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What is biometrics?
What is Hand Geometry?
Is Hand Geometry new?
How does it work?
What is Buddy-Punching?
Why HandPunch?
How many hand templates can be stored in the unit?
Do rings or Band-Aids have an effect?
What happens if I injure my hand and have it bandaged or in a cast?
My employees are concerned about hygiene issues. How do I address this concern?
Are there any privacy issues?
Is the HandPunch safe?
Who is Ingersoll Rand Recognition Systems?
Is use of biometric technology physically safe for the individual?
Are identification and authentication the same?
Does biometric technology infringe on privacy?
Can your solutions work as stand alone applications or do they need to be connected to a computer network?
Is there standard maintenance required on a fingerprint sensor?
If I cut my registered finger, can I still use the system?
How do you protect my fingerprint biometric data from being stolen?
What is the registration process?
How do biometric devices work?
How is the fingerprint captured?
Can the TimeTrax System Automate Our Organization's Timekeeping Policies?
What If My Company Has Multiple Locations?
Can TimeTrax's Time & Attendance Interface with MY HRIS, HRMS or Payroll System?
Can Our Employees Report their Time Using on an Electronic Time Sheet Interface?
Can the TimeTrax System Track Distributed Labor Data (Departments, Jobs/Projects, Tasks, Locations, etc.)?
What kind of Support Can My Company Expect from TimeTrax 'After the Sale/Sign Off'?

What is biometrics?

Biometrics identifies people by a unique human characteristic. The size and shape of a hand, a fingerprint, the voice and several aspects of the eye are just some unique attributes. “The word "biometric" simply means the measurement of a living trait, whether physiological or behavioral. Biometric technologies compare a person's unique characteristics against a previously enrolled image for the purpose of recognizing.”

What is Hand Geometry?

HandPunch uses a field-proven technology called hand geometry, which verifies an individual's identity based on the size and shape of the hand. It does not take fingerprints or handprints.

Is Hand Geometry new?

Hand Geometry has been in use longer than any other biometric. Two-dimensional hand geometry devices have been around since the 1970's. Ingersoll Rand Recognition Systems has sold over 150,000 Hand Punch Hand Readers since 1986.

How does it work?

The HandPunch measures the unique size and shape of the fingers and hand. Over 90 different measurements are made such as, length, width, thickness and surface area. No finger prints or palm prints are taken.

To enroll an employee for the first time, the employee would put their hand into the HandPunch three times so that a CCD camera records 3 images of the hand. An algorithm converts these images into one mathematical value (Your template). This template is then stored in the HandPunch. Each time an employee puts their hand in the HandPunch to punch in or out of work, the HandPunch takes another image of the hand, the algorithm converts this image to a mathematical value and then compares this new template with the template the HandPunch has stored previously. If the two templates match, identity is confirmed and the punch is recorded.

Each time an employee punches in or out, their template is updated with each successful verification. Basically the machine “learns your hand”. This allows for changes due to weight gain or loss, aging, etc. This also eliminates the need to re-enroll users.

What is Buddy-Punching?

Buddy punching is when one employee clocks in for another employee. This usually happens when one employee is running late. That employee will then call into work to ask a coworker/friend to clock them in at their scheduled time to report to work. This is the basis for payroll fraud that costs companies thousands of lost dollars per year.

Why HandPunch?

Badge-based terminals eliminate many of the problems associated with manual time and attendance systems. But there's one issue that remains: “Buddy Punching,” the practice of employees clocking in other employees who are not at work. Hand Punch Hand Readers stop buddy punching because, unlike badges and cards, the hand can't be lost, stolen, or loaned to another person.

How many hand templates can be stored in the unit?

Up to 32,512. HandPunches hold from 100 employees up to 32,512.

Do rings or Band-Aids have an effect?

Not usually enough to reject a valid user. Just make sure the ring is in the upright position and hand placement is proper and there should not be any issues.

What happens if I injure my hand and have it bandaged or in a cast?

You can be enrolled with your left hand; palm up while the right hand is disabled. It's not as comfortable but will work fine.

