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The Demand for Stadium Security Increases as the European Union Expands
Admission Control for European Stadiums – Legia Warsaw and Lech Posen, Poland's Top Clubs, on the Interflex Team
As the European Union expands eastward, security becomes a contemporary issue. Many people consider the integration of this belt of countries, which stretches from the Baltic States in the North East to Bulgaria in the South East, into the European Union only to be a shifting of the EU's east borders. However, for each of these countries, this is a great economic and social opportunity to attain prosperity in freedom. As so often happens, sports are one step ahead of global politics. Eastern European soccer clubs have been fully integrated into competitions and organization activities for almost a decade. Therefore, in the course of this development, it comes as no surprise that modern sports facilities appear on the agenda of top clubs and associations in Eastern European countries. Here, once again, Poland is the forerunner and close to highly-developed solutions not only from a geographical point of view. Secure and efficient admission control for stadiums is certainly a decisive component.
Interflex Datensysteme GmbH & Co. KG, located in Stuttgart, uses its more than 25 years of experience regarding security systems with access control, card production and biometrics to meet the demands of a modern and comprehensive solution for admission control at stadiums as well as at sports and event facilities of all kinds.
As a new member of the European Union, Poland is engaged in taking advantage of the social and economic benefits as well as focusing on a future-oriented attitude in other areas. When it comes to handling a large number of spectators in a stadium, the responsible persons place emphasis on obtaining a comprehensive, sustainable and safe solution for entrance and exit control. Therefore, Legia Warsaw, Poland's first division soccer league, chose a first-class provider of integrated security systems with admission control: Interflex Datensysteme GmbH & Co. KG, located in Stuttgart, Germany.
The requirements were clear. Admission was to be controlled at 16 entrances to the Legia Stadium. Spectators were to reach their stands safely and directly by simply inserting their tickets into an admission terminal. Another imperative prerequisite was to prevent the multiple use of the same ticket (anti-passback) and thus, to eliminate the possibility of overcrowding. The terminals were to read both day and season tickets. Finally, a three-level security concept was required to guarantee the function of the system even during a power failure. Options for evaluating spectator movements, staffing plans and security profiles were to be prepared for the future.
The admission control solution by Interflex meets all of these requirements with a combination of admission terminals of the series IF 1750 and the controlling software platform IF-6020-Security. Meanwhile, a total number of 16 terminals have been installed at the stadium. Marek Blazewicz, the Security Consultant of Legia Warsaw says: "The fact that today's solution already meets the requirements of tomorrow emphasizes that Interflex systems fully comply with the sophisticated FIFA specifications for controlling admission at stadiums for the World Cup 2006 in Germany." The actual increase in the level of security was also based on an incident in which a soccer fan stole a Legia ticket from his victim after a brawl. When he entered the stadium and performed a booking with that ticket at a terminal, he was identified via the ticket number and the name. In the meantime, this installation has already convinced another division of the Polish league, Lech Posen, to become an Interflex customer.
Lech Posen will also be controlling admission at their stadium via the IF-6020-Security software in the near future. Then, up to 20,000 spectators will be performing bookings at 14 admission terminals with day or season tickets to enter the stadium and reach their seats. As a special feature, a new version of the IF-1750 terminal will come into operation. Due to the fact that turnstiles have already been erected, standard IF-1750 terminals cannot be installed on to the turnstiles, but must be flush-mounted into walls. This, however, requires slight modifications regarding the terminal covering. Interflex uses this initial request as an opportunity to offer IF-1750 admission terminals in a variant that allows the installation into walls.
Large Events Set Standards
Several large events are approaching us rapidly and show the need for state-of-the-art stadium technology: The Soccer World Cup 2006 in Germany, the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland as well as the European Soccer Tournament in Portugal that will take place next year followed by the Olympic Games in Athens. Organizations responsible for such sports events, like FIFA, UEFA or IOC, have therefore started to define the requirements that must be met to ensure security at stadiums in the future. These requirements are openly accessible to all and can be found in currently issued invitations to bid for renovations and new stadium buildings. The requirements profile is no longer limited to passive security components, such as gates and access locks with turnstiles, but also brings active security systems to the fore. These include software solutions, which control large numbers of spectators, represent utilization profiles of individual spectator blocks, prevent fraudulent use of tickets and allow for the connection of video monitoring systems. The security manager, the heart and brain that controls all components, has now become a prerequisite for admission control. In this field, Interflex also offers a software solution, which represents all components on a graphical user interface, visualizes messages and alarms of individual systems and activates necessary routines at the same time: IF8000-Monitoring.
The standardized user interface provides maximum transparency. The security manager combines visualized messages with audible signals from incoming alarm messages, e.g. from a fire detection system. Thus, security personnel is immediately informed about an alarm or an error. However, not only pure information is made available. The security manager also allows the storing of routines, in which further proceedings regarding the persons to be informed are specified. Thus, in dangerous situations, the fire department can be reached or medical aid can be requested directly via email, phone or sms (short message service). Therefore, time delays are eliminated.
