Biometrics and Time § Attendance

How did you clock in today? Or did you? Maybe you logged onto your computer, punched a clock, or waved at your boss on your way to your cubicle. Maybe you inserted your hand into a reader or stared into an iris scanner. From the low end to the high end, time and attendance systems are designed to track hours worked. After all, time is money.

"The most common time and attendance system in use is pen and paper. That's crazy," says Fred Schmitthammer, president and CEO of Lone Wolf Software, Inc. (Bellflower, CA), a time and attendance software development company. "Calculating payroll with a pen and paper system produces an error rate of 8% to 10%. That doesn't include employees' ‘bogus' or ‘insincere' use of time. Studies show that for a 100-person company, the return on investment (ROI) for a biometric time and attendance solution is thousands of dollars."

Using Physical Characteristics To Verify — Not Identify
Biometric time and attendance systems incorporate employees' physical characteristics to verify — not identify — them. Biometrics includes finger and hand geometry and voice and iris recognition. Because biometrics adds an extra layer of security to time and attendance, it can be used in conjunction with existing systems, such as badge systems.

"Biometrics eliminates buddy punching — when an employee clocks in for someone else," says Ted Dinkel, president and CEO of Stromberg, LLC (Lake Mary, FL). His company develops time and attendance software, scalable from PCs to Web-enabled WANs (wide area networks). "Most companies can cost-justify a biometric time and attendance solution in a matter of months. The more sophisticated systems alert supervisors when employees are late or absent or when employees are going into overtime. Time and attendance has become a management tool."

Getting A Handle On Buddy Punching
This management tool raises concerns among many employees, at least initially. "Biometrics uses physical characteristics or behavioral traits to eliminate fraud," points out Tracy Timmer, product manager for Recognition Systems, Inc. (Campbell, CA). "Biometrics is a passive means of verification, not an active means of identification," adds Timmer. Hand geometry, a technology in existence since the early 70s, measures the size and shape of a hand. The measurements are then formulated into what is known as a template. It's virtually impossible to retrieve an employee's identity from a database of templates. "It's important to educate employees about what biometrics can and cannot do," notes Timmer. "With hand geometry, for example, employees can't be identified without their knowledge." Certain religious groups don't want the right hand measured. According to Timmer, cultural preference and hand disfigurement can be accommodated. "In those cases, employees can turn over their left hands to have them measured," she explains.

Giving A Voice To Biometrics
Voice verification is a less obtrusive form of biometrics. According to Schmitthammer, employees enroll by answering a series of four questions. The questions could be "What is your mother's maiden name?" or "What is your favorite color?" Answers are recorded four times. To clock in, employees must correctly answer one of the randomly selected questions. The security is twofold: The employee must know the answer to the question, and the employee must answer in his or her own voice. One of the drawbacks to voice verification is that voices are affected by smoking and illness. "An employee who smokes right before clocking in may have a problem, if he didn't smoke right before initially recording his answers," says Schmitthammer.

Clearing Up Misconceptions
In addition to the employees' "fear factor," there are several misconceptions managers must overcome before implementing a biometric system, namely cost. "The cost of a biometric device is more than that of a traditional badge reader," notes Dinkel. Timmer agrees. "There is an assumption that biometrics is high-tech and therefore comes with a high price tag," she says. "Managers often don't want to think their employees could be dishonest, that they are trying to cheat. Managers are also afraid of potential employee backlash — that employees feel biometrics is too much like ‘big brother.' That's why educating employees is so important. What managers are really trying to do is reward the people who aren't cheating."

Dinkel suggests managers make a commitment to their employees. "Assure them that the biometric information is strictly confidential," he explains. "It can't be used to incriminate them." Dinkel encourages employers to take time and attendance one step further to benefit employees. "Provide employees with accrued vacation and benefit information over the Internet. Maybe a supervisor would rather edit time cards on his home computer and leave the office two hours earlier. That's a nice benefit."

Wireless And Web Around The Corner
If your company is still using a pen and paper-based time and attendance system, don't consider that unusual. Dinkel says a large percentage of companies has yet to adopt an automated time and attendance system. However, on the other end of the spectrum, there are companies adopting Web-based and wireless time and attendance systems. This is especially true for mobile applications. Wireless devices, such as a time clock integrated with a WAN, are appropriate for use in construction sites, for example. "A construction worker can be paid a supervisor's rate while doing one job, and then be paid another rate for doing office work," explains Dinkel.

Web-based systems offer a cost savings to companies. "You can run a Web-based time and attendance system on outdated PCs," notes Dinkel. "In addition, companies can roll out solutions more quickly in a client/server environment. Why spend $50,000 to $100,000 for 50 time clocks when you already have PCs?"