How Today’s Touchless Technology Gives Customers Options and Control

Posted by Allen Ganz on February 2, 2022February 3, 2022 Posted in Biometrics, Customer Experience, Government, Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail, Security Tagged aviation, biometrics, customer experience, digital id, digital profile, facial recognition, security, touchless technology, Travel

Creating a digital profile streamlines online shopping in significant ways. The convenience promotes future orders and customer loyalty. Imagine how delightful it will be when brick and mortar stores enable the popular option for in-person shopping. Today, creating a Digital ID is possible with NEC’s I:Delight platform.

For example, when a shopper saves their preferences and payment information to a personal profile accessible from their mobile device and provides authorization with rapid and accurate facial recognition, stored customer loyalty information can be instantly applied. Thus, empowering customers to control their digital data and how it is used, while their customer experience is enhanced with fewer touches and less risk.

All of this can be achieved with NEC I:Delight, a highly secure and scalable Digital ID management platform. Using NEC’s award-winning face recognition algorithms, this robust, cloud-native platform streamlines ordering and payment at quick service restaurants; facilitates check-in at next-generation hotels; and provides expedited entry and payments at entertainment venues and stadiums.

NEC I:Delight also enables touchless passenger checkpoints from curb-to-gate at airports, provides streamlined access to office buildings, and verifies patients and authorizes staff at healthcare facilities. The platform is interoperable, scalable and can be used by many industries to provide long-term value, transforming the customer experience.

Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance, which includes a coalition of 26 member airlines, uses NEC I:Delight to power its growing biometric passenger processes and modernize its entire travel ecosystem. In addition to curb-to-gate verification, passengers who opt-in through the Star Biometrics app will be able to use their Digital ID for VIP lounge access, wayfinding, airport purchases, transportation fares, hotel check-in, attraction passes and more. All without showing a boarding pass or opening their wallet.

With NEC I:Delight, the customer maintains control of their Digital ID and its uses. Customers can change profile settings as needed and opt-out just as easily.

For more detail check out this three-page preview our whitepaper that provides more in-depth information about NEC’s Digital ID platform.

Click here to learn more or fill out the form below to download the entire whitepaper.

See how Digital IDs can work for you. Take a guided virtual tour and discover the frictionless, touchless capabilities of I:Delight by visiting our Virtual Customer Experience Center.

NEC at NRF 2020: Seamless Retail Customer Experiences with Greater Operational Efficiency

Posted by Allen Ganz on February 6, 2020February 7, 2020 Posted in Analytics, Biometrics, Cloud, Customer Experience, Events, Retail Tagged #NRF2020, analytics, biometrics, cloud, customer experience, CX, NRF, retail

NEC was one of the early pioneers in biometrics technologies since the 1970s. Today, NEC is the world’s leading provider of biometric solutions to both governments and commercial entities, which include air travel, theme parks, stadiums, casinos and more. Next stop: retail, where we are leading new initiatives to transform the Customer Experience (CX).

At NRF 2020, visitors to NEC’s booth got a glimpse of how retailers are using facial biometrics to deliver an improved CX and achieve tangible business benefits.

Several years ago, we deployed a Customer Experience initiative aimed at transforming the way consumers transact in physical spaces, from entering theme parks and stadiums, to boarding planes, accessing benefits and making payments, interactions that require security as well as streamlined convenience. Today, we see this visionary concept in several very high-profile implementations. And what we saw at NRF this year, is that the retail space is ready to embrace this trend, with facial recognition as the enabler for an item-of-interest to become an item-in-hand with minimal effort and delay. Our leading technology makes it possible to deliver on this promise.

Customer Experience Starts with Fast, Frictionless Transactions

To kick off their booth experience at NRF 2020, visitors self-registered by simply taking a picture of their face, creating a digital ID on our facial identity management platform, NEC I:Delight. This one time enrollment enabled multiple touchpoints and experiences throughout the booth, providing for faster, more secure transactions for applications such as loyalty and payment.

As customers progressed through the booth, they experienced our facial recognition enabled Self-Checkout solution. This self-checkout lane recognizes the items a customer has placed in their shopping bag via RFID, calculates payment and then activates the charge without the customer ever stopping or swiping a credit card. As they walk through the lane, the customer has the option of scanning a QR code on their device or using their face as the “method of payment." NRF attendees also had the opportunity to interact with NEC’s technology partner, POP ID, a Cali Group company. POP ID’s self-ordering kiosk makes recommendations based on past food orders for faster decision-making, reducing wait times, increasing customer loyalty and revenue opportunities. Customers simply register once on their mobile device, and then use the kiosk to choose items and pay without pulling out a wallet or device a second time. Available at numerous quick-service restaurant (QSR) locations today, POP ID’s “Face-pay” concept is enabling unique and memorable customer experiences and generating a fast return on investment.

Experience Advanced Analytics

NEC also showed how facial technology can be applied to enhance data analytics and assist retailers behind the scenes to improve business operations. By analyzing key aspects of the shopper population, either in-store or in front of a particular display, retailers are able to send offers or engage customers in real time based on their individual interests. These types of up-to-the-minute data analytics help retailers survive and thrive in this competitive marketplace. Reliable sales data enables tailored in-store offers to customers, plus aids in managing inventory and staffing.