Security – The Dictates of Reason
In turbulent times, in which each event that has an effect on the media is vulnerable to attack, stadium security and especially the security of visitors and actors, becomes paramount and must receive highest priority. Security starts when tickets are sold and ends long after the final whistle has been heard when all of the spectators want to leave the arena as fast as possible. Visualize this: We are not talking about a small group of people here, ringing someone's door bell to join a party, entering the apartment one at a time and leaving the same way. On the contrary. When it comes to sports events, the admission and exit of up to 70,000 people must quietly and calmly take place within less than half an hour. Numerous entrances are difficult to control and leave organizers of stadiums and arenas facing a hard task. Fortunately, Information Technology (IT) entered this field successfully some time ago. Combined electronic security systems, like the ones companies, authorities and traffic nodes (such as airports and train stations), have been using for decades, form the basis of experience. These kind of security systems can easily be modified and, due to further intelligent developments, also be integrated into high-end admission and exit control systems for sports facilities.
The combination of highly-developed software and hardware components allows for the active management of a large number of spectators and visitors. Furthermore, tickets can also be upgraded to function credentials for transparent admission control. The objective is to provide utmost security to fans, interested onlookers and families that only want to enjoy an exciting and entertaining sports event, and to avoid even the slightest interference during the visitors' recreational activities. This seems to be an unsolvable task. However, combined admission control from Interflex is the solution. Thus, a key aspect has been realized for both visitors and organizers of sports and event facilities: The possibility to enjoy carefree hours in a safe environment with a large number of different personalities in a small place for a short period of time.
Effective Basis
Today, the security concept for a stadium is to be considered as an effective and comprehensive basis for smooth and efficient operation at stadiums. The interrelationship between ticketing and admission control is the core of an integral security solution. The ticket must be read at an admission control terminal and serves as an identification carrier for each individual – the key to an event. Once the premises of the stadium has been entered, the user can only sense the existence of the complete security system.
No Overcrowding
There are various components that belong to a functioning and feasible security solution. The verification of tickets at admission terminals includes ensuring the restricted use of a ticket and thus, eliminates the possibility of an overcrowded stadium. The danger of overcrowding is omnipresent and one of the most serious problems during an event. Terrible scenes of crowds panicking are unfortunately not only a thing of the past due to lacking security measures. In an overcrowded stadium, such movements are no longer controllable and can result in a catastrophe. The multiple use of tickets also entails economic damages for the organizer. In extreme cases, the number of tickets used twice can cut the revenue into half. So far, the multiple use of tickets has not been detected directly, as it would only be obvious if a stadium was entirely sold-out and thus, overcrowded. Nevertheless, the financial damage is extremely high. Therefore, state-of-the-art admission control systems must include an anti-passback function for terminals. As soon as a ticket is used at a terminal and the spectator passes a turnstile, the ticket can no longer be used for entering the stadium. It is cancelled electronically, just like tickets used to be cancelled by tearing them apart. The terminals ensure this function for tickets with barcodes, hidden barcodes and contactless chips. Of course, organizer preferences can be taken into consideration if the responsible persons wish to use contactless reading standards such as Proxif, LEGIC or Mifare for season tickets and hidden barcodes for day tickets.
Additional Advertising Opportunity
From the experiences gathered as a provider of security solutions for large events, Interflex came up with an idea that gives organizers, using admission control systems, an additional advertising opportunity and thus, opens up a new source of capital: The admission terminal IF1750 with an integrated advertising and information surface. Thus, each visitor of an event can be reached individually by sending different messages. The use and the idea of surplus value are easy to understand. Via the additional surface, the advertising requirements of partners, sponsors and stadium organizers can easily be met. For sponsors, an additional advertising effect is generated, for stadium organizers, a further marketing option. Sponsors can attract the attention of prospective customers to their current special offers or introduce new products via the integrated advertising display. Both options can be combined by offering visitors a discount for a certain product on presentation of the ticket in the week after the event.
Besides an increase in customer frequency, sponsors have additional advantages. Spectators are addressed directly via the advertising surface on the terminal, which they automatically look at when performing a booking with their tickets. This opens the possibility of sending target-specific advertising messages to the visitors of an event without experiencing losses due to non-selective advertising. In most cases, spectators enter a stadium in a positive mood, as they are looking forward to the event. In this situation, an advertising message will also be received in a positive way. On average, spectators perceive an advertising message for about four seconds while performing a booking with their tickets. So far, commercialization of this advertising display is protected as a utility model for Interflex only. All of these aspects show that stadium security covers a wide field of topics.
Background
Interflex Datensysteme GmbH & Co. KG offers complete solutions for time and production management, security solutions including card production, biometrics as well as personnel scheduling. The company located in Stuttgart, Germany, is a member of the Ingersoll-Rand Group (IR). In 2001, IR achieved $1.4 billion in revenue in the Security & Safety Sector. With more than 13,000 system installations managing more than 4.5 million employees, Interflex is the market leader in Europe. In 2002 (valuation as of December 31), 451 employees achieved 48.97 million euros in revenue. Among Interflex customers are many renowned companies, public authorities and hospitals in various European countries and the USA. Some of these are the Deutsche Bank, Bertelsmann, Boehringer, the German Federal Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs, Henkel, the Hamburg Airport, Blohm & Voss, Roche, Volkswagen, Weishaupt and Zürich Versicherungen.
Interflex Press Contact:
Marcus Geigle
Interflex Datensysteme GmbH & Co. KG
Zettachring 16
D -70567 Stuttgart
Tel.: (07 11) 1322 – 108
Fax: (07 11) 1322 – 111
Email:
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