Patent ID: 7509499

Claim:
An access control system, comprising: a local terminal disposed at an access point, comprising: a token reader configured to detect identification information from a token having identification information encoded therein, and a verification module configured to receive the identification information from the token reader and to verify authenticity of the token based on the identification information, and to generate a first request for first additional information relating to token; and a remote data management server in communicative contact with the local terminal, the data management server configured to receive the first request for the first additional information from the local terminal, to retrieve data relevant to the received first request and to return the retrieved data to the local terminal, wherein the data returned to the local terminal comprises information suitable for verifying at the local terminal the identity of a holder of the token, and wherein the verification module examines the first information and generates a second request for second additional information from the remote data management server, wherein the request for second additional information is open ended and based on data returned to the local terminal from the first request for additional information, and wherein the remote data management server queries a plurality of databases based on the request for second additional information.