IBT (Integrated Biometric Technology) has boosted its back-end capabilities for identity management to address biometrics demand in government services and stadiums with the acquisition of Tailored Solutions Corporation.

Tailored Solutions software is used with fingerprint biometrics and name-based criminal history systems and firearms registries for dozens of state agencies, according to the announcement.

IBT CEO Charles Carroll tells Biometric Update in an interview that the company can now bid for state contracts with an in-house back-end adjudication piece, rather than partnering with Tailored Solutions, as Carroll has in the past.

“These guys have spent thirty years perfecting the software that I would classify as adjudication-backing software,” he explains. The software automates the handling of between 80 and 85 percent of applications, reducing manual workloads to a minimum.

Information from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and the State Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (SAFIS) can be applied to the criteria a customer organization uses to ensure safe and secure operation. Carroll gives the example of a bank declaring a clean criminal history to be an employment requirement, without further guidance, can rely on Tailored Solutions’ adjudication to determine that a traffic violation that technically counts as a misdemeanor is not intended to disqualify a candidate. The user’s biometrics or name may match the criminal record, the criminal record, however, may not match the exclusion criteria.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Carroll says Tailored Solutions “always grossly underpriced themselves.”

They have few other flaws, by Carroll’s account. He praises the new IBT subsidiary’s leaders and engineering team, their personal quality and passion for the job.

“The software is invaluable if you’re in the background check and identity management business,” Carroll says.

Tailored Solutions has been in the business for 26 years, and Carroll reveals that he tried to convince Idemia to buy it years ago.

In addition to boosting IBT’s bids for background check services with states and other large organizations, Tailored Solutions’ software can also benefit stadium identity management solutions. Users enrolled to a mobile app can give access to their identity data on gameday, with Tailored Solutions’ software providing fast confirmation from the server.

Tailored solutions will benefit from joining IBT with access to “infrastructure and administrative team that that they don’t have,” Carroll says.

Kiosks and rap-back

Tailored Solutions is also implementing its FlexCheck RAP BACK solution for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, allowing TBI to inform agencies when a previously-cleared employee is convicted of a crime. This kind of solution has broad market potential, according to Carroll.

The acquired company will keep its own brand for now and be gradually integrated with IBT.  The software it produces will be applied to other new solutions as well.

“There’s so much more that they can do with their technology, so we’re going to focus on growing that business, and making sure these new, cool, impactful software products are integrated on a much larger scale,” Carroll says.

One application IBT is developing is biometric kiosks that can replace employees in remote areas where it is not cost-effective to have a full-time employee. In the event that the user needs help, they can call on IBT’s National Identity Center in Nashville for help.

“With our kiosks you can push the red button, and a live operator immediately comes on.”

“That’s the primary difference of what we’re doing now versus the past,” Carroll adds. “We’re leveraging state of the art technology to be able to accomplish more mobile and remote enrollments.”

Overall, Carroll says, Tailored Solutions’ core products can be leveraged to provide additional services to additional customers.

“Expect more announcements”

IBT plans to continue innovating with biometrics, Carroll says, but also to continue taking advantage of an industry ecosystem that has generated underappreciated technologies to grow the company.

There are many great organizations with great technology out there who are too small for the big guys, according to Carroll.

“That’s the advantage of being around for a while,” he muses. “I have worked with a large number of people in the industry. It’s given me opportunity to look at different technology, and we’re looking for great partners.”

IBT plans to roll “two, three, five, ten of these together, and you never know how big we can get by just hiring the right people with right technology to provide the right product.”

The biometrics industry has changed over the years, Carroll says, growing beyond its original mandate to provide security with little regard for convenience, to convenience as a growth driver.

“TSA PreCheck, for me, was a proof of concept.”