Time and attendance and overclocking systems has progressed in recent years, from the traditional punch clock cards to the latest biometric technology.
It may seem a bit extreme but companies are losing millions on people late, leaving early and what is called â € ~ buddy Clocking € ™ people clocking in other people. Biometric access control is growing rapidly large organizations such as banks, airports, etc. tend to set the trend with this type of technology and I'm sure if you go into any of these you will find some type of biometric scanner if it is clocking or access, or simply to log on to computers / off.
Whata € ™ s wrong with swipe cards or PIN numbers you might ask, can they be copied or obtained surreptitiously where a biometric scan is very difficult to duplicate in practice almost impossible.
When people hear they immediately think biometric fingerprint technology, but this is only one of several biometric systems.
Fingerprints are the most common and cheapest to implement in any organization, such as readers iClock
take several treatments salad of ridges and valleys in the fingerprint then using a complex algorithm to store them as an individual code. In most cases, it is always a good idea to store more than a fingerprint code of the readers in case a finger is a reduction or stain it, which may affect the reading.
Other types such as hand recognition require large bulky readers. The terminal captures a three dimensional image of the hand each time the employee places his hand into the reader. Hand size and the form used to verify their identity. These types of systems is almost twice the cost of the fingerprint system. Face recognition is a emerging technologies, but requires powerful data processing is slow and is not as reliable as other biometric technologies, but is better as CCD cameras and software improves. Iris Recognition using IR to look at the pattern of blood vessels in the back of the eye is also a very rapidly growing biometric technology. Iris recognition is a secure system, but also requires powerful processing and is slow to load with a fast pace is not so good for access control with heavy traffic.
With all biometric systems is the biggest battle of all in the implementation of them is how to win the confidence of the people who will use them. They must be assured that information will only be used for what it was intended and it is safe to use. This is probably the biggest stumbling block to overcome when introducing biometric readers.
All of these biometric techniques have a place in today € ™ s security and business € ™ s but for the time and attendance fingerprint technology is more than enough because of the low cost and reliability, and most security applications, the dual method of fingerprint cards and offers a very high level access control. This is where a media card such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and fingerprints must comply with in order to gain access.
Using barcode technology is also used frequently, but has its problems the main one being the ability to watch other people in or out â € ~ buddy Clocking € ™ apparently this can not be made if the biometric reader is used. On a plus side for the bar code over other media technology is cost, since most barcode 3 of 9, EAN, Code128 etc can be printed on most laser printers and then laminated to create a clock card or job card for a very low cost. Other media can also be used for â € ~ buddy Clocking € ™ is magstripe and proximity, but these media cards are more expensive than bar codes. Magstripe can be produced in house, but an expensive encoders and printer is required to produce a good quality card. RFID tags are purchased with an ID number already programmed into it, requires that this is more difficult to copy the tag and no optical drive or no contact with the media reduces any routine maintenance.
So which one to choose? Biometrics can be as cheap and as reliable as other types of media, but has limitations. Everyone has a place in today € ™ s World on everything you need is to clock employees in and out and low-security access when the fingerprint is the alternative low-cost, no media to produce or buy.
About the Author:
Andy McSaint has been a author for many technical manuals and case studies for Capture Services with over 20 years in the Shop Floor Data Capture Industry http://www.Clocking-Machine.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Biometric Technology in Today’s Clocking and Access Systems
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