Biometrics is the practice of identifying people by their unique, physical characteristics. As biometrics makes use of characteristics we all posses, there is no need for cards, tags or PIN’s, thereby eliminating the chances of buddy-clocking in Time and Attendance systems or unauthorized entry into secure environments.
Various biometric systems exist and are widely in use today, for example Fingerprint, Facial, Voice, Iris and Hand geometry. Each system has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Cost, reliability, environment, security, and ease of use of just some of the factors to consider when selecting a Biometric system.
Many people have raised concerns of health risks in Biometric systems. Various systems have been in use for over 25 years and, in this time, there have never been any reported health hazards. For people who may be concerned about hygiene, products such as the iFace facial scanner from ZKSoftware allow identification without any physical contact. | |
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Biometric systems generally use one of two methods of recognition – Identification or Verification. With the Identification method, the device captures the biometric data from a person and then compares this too all the templates stored in it’s database. While this system is easier for the user, there were concerns that the system will slow down as the database of users grows. This is now unfounded as readers from ZKSoftware will trawl a database of 1500 templates in under 2 seconds! With the Verification method, a used must first identify himself to the device using a card, tag or PIN. The device will then capture the users biometric data and compare it to a specific template in the database. This is potentially faster on a large system and address’s certain privacy issues encountered in various parts of world, but does mean extra effort from the user and the potential expense of replacing lost card, tags etc! |