The Technical University of Vienna carried out the first controlled usability and field study on a new NFC enabled access system. Research Industrial Systems Engineering (RISE) Forschungs-, Entwicklungs- und Großprojektberatung GmbH provides the latest NFC technolog for this product.

“With paybox NFC we developed a forward-looking payment model and implemented it with two strong partners at nine acceptance points. NFC is a highly secure technology, which is not only suited for making payments: Together with EVVA, the Austrian market leader for locks and locking systems, and the R&D provider RISE, which is known throughout Europe, we piloted a completely new access concept at the TU Vienna,” said Alexander Sperl, A1 CCO.

AirKey – Unlocking by Mobile Phone

For the AirKey key solution from EVVA the “keys” are encoded and installed in a highly secure NFC chip on the A1 SIM card. They open/lock the NFC locking cylinder in mere seconds by simply holding the key at the lock. This solution combines simple application and the highest security standards for residential and business customers. Regardless of whether it is the key to one’s home, company access for suppliers, an emergency key for the neighbors or the key for the cleaning service: the administration software enables all access rights to be granted easily and clearly. They can also be allocated according to individual criteria (e.g. permanent, only Mondays, one-time access only, etc.).

“Together with A1, RISE and the TU Vienna, EVVA tested a revolution on the security market: the newly developed EVVA AirKey locking cylinder with NFC interface. It makes it possible to open doors at home or in the company with one’s – previously authorized – mobile phone. The first test results are very promising. The solution provides high convenience and high security. International mobile communication operators enable data transmission to the mobile phone. First negotiations are being carried out with A1,” Stefan Ehrlich-Adám, CEO of EVVA Sicherheitstechnologie GmbH, said.

A1, EVVA and RISE Launch Pilot Project in June at the TU Vienna

True pioneer work was carried out this summer by roughly 40 test participants at the Technical University Vienna. Within the scope of the pilot phase, which started on June 13th and lasted for ten weeks, besides the technical characteristics the focus was on evaluating usability, i.e. how easy it is to use this new solution from EVVA and A1. The technical integration was implemented by the R&D provider RISE.

The test series was concluded several days ago and the first results are very positive: The new access concept functioned smoothly – as far as both hardware and software were concerned. The usability test was also very satisfactory.

Thus, in the pilot phase areas for optimization were identified and immediately implemented in the joint solution. Further test series are currently being drawn up.

SONY Mobile Communications is Exclusive Pilot Partner

Besides EVVA’s locking technology and NFC know-how from A1 and RISE, SONY Mobile Communications also took part in this pilot project. With the SONY Xperia S the Japanese company provided several customized NFC smartphones with Android operating systems.