2,700 Places Now Have New SafeEntry Scanner That Works Like EZ-Link Reader; Businesses Can Now Apply for Them

As a species, humans love convenience and hate nothing more than wasting time.

This is why we shout, curse, and point middle fingers while stuck in traffic jams, even though it achieves absolutely nothing other than to infuriate everyone further.

Nowadays, one of the most detested and arduous tasks in life is the scanning of SafeEntry QR codes before we enter a public venue.

Why is it so bad? Well, you have to:

1. Pull out your phone from your pocket
2. Open your scanning app
3. Scan the QR Code
4. Check in

Reader: Uh that sounds pretty easy to me, actual-

Fortunately, this backbreaking task will now be much simpler and quicker.

2,700 Places Now Have New SafeEntry Scanner 

Residents will now be able to check in at public venues by simply tapping their phones or TraceTogether tokens on the new SafeEntry Gateway (SEGW) box which was launched last month.

Over 2,700 locations have been equipped with the new device, including shopping malls, cinemas, supermarkets, and hospitals.

When it was launched on 16 March, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) announced that selected crowded places would have to implement the new check-in method.

Such public venues include popular wet markets, polyclinics, large stand-alone retail outlets, selected museums and galleries, places of worship, and funeral parlours with wake halls, to name a few.

But if you like to do things the hard way in life, you’d be happy to know that the existing SafeEntry check-in methods that use QR codes will still be available at these places.

How it Works

Simply put, the scanner will work in a similar fashion to the EZ-link card reader on public transport.

To check in, all you have to do is tap your TraceTogether token, phone, or the TraceTogether app on the SEGW box, which is slightly larger than a smartphone.

The SEGW works by exchanging Bluetooth signals with the TraceTogether app on a phone or token within a 25cm range.

When you hold your phone or token near the device, a green light will come on, indicating a successful registration.

Businesses Can Now Apply for Them

Good news for businesses without the SEGW box: you can now apply for them as long as you’re operating one of the following venues:

• Malls and large standalone stores > 930 SQM or 10,000 SQFT (except large retail outlets in buildings already with SEGWs)
• Supermarkets (except those in buildings already with an SEGW)
• Selected popular wet markets (Geylang Serai Market, Block 104 / 105 Yishun Ring Road (Chong Pang Market), Block 20/21 Marsiling Lane, and Block 505 Jurong West Street 52)
• MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions) event venues hosting more than 100 participants
• Gated tourist attractions
• Selected museums, heritage institutions, and galleries
• Cinemas
• Places of worship with more than 100 congregants
• Public and Private Hospitals, National Specialty Centres, Community Hospitals and Polyclinics
• Public libraries
• Funeral parlour with wake halls

Simply head to the SafeEntry website, sign in with your SafeEntry business account, and submit an application.

Do note that that each venue can only apply for one SEGW box for each manned public-facing entry point at no charge, up to a cap of four SEGW boxes.

The SEGW should also be implemented as an additional mode of check-in; other modes of existing check-in are still allowed and should not be removed.

Click here to find out more.

Featured Image: Facebook (Smart Nation Singapore)