In Switzerland, the Zurich Cantonal Police has equipped its control stations at Zurich Airport with border control technology. Travel documents with and without biometric features can now be inspected in a largely automated fashion.
The border control infrastructure’s old technology has been replaced. The system now also meets the requirements of the VIS II Regulation for external Schengen borders (which stipulates fingerprint verification for those who require a visa). Accordingly, the control stations at the airport have been equipped with fingerprint and electronic passport readers. These make it possible to conduct optical and electronic document checks, identify forgeries and manipulations, and inspect the identity of travellers.
Border control officers also received a new border control application for their workstations, from the German firm secunet. Police officers now have access to all data regarding document and identity checks at a glance.
Heinz Lusti, Greko NG Project Leader at the Zurich Cantonal Police, Airport Division, says: “The joint project launched by secunet and the Zurich Cantonal Police rigorously implements the current requirements of the Schengen Borders Code and is equipped to meet future standards. With short technical process times, high availability, a stable network and well-engineered devices, the authorities will now be able to effectively combat illegal migration without causing long waiting times. The system’s modern user interface with logical, process-oriented menu prompts has won over and motivated border control staff at Zurich Airport.”
And Dr Rainer Baumgart, Chairman of the Board at secunet, says: “The highly modular secunet biomiddle solution and the new user interface, developed in partnership with the Zurich Cantonal Police, have set new standards in border control technology.”
The central interface of the new border control infrastructure is provided by the software secunet biomiddle. This acts as an interface between passport and fingerprint readers, the border control staff’s dedicated application and background systems. While updating the infrastructure, workstations were also connected to the Swiss police databases. Visit www.secunet.com.