My employees are concerned about hygiene issues. How do I address this concern?

Compare hand placement on the platen to using a door knob/handle, money handling, telephone use, or shaking hands. As of June 2007, every handreader platen (Where user places their hand) contains an anti-microbial agent. These active agents are incorporated during the manufacturing process and because they cannot leach out or wash off the surface, remain active for the life of the biometric reader. This material does not change the look or the feel of the product but it continually protects the platen's surface against microbes, making it cleaner and more hygienic.

Are there any privacy issues?

Hand geometry technology cannot be reverse-engineered to identify people. It does not store the image of the hand, but instead stores a 9-byte template which is a mathematical representation of the hand image. This mathematical value is meaningless to other devices. In addition, no fingerprint or palm print information is gathered.

Is the HandPunch safe?

The infrared lights used in the hand reader are similar to those used in remote controls for TV's and VCR's. The light's power level is 100 mill watts – less than the amount produced by natural sunlight or microwave ovens. Ingersoll Rand Recognition Systems has been contacted by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and has supplied all requested information. No reports of hazards have been generated by OSHA.

Who is Ingersoll Rand Recognition Systems?

With Over 150,000 HandPunches installed around the world, Ingersoll Rand Recognition Systems is part of a $10B/year corporation that's been in business for over 100 years.

Is use of biometric technology physically safe for the individual?

Yes it is. The methods employed to gather biometric data from individuals are non-invasive and pose no threat to physical health. When properly installed, biometric devices enhance both security and ease of access. No health hazards have occurred in more than 30 years that biometric devices have been in use.

Are identification and authentication the same?

No they are not. In biometrics, "identification" occurs when a live, biometric - like a fingerprint or retina etc. - is compared electronically to a database containing many stored fingerprint images (biometric data) and a match is found.

Does biometric technology infringe on privacy?

Not at all! Actually, using our biometric solution is one of the best ways of protecting personal privacy. Your fingerprint template is encrypted and stored on a database. Without your matching live fingerprint, there is no way that authentication can take place. The encrypted fingerprint template cannot be used to recreate a fingerprint.

Can your solutions work as stand alone applications or do they need to be connected to a computer network?

Our solutions can work both as a stand alone as well as a networked application. An ideal solution can be proposed after understanding your specific requirements.

Is there standard maintenance required on a fingerprint sensor?

Most fingerprint sensors function quite effectively irrespective of environment. However, it is recommended that the sensor regularly be wiped clean. The best way to clean the sensor is to stick a transparent tape on the surface and pull it out. This will ensure that even minute dust particles are removed.

If I cut my registered finger, can I still use the system?

A severely cut or damaged finger can render a reading invalid. If an unfortunate situation like that should occur, the person can re-register using another finger. All our solutions can allow registration of all ten fingerprints for any individual.

How do you protect my fingerprint biometric data from being stolen?

During registration, the minutiae points are assigned values that are encrypted; the fingerprint itself is discarded from the computer's memory and only the biometric template is stored on the database. The encrypted information is meaningless until the corresponding live biometric is available for comparison. If your database is stolen, it cannot be used for unauthorized access and your fingerprint is not at risk.

What is the registration process?

There are three steps involved in registration:

The fingerprint is registered by placing it three times on the fingerprint sensor.
The unique characteristics of the fingerprint are converted and encrypted into a biometric template.
The biometric template is later used in comparing and matching with a live fingerprint.

How do biometric devices work?

Biometric devices compare a properly "registered" sample with a live sample and authenticate the user if a match is found.

How is the fingerprint captured?

Our solutions use minutiae-based technology. Minutiae points occur at fingerprint ridge bifurcations and endings. Our minutiae-based technology scans and records roughly 100 minutiae points. The minutiae are then assigned mathematical values called a fingerprint template. The template is encrypted and stored to be used in future live comparisons. No fingerprint other than the one used to create the template will make a perfect match.

