What features does Common Pass offer that are new and different?
The new system was designed for homeland security applications where the status of things at each facility, what we call the “situation”,  may change at any moment. A facility might find itself in a terrorist attack situation, or a natural disaster situation, a power-outage situation, or a riot situation (to name a few). To handle this, we can support as many as eight configurations (settings, schedules and key lists) and can switch between them instantly, locally or by region. This means that, with the push of a button, one or more facilities can switch to “terrorist attack” situation, or to “natural disaster” situation, or to whatever situation the users have configured. Instantly, the entire key list (rights, schedules, settings, everything) changes. People who used to get in with a key now need an escort. Others now require a key and a PIN, others don’t get in at all. Doors that used to be open are now locked, and doors that used to be locked are now open. Access may open-up to many people who could not get in before, or close-down and limit access to a select few. The entire configuration can change - whatever the user has programmed.

How complicated is the installation?
Installation is quick and simple. Mount the CPM device in or next to the old access control panel, tap the Wiegand pair from the old card or badge reader, connect to power, and install a simple probe at the door (2 wires, no electronics). No down-time, no disruption. The old legacy system keeps on working until you tell it to stop. Then, local administrators can move users to the new system at will, and at their own pace. Warranties or service contracts on the old equipment remain intact, too.

What is the problem that you can solve for me and for my customers?
Whenever there are multiple buildings or campuses distributed around the country, or around the world, most of them usually already have a variety of access control systems installed and operating. While each facility is probably doing well with their current access system, there is no centralized control or monitoring of all those widely varied (legacy) systems. And each system has its own brand of keys or cards. Few of those systems are secure enough to be networked outside the local fire walls, and the plastic cards or tokens that they use as keys are far from secure. When terrorist threats are considered, the problems of lack of security and central control quickly become obvious.

So your product is an access control system, right?
No, not at all. It is an access control system “expander”. It takes any legacy (i.e.: already installed) access control panel and makes it highly secure—and truly “global”.

What brands of existing access control panels can you augment?
Just about any of them! Any access control panel that uses Wiegand or serial cards and readers, barcode or proximity readers can be augmented. In fact, we don’t know of a system we can’t work with.

What kind of cryptography? How do I know it is secure?
The system uses algorithms that have been time-tested and approved for use by the federal government (FIPS 140-2), including AES-128, AES-256 and SHA-1, for signing and securing even the most critical documents and transactions. These authentication methods are accepted without question by the cryptographic community world-wide, and millions of these devices have been is use for many years to secure electronic systems. The technology and the cryptography are rock-solid and time tested, and trusted worldwide.

Who needs this solution?
The system is designed for applications where regions that include dozens of first-responder facilities (hospitals, clinics, fire stations, etc.) need to implement a common credential for large numbers of first responders, and centralized control of hundreds of doors. They need a solution that will meet several criteria:

• A highly secure, very durable, long-lived, inexpensive credential
• A credential that can be deployed in very large numbers
• A way to avoid the cost of replacing the legacy hardware
• Zero down-time or disruption of working facilities
• Secure, centralized control and monitoring
• Distributed administration

Our solution brings each region world-class security at low cost along with easy, fast installation, local web–based administration and a smooth transition.
Other potential users include any company or institution that needs to manage multiple, widely dispersed buildings or campuses. That includes universities, banks, medical complexes, large corporations, airlines, store chains, fast-food chains and military installations.

An example: A fast-food chain with 12,000 stores can give every one of their 150,000 employees a common electronic credential, allowing them to be recognized at any facility and tracked from the home office. Access rights at all stores and warehouses can be changed in an instant, and all the legacy hardware that is already installed is fully leveraged, so the cost is low.