NEW ORLEANS – As part of the city’s COVID-19 reopening plan, restaurants, hair salons, gyms and other businesses will be required to record the names and phone numbers of all of their customers. City leaders say gathering this data is an essential step in helping prevent another spike in infections.
Many restaurants and salons will simply be able to use their existing reservation system to keep records of customers, but some businesses may be looking for new technology solutions.There’s one local company that may be in a unique position to help.
“Our industry-leading ID scanning solution can help New Orleans businesses … by instantly and automatically capturing the information off people’s drivers licenses,” said Denis Petrov, the CEO of IDSCan.net. “The solution is completely scalable, so it’s accessible to businesses of all sizes and budgets. And it’s easy to implement. We can get businesses compliant and up-and-running within 24 hours.”
Since its inception in New Orleans in 2003, IDScan.net has developed identity verification and information gathering technologies for more than 6,000 clients including IBM, Shell, AMC Theaters, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and Dave & Busters. Founded by Petrov and Andrey Stanovnov, the company expanded its headquarters at the University of New Orleans Research and Technology Park last fall. Internationally, it employs about 50 employees.
IDScan.net software and hardware allows its customers to swipe IDs and collect information quickly.
“If you look at your driver’s license, there’s a barcode on the back where all the information is stored,” said Nicholas Peddle, the company’s director of marketing. “We’ve developed technology that will read the barcode and pull that information. Then we have two different options for what you do with it. One solution is that it populates a database. This is used in banks and doctors offices so that people don’t have to fill out forms manually.”
The data is also used for visitor management and age verification.
“That’s where it scans the ID and creates a record within our own database that’s managed and owned by our client,” said Peddle. “This could be used anywhere where you are welcoming people – whether it’s a casino or a bar or a gated community. Anywhere you have to show your ID.”
When Rouses Markets needed a custom ID-scanning solution to cut down on returns fraud, IDScan.net created the system. Shell hired the company to create a refinery visitor management platform. And CheckpointID commissioned a tool to prevent people from fraudulently renting apartments under false identities.
IDScan.net now wants to be a resource to help fight the battle against the coronavirus.
“Previously our focus was on physical security,” said Peddle. “And now we are at a point where the threat is invisible so we are innovating to account for that. There will be customer tracking in a way people weren’t doing a year ago. We will see what local state and federal governments decide to do. The large tech companies are working on solutions through cell phone data and things like that. We don’t know what that will bring or what will be permissible or acceptable in our country but what we do have is technology that can allow companies to take action now to protect their people and their customers which will contribute to improved public health.”