LAND O' LAKES, Fla. — The Pasco County Tax Collector's Office in Land O Lakes has the first thermal scanning camera in the Bay Area from IDEACOM and it was recently installed to help combat COVID-19.

"I thought lets give it a shot," said Pasco Tax Collector Mike Fasano. "So far, it's working very well." 


What You Need To Know

  • Pasco Tax Collector's Office gets thermal scanning cameras

  • Camera scans people as they enter the office

  • Anyone with temperature above 100.4 degrees is not allowed in building

The camera scans the outside body temperature of a customer as soon as they walk into the facility. If their temperature is below 100.4 degrees, they're allowed to go about their business. 

"It's accurate within .5 degrees," said Victor Becklund, IDEACOM V.P of Sales. "So, you know that you're getting an accurate reading."

Anyone who has an "over temp" is given a chance to cool off and try the scan again. Becklund said some accessories that people wear can retain heat and cause an over temp scan.

"There's a couple of things that might make you over temp," he said. "If you have a hat on or if you had glasses on."

Becklund said on Thursday, when they first tested the technology, they had 22 over temp scans and more than half came back at a normal temperature after cooling off.

"This is where, obviously, the future is. We want everybody to feel safe," he said. "We want to make sure that everybody's doing their part but that we can still operate and do the things that we love to do."

There's often a line outside the Pasco Tax Collector's Office in Land O Lakes. Fasano said between their 5 offices, they see more than 40,000 customers each month. 

That's a lot of people who could potentially be carrying in the coronavirus. Fasano said the camera costs $45,000 and is worth every penny to help keep everyone safe.

"You can't put a price tag on someone's life," he said. "If we can protect our customers and our employees from being a part of this pandemic or spreading this virus, certainly I think it's worth $45,000 in an office that's serving thousands of people a week."

The IDEACOM camera can scan up to 16 people per second and most of their clients are hospitals, airports and schools.

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