Electronic border control
Many countries around the world have turned to electronic processing for customs and immigration. ePassorts have been created to work in conjunction with e gates which use facial recognition technology to allow travellers to process themselves through passport control, without reducing border security.
These e gates are set up in immigration where travellers scan their passport, input their answers to immigration and custom questions before being themselves scanned and matched to their passport and let through the gate.
The need to streamline
Although the e gates that are used successfully around the world do decrease wait times and congestion through immigration, they are very expensive, they take up a lot of space, and since the gate is tied up to the full verification process it does still take time.
A smart solution
NeoProducts worked in conjunction with Morpho (Safran), a world leader in the security market, to create a system coupling multiple kiosks to one gate – a solution which is currently unique to Australia and NZ. The use of this kiosks/gate ratio allows for swifter processing. Multiple kiosks are used for the time-consuming part of the process, answering the immigration and custom questions, the kiosk then prints out a receipt which the traveller takes to one of the facial recognition gates for identity verification, and entry authorisation. This means that the longer part of the process can be done on multiple kiosks simultaneously, dramatically reducing bottlenecks.
The system is now available to eligible Australian and New Zealand travellers on around 150 SmartGate kiosks at twelve international airports throughout Australia and New Zealand.
A world class system
The use of the SmartGate system is an economical way to cut down congestion through immigration for passengers entering and exiting the country. The integration of kiosks offers a way for traveller to process themselves more efficiently. It helps customs and immigration to provide a world leading fast track system with space and cost reductions.
