Innovative Archival Solutions selects Identix live-scan fingerprint system to screen prospective employees for Indiana gaming riverboats; statewide installation valued at $500,000; second state gaming operation to use system.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 1995--Identix Inc. (ASE:IDX), a leader worldwide in live-scan and biometric personal verification systems Thursday announced that Springfield, Ill.-based Innovative Archival Solutions Inc. (IAS), one of the company's largest single value added resellers (VARs), had been selected by the state of Indiana to supply up to 12 TouchPrint 600(tm) (TP 600) workstations.

The TP 600s will act as the heart of a new statewide program, in conjunction with the Indiana State Police and the FBI, to screen the several thousand candidates expected to apply for staff positions on the 10 gaming boats that are now or will be cruising the Ohio River and Lake Michigan by the end of 1996.

The overall value of the installation is approximately $500,000. IAS had previously installed for the Illinois Gaming Board a similar system, which has operated successfully over the last year.

Half of the gaming fleet is expected to be operating next May; but the state plans to license more than 1,000 employees for the Evansville dock and boat operation alone. Shelby McArthy is manager of human resources for the riverboat City of Evansville, which is owned and operated by Ariz.-based Aztar Corp.

The riverboat can serve an estimated 2,500 gamers on each cruise. Aztar also operates hotel/casino facilities in Las Vegas, Laughlin, Nev. and Atlantic City, N.J., as well as another riverboat, the City of Carutherville in Missouri.

According to McArthy, the Identix verification system "started to work hard for us immediately after its installation. We recorded full fingerprint sets of more than 800 employment applicants within six days, at the rate of more than 20 individuals each hour.

"It would have been impossible to screen anywhere near that many with the old inking method. And the Identix system was not only speedy but simple," she added.

Speed and accuracy were essential for three reasons. McArthy said -- to provide an applicant base for the full crew of about 1,000 individuals (working 300 to 500 per shift); meet a tight opening day deadline; and ensure high quality prints for the Indiana State Police to check through state and FBI databases.

The system electronically records candidate fingerprints, from which cards are printed and sent, with other data, from the dockside screening center to State Police headquarters in Indianapolis. After a records search there, the 10-print card is sent to the FBI's West Virginia facility.

According to IAS President Ron Wadsworth, Identix was chosen because of its advanced technology -- "We wanted the newest system; we didn't want to have to replace equipment that wouldn't meet FBI and other standards."

He said the TP 600 also won out over several competitors because it was the first such system certified by the FBI as meeting the Bureau's latest and strictest image quality specifications (IQS), as well as its record for accuracy and speed at such agencies as the Boston Police Department.

"Another key factor in our decision was the TP 600's ability to perform three critical functions simultaneously," Wadsworth added, "fast, clean fingerprint capture and transmission, photo IDs enabling on-the-spot electronic image storage and transfer to temporary occupation licenses, plus storage and transmission of additional personal data on each candidate. No competing system could do that job effectively."

He said there will ultimately be TP 600s in operation at all of the gaming and boat dock facilities around the state, with another at a state facility in Indianapolis.

"With that widespread a system, Identix uniquely delivers what we require -- easy connectivity not only with the highest-speed communications line yet created, but also with established network protocols like TCP/IP and Novell," Wadsworth said.

Identix Chairman, President and CEO Randall Fowler commented, "This important agreement is yet another example of the growing use by government and commerce of our proprietary technologies. We're privileged to be part of Indiana's public protection program."

Fowler pointed out that a similar screening system, employing the company's TP 900 workstations, has been operating successfully for almost a year throughout Illinois for that state's gaming authority.

Identix Inc. designs, manufactures and markets biometric personal identity and verification systems for security applications and products of law enforcement that scan, analyze and transmit fingerprint images. Its subsidiary, ANADAC Inc. provides information technology, engineering, systems integration and management consulting services to government and commercial entities.

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