What is Fingerprint Reader?

One of the most popular Time Clocks on the market for Time and Attendance purposes is Fingerprint Reader.  These readers identify the employee by his/her fingerprint.  As we all know, each person has unique fingerprints.  Using this device is a good way to ensure that employee is in front of the Fingerprint Reader in order to punch in or out; employees are not able to “Buddy Punch” for each other.

Fingerprint scanning measures minutiae which include certain visible aspects of fingerprints such as ridges, ridge endings, and bifurcation (forking). Image below shows core points on different fingerprint patterns.

Fingerprint Patterns

A core point is defined as the topmost point on the innermost upward re-curving ridge line. Special minutiae-based algorithm extracts key minutiae points from a live image at the time of acquisition and converts the data into a unique mathematical template comparable to a 60-digit password. This unique template is then encrypted and stored in the Time Clock memory. The next time a new fingerprint image for an individual is scanned, another template is created and the two templates are compared to verify the user’s identity.  A well designed Fingerprint Reader should store only minutiae-based template and not actual images of the fingerprint.