German Red Cross – District Association Waldshut e.V.

The German Red Cross in Waldshut relies on ekey fingerprint scanners

At DRK Waldshut e. V., five offices were equipped with the ekey net access control system in March 2022.
equipped. The existing access control system was replaced in the process, and the new ekey system now not only provides employees with convenient access, but also reduces the administrative workload thanks to central administration.

Initial situation & project scope

A fingerprint-based access solution offers numerous advantages for blue light organizations, especially in membership management and individual access authorizations. In detailed discussions, the DRK’s needs were defined in order to tailor the appropriate access control system. A key requirement was cross-site deployment.

After the framework conditions were defined, the possibilities and the system scope were presented by means of a demo setup. The network-compatible access control system ekey net, for up to 80 fingerprint scanners, was consistently convincing.

Project preparation & implementation

A particular challenge in the implementation of the project, was to implement a seamless transition from a previously existing access control system to the new one. In order to ensure a seamless transition, specially manufactured demo stands were used during the transition phase so that all employees could be trained conveniently and without complications during ongoing operations.

Support for this came from Andres Konzept, Managing Director Gebr. Konzept GmbH & Co.KG, an expert in safety technology with know-how from the metal industry. ekey and Gebr. Konzept GmbH & Co KG already has a long-standing cooperation in the manufacture of custom doors with ekey fingerprint scanners. Thus, based on the existing knowledge, the demo stands could be optimally manufactured for the test operation.

Only after the learning phase was the old system completely replaced and ekey net was able to switch smoothly to normal operation as the new access control system. For this purpose, the devices were mounted at the access points: Here, too, the conversion was designed to be as efficient as possible. In order to be able to use the mounting devices of the predecessor, special adapter plates were manufactured.

Project completion

With ekey net, all areas of the DRK can now be administered centrally. Via software, people are recorded and organized within freely definable user groups. In addition, ekey net supports a range of interfaces for connecting to third-party systems (e.g. building control, time recording, printer management, etc.).

Andras Moosmann, IT manager and project manager at DRK Waldshut, draws a final conclusion: “We appreciate the great flexibility and low administration effort of the new ekey net system – simple user administration by means of user group function and useful functions such as automatic access time limitation. In addition, all data and the system status can be monitored from the control center at any time. Our employees take it in turns to work at the various offices – thanks to the fingerprint scanner, they always have access in any situation without the need for any additional equipment, because they always have their finger as a key with them! The recognition rate and speed are also impressive; both have increased significantly and offer greater convenience. Overall, the ekey net system meets all our individual requirements perfectly.”