A Reassuring Touch

After years of trial-and-error experimentation, biometric identification is finally starting to see wide-scale adoption by corporations and government agencies.

The technology is cropping up in systems used for everything from password and credit card replacement to military and law enforcement pursuits.

Biometrics have been under development for a long time, both in the U.S. and abroad. But now, the technology is making the transition from curiosity item to the top of priority list.

Opinions vary widely on the merits of various biometric approaches. But according to some experts, fingerprint technology is the most mature biometric technology available today, characterized by relatively easy usability and high accuracy.

The use of increasingly capable sensor technology for rising accuracy in fingerprint recognition — especially in terms of reduced "false positives" — is credited for being the main force behind the increased implementation.

By combining biometric identifiers with smart cards or key fobs, organizations benefit from an extra measure of security known as "two-factor authentication". Not only does a user have to present their fingerprint to the scanner, they also have to produce a token identifier as well.

Today's regulatory climate is the biggest single driver toward corporate biometric applications, and as such has stemmed an increasing interest in biometric-enabled systems and software.

Tensor is the leading manufacturer of time attendance and access control equipment, and as such have developed systems that incorporate fingerprint recognition technologies.

Biometric Time and Attendance

Buddy punching is a practice that has been around for as long as clocking in machines have been present in our workplaces. If all that is required to register an employee at their place of work is a clock card or attendance fob, then whoever is in possession of that device is able to "buddy punch" or clock in the owner.

By implementing biometrics, an employee must scan their fingertip into the system in addition to presenting their clocking device in order to be clocked IN on a Tensor time attendance system.

Biometrics virtually eliminates the occurence of buddy punching, enabling you to keep a firm track on who is at work and when.

Biometric Access Control

Organizations with secure areas on their site have been particularly keen to implement fingertip recognition capabilities. Access to pre-defined areas is no longer compromised as users must present both their access card or fob and their fingerprint.

In addition, a log is generated that displays not only each successful access through a particular point, but also failed accesses along with the identity of the person who tried to gain access.

Biometrics does not need to be installed at every access point within your Tensor access control network, so you can pick and choose the areas of your site, which require additional protection.