Biometric Time Clocks

 Biometric time clocks and Fingerprint readers

           
        Biometric clocking in machine with identification has always been related with security. In fact biometric identification had been used long time ago to grant access to very sensible locations. Banking centers or high security buildings and very scarcely for time attendance.
        Since ten years ago biometric clocking machines has become popular for time attendance applications, the reason for it was pricing and size. During the mid eighties a biometric clocking equipment used for access control was worth between 4.000 and 8.000 pounds , its size was four times bigger than nowadays readers and the biometric identification time for each user was long because the finger pattern was read by a small scanning camera moving around to read the biometric pattern of the finger. Expensive and sophisticated.

            Aside of fingerprint recognition there are other biometric technologies for example: reading of the iris, reading the palm of the hand  geometry ,voice recognition etc.
Iris biometric recognition is quite difficult to implant because of people's rejection to use the own eye for such a purpose it has been implemented for experimental ATM. machines with very bad results due to this fact. Palm's identification is used for time attendance but normally with a PIN , so the user must key its PIN and the readers checks that the palm's geometry matches with the code's attached parameters.
           Fingerprints and biometric patterns are widely used for police identification since many years ago and it's universally assumed that fingerprints are never duplicated in different persons. In court cases it is completely admitted the identification through fingerprint identification.
            A biometric clocking in machine , or time clock based on fingerprint recognition consists of three main parts: the reader, the biometric finger pattern matching algorithm and the clocking in machine.  
            Biometric fingerprint readers can be optical or capacitives . K Time offers in its biometric terminals optical readers, optical readers are totally immune to electrostatic discharges which normally mask or even can destroy the reader.
            The biometric matching algorithm can be an algorithm the compares the stored pattern in the clocking machine with the pattern of the finger placed on the reader, in this case the employee keys a previously to place the finger so the terminals knows with what pattern must compare the finger , this clocking in machine is called of identification of 1:1 . A more sophisticated algorithm for clicking machines is the algorithm that is able to match the right pattern between 2.000 patterns with the finger placed on the reader, this is called identification 1:N. Identification of 1:N is the identification type used in K Time time clocks. It means that the clocking in operation is fast , the employee must only place the finger on the clocking machine wait a few seconds and his clocking stamp and name appears on the display.
All time clocks based on fingerprint recognition has many advantages: avoids buddy clocking, cards are never forgotten , there is no extra cost for card loses.
            Fingerprint time clocks or biometric clocking machine must be avoided when employees are working inside industrial refrigerators  because their fingers are often swelling. Also biometric time clocks must be avoided in cleaning companies and departments where employees uses caustic liquids for cleaning, the long use of detergents erases the fingerprints. Also must be noted that 0,1% of the human people has no fingerprints for genetic reasons .
            A very good approach is to use a mixed time clock terminal, fingerprint machine with proximity reader , this solves the side cases , if an employee has no fingerprint he can clocking in with a proximity card.

            K Time has two models of such mixed terminals biometric plus rfid the K38x and the advanced biometric time clock K48x