Every day, we answer a wide variety of time and attendance system questions from prospective customers. Of course, there's no possible way to cover every issue revolving around time clocks, timekeeping software, payroll interfaces and labor tracking in this type of format. However, the following are some of the more common questions we receive on a daily basis:

Can the TimeTrax System Automate Our Organization's Timekeeping Policies?

Without question, the TimeTrax system is one of the most mature and stable time and attendance systems in the market. Having the benefit of over 13 years of industry expertise and experience, TimeTrax's pay rule parameters support the widest variety of timekeeping pay policies and work rules - saving you from expensive customized programming later on and waiting for the features to be added to your application after quality assurance.

Speak with one of our product representatives today about your payroll and timekeeping policies. The TimeTrax Software system is the only product in the market with the unique technology to allow it to handle customer requirements without custom programming. In all likelihood, your needs can be handled by our software -- even if they are complex or business-specific. We will be more than happy to analyze your time and attendance requirements and let you know how our system can accommodate your needs.

What If My Company Has Multiple Locations?

Most of our current timekeeping clients have multiple locations, anywhere from 5 to 200; so we've developed time and attendance and data collection solutions to meet the diverse needs of a scattered and remote workforce. Whether you prefer using a more traditional approach (such as RFID Cards-based electronic time clocks) or something a little more cutting edge (PC timekeeping kiosks that run across the Web or your corporate Intranet), TimeTrax has a data collection option that is both convenience and cost-effective.

Can TimeTrax's Time & Attendance Interface with MY HRIS, HRMS or Payroll System?

We provide a variety of standard interfaces to/from Human Resource, payroll, and scheduling systems. We can also provide you our own TimeTrax-Payroll module which is already in use in various organizations in the manufacturing and services sector. Even if we don't have one developed for your specific need and you don't want to part ways with your current system right away, we can quote a custom interface based on your specification or integrate TimeTrax's system data via ODBC/SQL (for integration with MS Office applications or Crystal Reports) or through ASCII data table export.

Can Our Employees Report their Time Using on an Electronic Time Sheet Interface?

Surely. Your employees can enter and report their work and take benefit of our web-based interface of TimeTrax.Net our network/online time entry product interface. The good news is TimeTrax.Net is flexible enough to be used the way you want and need it to be: different locations using it in a different ways. Some employees can use it like a time-clock (IN, OUT, Labor Transfers, etc.) while others use it only for reporting leave time on an exception basis. TimeTrax.Net can even run on your LAN, WAN, Intranet or across the Web.

Can the TimeTrax System Track Distributed Labor Data (Departments, Jobs/Projects, Tasks, Locations, etc.)?

Indeed. The TimeTrax time and attendance system enables both your employees and supervisors to enter labor transfers - using the TimeTrax software and/or any one of our other data collection solutions. Speak with a TimeTrax sales and support representative about your unique labor distribution and reporting needs.

What kind of Support Can My Company Expect from TimeTrax 'After the Sale/Sign Off'?

We pride ourselves in After-Sales-Support. EfroTech is committed to providing fast, courteous and knowledgeable support to both its customers and business partners. There is nothing worse than a time and attendance system that breaks down right around payroll day and there's no one to help get it back on-line. Unfortunately, this is a common situation as there are too many companies focusing on sales efforts and providing little or no real after-sales support.

As a privately held company for over 13 years, EfroTech has consistently delivered results - year-after-year - never missing a single payroll to date.

TimeTrax offers both business-hours support and mission critical 24/7 support, by annual agreement. More importantly, TimeTrax 's software support entitles you to the following:

Software Version Upgrades
Access to TimeTrax Support Staff by Phone/Email
Access to TimeTrax Web Download/Support Area for Software Updates, Fixes, etc.
Access to Remote Diagnostic Support via Modem, Network IP Connection or the Web.
Guaranteed 48-Hour Turnaround Time-Frame on Bug Fixes.

For all your time and attendance questions, contact us at (021) 34389620-22 or fill out one of our Biometric Attendance, Time Management & Payroll software information request forms. We'll be glad to provide you with the help you need.