NeoFace Watch Thermal improves health and safety from COVID-19 in the workplace

Jannie Erasmus, head of surveillance and analytics at NEC XON.

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NeoFace Watch Thermal protects organisations, their customers and employees, through contactless monitoring and management of COVID-19 protocols, providing real-time dashboards and process automation in a cost-effective solution that keeps people safe.

The AI-driven platform uses NEC’s acknowledged world-leading facial recognition technology and integrated thermographic cameras for a fast, accurate and compliant solution that ensures people are safe and the business is productive.

“With this solution, you demonstrate that you’re serious about people’s safety and doing what’s necessary to ensure business continuity, protecting health and revenues for sustainable futures,” says Jannie Erasmus, head of surveillance and analytics at NEC XON.

Many organisations are challenged by the protocols and regulations around monitoring and managing COVID-19. To date, teams of people have manually scanned temperatures and captured details at the entrances to facilities. But not only do you expose those frontline workers, your employees and visitors, you also cause backlogs and delays that undermine compliance, business productivity and efficiencies.

“It’s very difficult to get a real-time view of what’s happening in your business,” says Erasmus. “How do you contact trace if there’s a confirmed COVID-19 case on the premises? How do you ensure people wear their marks at all times, given that it’s a legal as well as a moral responsibility? And how can you ensure social distancing and numbers of people don’t exceed allowed capacities? It’s very difficult using manual systems and it can be even more difficult to prove that you’ve been responsible. People don’t feel comfortable that they’re safe and that’s a major inhibitor to productivity and well-being.”

NEC’s AI-driven facial recognition platform has been recognised by the US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as the global leader for the past 17 years.

It is successfully used to monitor tens of thousands of people in the most demanding safety and security applications at public facilities in Nairobi, Mombasa and hundreds of other locations worldwide.

NeoFace Watch Thermal is GDPR and POPI-compliant and enables consenting employees and visitors to pre-register, significantly speeding up entry. It can use existing databases or any other SQL database. It can also use existing CCTV cameras for identity management to maximise returns from existing infrastructure.

“It can be difficult for organisations to justify the costs of standalone COVID-19 solutions, particularly given the requirement may dissipate with the roll-out of vaccines achieving herd immunity,” says Erasmus. “However, the functionality also exists to cater for COVID passports, which may become a compliance requirement. Being AI-driven and automated, it can also automatically alert employees should we be required to update vaccinations. The open nature of the platform allows for enormous scope.”

NeoFace Watch is an extensible platform. Foundational AI-driven facial recognition and identity management functionality can be integrated with digital solutions, Internet of things devices and networks, cyber security, physical security and more for integrated digital transformation. It’s smart, disruptive technology that solves some of society’s and business’s biggest modern challenges.