Vetting individuals before giving them access to secure areas continues to be a top challenge for airports today. For some of the United States’ major airports – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) and San Antonio International Airport (SAT) – a next-generation Identity Management and Credentialing (IMCS) system is key to mitigating insider risk and threats in a secure, intelligent and efficient way. With AlertEnterprise’s Airport Guardian solution, the three airports are streamlining their badging processes, enhance customer experiences, reduce costs, increase visibility and improve overall security for both employees and passengers.
A Safety-First Approach
Few airports understand growth better than Los Angeles International Airport, where constant expansion creates a high demand for security credentials. The LAX badged population increased 60 percent from 35,000 in 2009, to 56,000 in 2019. With numbers like this, visibility of risk is crucial.
At San Antonio International Airport, the Airport Guardian solution helps reduce and uncover risks within the badging process and stay on track with TSA compliance. By converging physical and cyber-systems, Airport Guardian provides a 360-degree view of risk across the airport enterprise. For instance, the system proactively monitors badge status for any suspended badge and determines whether such badges are still being used to access critical areas.
Another important piece of airport security happens before any badge is ever issued: training validation and certification. For LAX, Airport Guardian delivers real-time learning management system (LMS) integration, which is designed to assist LAX administration teams in tracking and enforcing mandatory personnel training. This includes active shooter, airside vehicle operating permit and airport security awareness training. By integrating Airport Guardian with LMS, airport officials can automate policy enforcement for training and certification, such as periodic access review for expiring training, automatic reminders for expiring badges, automated removal of critical access, and reconciliation of identity background checks and training.
A Badge of Honor for Automation
With a large volume of people coming through and needing to be processed every day, airport badging office teams must work hard to provide a high level of service. A new IMCS enables busy airports to streamline and automate the entire badge lifecycle process, from application to badge printing and access provisioning. At Fort Lauderdale Airport, the deployment of Airport Guardian has reduced the number of trips from its credentialing center from three to two. By automating core processes with role-based workflow and active policy enforcement, airport officials can ensure real-time compliance, which helps to eliminate costly auditing efforts.
A secure, web-based portal also enables airport personnel to manage employees, vendors and visitors across an enterprise landscape. Applicants and authorized signatories can start, save and submit applications, which includes requesting access to critical areas that require additional approval. Intelligent onboarding defines the right level of access before provisioning and managing access across all systems. Lost or stolen badges can be detected, and system access automatically removed.
One Data Point, Multiple Benefits
Through advanced IMCS technology and processing software, all three airports have decreased their processing times for credentialing, leading to greater productivity and better customer service.
Using one data point creates efficiencies within the badge application processes – which reduces both the number of required steps and overall processing times. Other processes (such as fingerprinting services, appointments, key management, violations, training and visitor management) are also streamlined under one platform for enhanced security and compliance with TSA. This leads to decreased reduced wait times and greater application status visibility to applicants and authorized signatories.
No More Paper Airplanes
Get rid of the file cabinets: the deployment of Airport Guardian has transformed San Antonio International Airport into a paperless operation by fully digitizing its Badge & ID Office. Fort Lauderdale Airport has also bid adieu to hard files with a portal database that digitally stores critical forms and information, eliminating paper application forms.
But while paper footprints are decreasing, these airports may see a different kind of paper take flight. Creating greater efficiencies within the airport naturally impacts the bottom line, and both Fort Lauderdale Airport and San Antonio International Airport are expecting to see reduced labor costs as a result.
A New Era of Digital Transformation
Gone is the age of the siloed badging system sitting independently in the security badge office. A converged credentialing system better serves the broader needs of an airport, offers regulatory compliance and performs identity management. In the era of digital transformation, a converged cyber-physical security approach to identity and credential management is helping to make airports like LAX, FLL and SAT more efficient, productive – and, most of all, secure.
Start now with AlertEnterprise. Let’s connect on how we can help you with airport credentialing and identity access management.
