Ingersoll Rand Security: AptiQmobile To Use Secure Peer-to-Peer NFC Technology

(RTTNews) - Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies Wednesday said that organizations wanting to utilize Near Field Communications or NFC-enabled smartphones as their access control credentials for employees and students would be able to begin the transition through the use of aptiQmobile technology.

Ingersoll Rand will be adding exclusive technologies that enable a secure peer-to-peer or P2P NFC mode, letting organizations begin providing the convenience of using a mobile device instead of a key or badge ID.

aptiQmobile will be available on Android NFC-enabled phones regardless of choice of carriers and will also work on unlocked phones. For the Apple iPhone, Ingersoll Rand will offer a case as an additional option to NFC-enable it.

In NFC pilot programs at Villanova University and the University of San Francisco, users enclosed their iPhones in a unique case to create the NFC capabilities. Villanova University has found that using smartphones as badges saves time, the company noted.

University of San Francisco students ave embraced the mobile approach, preferring the convenience of using their phones to digging for their One Cards.

Students and employees will be able to use Android phones also, without the need for this unique case. Employees in a current trial at the corporate campus of Heartland Payment Systems are using Android NFC-enabled smartphones and aptiQmobile for access control.