feel violated by the
technology and would fear for their privacy.
Whilst fingerprint readers seemed to be the
dominant technology, there were also a number
of manufacturers and suppliers who wanted to
expand the offering. Available technologies
included hand-writing recognition, iris
scanning, voice recognition, retinal scanning,
hand geometry mapping, vein recognition and a
host of other technologies.
Whilst much of this is pretty damning for the
technology, the situation has changed.
Processing power and storage capacities have
risen dramatically, thanks to the consumer
market, and as a result prices have also fallen.
The processing and storage concerns of
biometrics a decade ago no longer exist. There
is more than enough processing power and
distributed storage available, all at very low
costs.
Additionally, the rise in use of biometrics for
IT-based network and computer log-on has
seen economies of scale realised for the reader
elements, predominantly in the fingerprint
scanning sector. Does this mean that cost-
effective biometric access control has finally
become a reality?
Samsung SSA-S3010
Samsung’s SSA-S3010 is billed as a standalone
fingerprint/smartcard/prox/PIN access
control/time and attendance reader. If you
think that sounds like a lot of functionality, it is.
It could even be argued that most users won’t
demand such a range of performance from a
standalone reader, and the truth is that few
will. However, for installers, if you want a one-
size-fits-all approach to access control, then
this unit will suit a myriad of applications. For
our purposes, the test will concentrate on the
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