Retail … the Next Facial Recognition Frontier!

Finally, visitors could see NEC’s next-generation, modular point of sale (POS) design. Our POS design includes a space-saving footprint that can transform from a manned-POS station into a self-service POS just by turning around the peripherals. The embedded facial recognition option enables seamless payment. Both single and double-display versions are available.

Which of these retail trends does your organization plan to embrace in the coming year? Talk to an NEC expert to hear more and engage in our Biometric CX Discovery & Strategic Planning Process as a first step in realizing your vision. Simply fill out the form below, and we’ll get in touch!

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The Fate of Airport Customer Service Isn’t Terminal

Posted by Allen Ganz on April 11, 2018April 25, 2018 Posted in Biometrics, Government, Hospitality, Retail Tagged airport security, airport travelers, facial recognition, facial recognition whitepaper, infographic airport security, NEC, TSA checkpoints, TSA security

Today’s air travel is marred by long lines, time-consuming security checks, and constant stress. Travelers are queued up at the check-in counter, at the self-service kiosk, when they drop off their bags, when they navigate the TSA screening lines and when they board the plane.

64% of surveyed passengers prefer a #biometric interface for as many #travel activities as possible. #CX Click To Tweet

However, these necessary security checks waste precious passenger time and impact an airport’s bottom lines. With NEC’s Advanced Recognition Systems, a simple scan of your face becomes a single, unified biometric key that unlocks an enjoyable experience that is:

o Safe & Secure
o Seamless & Frictionless
o Engaging & Personalized

In the infographic below you can find more information regarding facial recognition technology in airports that allows for an elevated passenger experience.

Also, check out this recent Wall Street Journal article that takes an in-depth look at NEC’s use of facial recognition in U.S. airports and other venues.

Download today our informative whitepaper to learn why it’s time to take a new look at facial recognition.

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Time to Take a New Look at Facial Recognition

Fill out the form to download your free copy today.

Protecting critical infrastructure and the fan experience with biometric face recognition

Posted by Allen Ganz on September 21, 2017September 22, 2017 Posted in Biometrics, Education, Government, Hospitality, Retail Tagged biometric, critical infrastructure, face recognition, facial, neoface, public safety, stadiums

From concert halls to sports stadiums, nothing ruins an outing like a public safety incident. Whether it’s due to a fan’s reaction to an unpopular ruling on the field or a more intentional plot to inflict harm, when situations get out of control, the outcome is unpredictable and often dangerous.

Imagine a scuffle breaking out at a soccer match in a packed stadium, injuring not just members of the teams, but also innocent fans. Even worse, imagine the chaotic aftermath of the brutal bombing at the Arianna Grande concert in Manchester, UK. Preventing injuries and loss of life in incidents like these—not to mention identifying and helping apprehend the perpetrators—is critical.

What if the troublemakers at a soccer game could be identified before they are even admitted or seated? What if suspected terrorists could be recognized from live or recorded video feeds leveraging cameras at key chokepoints that don’t disrupt the flow and speed the security checks or even on crowded city streets?

NEC designed its NeoFace facial recognition solutions to address the critical security infrastructure needs of high-traffic venues like these. Web-based and easy-to-use, NeoFace has a scalable architecture and enterprise-class features that integrate and deploy with existing surveillance systems. Its high performance allows critical infrastructure to keep tens of thousands of sports fans safe, by accurately identifying the bad guys and alerting security personnel to help keep them out.

How advanced facial recognition helps cooler heads prevail

NeoFace works with video surveillance to check individuals against known watch lists and generates real-time alerts when positive matches are found. In a four-step process, it captures and extracts faces of individuals from video feeds, performs quality matches in real-time with unsurpassed accuracy and speed—handling up to 3.02 million searches per second.

It works like this:

Capture: Capture real-time from digital cameras, closed circuit television (CCTV) or archived footage.
Assess: Assess individual video frames, detect and analyze the unique facial signature of each face.
Match: Compare and match the signatures against a database which includes enrolled images of individuals.
React: Take a configurable action when a positive match is made.

Safe and secure, from front of house to back of house

There are hundreds more major concerts and sporting events scheduled worldwide throughout the rest of 2017. Unruly fans, unauthorized persons, and other persons-of-interest shouldn’t be allowed to ruin the thrill and excitement for others — and we don’t have to let them. With more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation, NEC built NeoFace to provide critical infrastructure protection for venues like stadiums, making them safer and more secure.

Rapid identification eliminates long screening and admission queues. With NeoFace, VIP guests and season ticketholders can self-authenticate and enter in express lines and even pay-by-face for their concessions improving the customer experience, getting you back to the game quicker.

For back of house, NeoFace can protect employee, contractor and delivery entrances from unauthorized entry. NeoFace identifies known offenders on security watch lists and alerts security, before they can enter and cause harm.

Stay Tuned

Of course, concert and sports stadiums aren’t the only high-traffic venues where NEC solutions help keep the public safe. Watch this space for future posts on how NEC provides critical infrastructure for airports, cruise terminals, theme parks, transportation hubs and more.

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