June 25, 2020 - "Interactive kiosk design and manufacturing specialist Acante have announced the integration of the state-of-the-art Access-IS ATOM® document reader into their latest Biometric Enrolment Kiosk. 56 BEK01 kiosks and 75 desktop units have already been installed in the field at UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centres (UKVCAS) where they are being used for visa and settled status applications.

Every year the number of self-service kiosks in day-to-day use rises dramatically. Not only does the proliferation of these kiosks save the physical space occupied by a manned desk, it also reduces staffing costs, with a single member of staff able to monitor and manage a number of kiosks simultaneously and it does all of this while putting the customer firmly in charge of their own experience.

To reduce incidences of visa fraud the BEK01 kiosk collects biometric, facial recognition and documentary data to authenticate a wide variety of identity documents -- all in less than 30 seconds. Unilink’s application software generates packages of biometric data as required for secure transmission to UKVI. The kiosk, equipped with an Atom document reader, improves security and the customer experience while reducing strain on infrastructure and customer service costs.

The BEK01 offers a complete self-registration solution to take digital copies of evidence meaning that applicants don’t have to hand over important documents, such as passports, while their applications are processed.

The Access-IS Atom automatically captures images of the identity document in multiple wavelengths of light and extracts personal data from the MRZ using OCR. The high-resolution colour, infra-red and ultraviolet images can be used by electronic identity document validation technology to instantly check the documents authenticity. NFC capability allows the devices API to access the RFID chips of e-passports & eID cards to provide digital personal data, biometric image and perform basic security checks on the document. The inclusion of a barcode engine for reading 1D/2D barcodes from tickets, handheld devices and thermal receipts crucially offers a single point of presentation for documents and tokens essential to a user-friendly experience.

Speaking about the integration, Christine Vincent of Acante said, “We decided on the Atom as it was the perfect combination of size, features and performance”. She continued, “We found the device easy to integrate into our kiosks and its simple design with shark-fin document guides has really enhanced the customer experience”.

About Access-IS
Access-IS is at the forefront of the development of innovative electronic systems specialising in image processing, RFID/NFC technology, barcode reading and specialist keyboards. Access-IS are dedicated to manufacturing products designed to accurately capture and transfer information into electronic systems.

They operate in over 72 countries around the globe, in three highly specialised verticals: Airline/Airport, ID & Security and Transport Ticketing. In addition to their specialist custom keyboards, which are now the ‘de-facto’ standard for some of the largest banks, airlines and retailers in the world, the product range includes boarding gate readers, a wide range of document readers for ID document capture and scanning and ticket readers for ground transport and access control.

Access-IS ID & Security products are designed to read e-Passport, e-ID and e-DL documents for governmental and commercial applications. From the world’s smallest OEM OCR reader to their advanced full-page passport reader, they have a product for every application: Border Control, Immigration, Document Issuance, Law Enforcement, Banking, Retail, Data Capture, KYC, Anti-Money Laundering and Age Verification.

Accredited to ISO9001:2015 and with a track record stretching back 30 years, Access-IS continues to guarantee the highest standards of design and quality with its dedicated Research and Development Team based in the UK, with the vast majority of its products manufactured in the UK with only the highest quality materials and techniques.

About Acante
Acante has an excellent reputation in the touchscreen marketplace for producing innovative, reliable and high-quality kiosk solutions. Designed and manufactured in the UK, their varied kiosk range has been developed and grown over time to ensure that they have a kiosk to suit every requirement.

All of Acante's Kiosks are designed in-house, giving them the ability to create a bespoke solution to suit any application. New peripherals can also be easily and professionally integrated into existing designs to ensure that clients' specifications are never compromised.

Working with both end users and an extensive network of resellers, Acante deploy hundreds of kiosks each year worldwide, across the board from local authorities, tourism and museums, to blue chip. For more information visit acante.co.uk

Contact Information
Matthew Clark
Access Is