Zurich, August 2009–During renovation and extension work at HYPO state bank GANTNER also upgraded and modernised the bank’s LEGIC system. The Hypo Vorarlberg Group’s headcount has more than doubled in the last ten years. No wonder the existing building was fit to burst. The main idea was to combine customer convenience and highest security levels. Contactless LEGIC technology offered many advantages.

Hypo’s head office building in Bregenz was in urgent need of renovation, so full-scale conversion and extension work was begun in April 2007. Head office floor space was increased by total of around 1,000 m². The ambitious new construction plans concentrated on deploying the very latest environmentally-friendly building technologies as well as on the architect’s language and the inclusion of contemporary art.

GANTNER as project coordinator

After a three-month project planning phase during which GANTNER coordinated all the trades involved, from electricians through to door producers, the next challenge was to install the access control and time & attendance system which had to be integrated seamlessly into the existing technological landscape.

Besides HYPO in Bregenz, a total of almost 250 GANTNER time recording and access control terminals for more than 1,000 employees are in use at 31 other HYPO locations and subsidiaries in Austria; together they form an integrated LEGIC based system. Thanks to perfect teamwork, this far from easy undertaking was successfully completed in a record time of around six weeks. The new building in Bregenz alone houses 550 staff and 5,000 access control operations must be performed every day. Organising all this requires 62 online and 40 offline terminals; time stamping takes place at one of eight time-registration terminals which were specially manufactured for HYPO as a stainless steel version.

High security requirements

The system in Bregenz on Lake Constance includes a few special features which cater specifically for the increased security requirements that are appropriate to a bank. The use of lifts and access to individual floors are strictly controlled, for example. An employee’s chip card must additionally be verified by means of a code in order to gain access to the banking area both from outside and from the offices.

The entire building is split into a total of 15 alarm areas which can be activated and deactivated via the access control or time registration terminals. GAT Building Overview software ensures that staff who are responsible for security have a complete overview of all events, door states and alarm situations. This software also allows various scenarios to be stored and triggered as appropriate.

About LEGIC® Identsystems Ltd

LEGIC Identsystems Ltd, with headquarters in Switzerland, is the world leader in the design and manufacture of 13.56 MHz contactless smart card technology. The LEGIC product portfolio includes highly integrated LEGIC RF Standard, ISO 15693 and ISO 14443 compliant read/write chip sets, security modules and transponder chips.

LEGIC Identsystems currently works with over 200 external co-operation partners world-wide who offer compatible LEGIC all-in-one-card applications including access control, e-payment, parking, e-ticketing and other multiapplications. More than 2 million readers and over 100 million credentials are successfully integrated in more than 60,000 work and leisure places worldwide.

Press enquiries:
Mirko Mandic
Marketing Communications
Public Relations & Internet
LEGIC Identsystems Ltd
Tel.: +41 44 933 6464
mmandic@legic.com