Why Biometrics?

The major advantage of Biometrics is the possibility of positively Identifying a Person instead of a card, no matter which Technology is being used, because it is impossible to borrow personal traits from a person and because it is not cost-efficient for another person to copy those traits with the level of faultlessness required to evade these systems.

Different fields may be found in Biometrics to recognize a person by means of his/her physical traits, such as: Voice, Hand, Face, Iris and Fingerprint.

Why Fingerprints?

After conducting a thorough analysis of People Identification, our Company specialized in the field of Fingerprints because they enable people recognition at an extremely beneficial cost/service ratio and with a very high security level, generating quick return on investment for our clients, based on fraud prevention regarding operations that require positive Identification of a Person (which are very easily performed when using a password or card). For example:
• Sensitive Information Protection (payroll listings, contracts, etc.).
• Strategic Information Protection (Marketing Plans, Financial Operations, etc.).
• Protection of Areas where elements that are essential to the company operation are kept (Data Centers, Vaults, Spare Part Warehouse, etc.)
• Movement Protection of Highly-Valued Materials (stock items and highly-valued tools).
• Effective Staff Control to prevent wrong payment of attendance benefits and non-worked overtime.

The Problem.

The significant growth of PCs, networks, Internet operations and e-commerce has generated a need to find a solution for quick and easy, and at the same time highly reliable, identification of people, without visual contact.

The Identification methods that are currently used are based on PINs and Passwords, which are not safe because they may be known by third parties if they are found written down, if they are seen by simply «peeping over someone's shoulder» or if they are provided as a result of a user's excessive trust.

What are Biometric Readers?

Biometric Readers are Identification Systems based on a human being’s unique biological characteristics. Biometric Systems «Identify» a part of the human body in order to subsequently generate a unique code that may recognize the individual features of the person. This type of code, consisting of biological patterns, is called «Template».

The efficiency of Biometric Systems is based on the algorythm used to generate a Template, whose complexity should be such that its generation and back-up should require as few system resources as time and space in memory. At the same time, its efficiency should be such that it should be able to recognize an individual when trying to identify him/her, no matter the position of the body at every registration, because otherwise the reason for rejection will be very high. In other words, requiring an individual, who effectively is who he/she claims to be, to attempt two or more times so that the reader may recognize him/her and accept access.

Biometric Systems Identify people, not cards. The processed data for attendance control are absolutely secure and true when using fingerprint readers.

NOTE: Readers and software for business purposes do not store fingerprints. Upon fingerprint enrollment or verification, a Template will be generated (coded algorythm, see note on encryption) and stored in the databases, preventing the generation of the fingerprint image or impression from the algorythm.

A successful biometric system is based on the «enrollment» (addition of the person into the system). Example: If you have a top quality original document and make copies of it, you won't notice any difference between the original and the copies; that is to say that if a top quality enrollment is performed, subsequent verifications will not be difficult. If, instead, you make «photocopies» of a blurred or poor quality document, that is to say, in the case of poor quality enrollment, recognition problems and false acceptance are very likely to occur.

Cost Reduction.

Cost reduction is basically found in four essential areas:
• The first one is reflected in the lack of cards to control your staff, as well as additional equipment and systems: Printers, software, personnel, etc. required to issue cards.
• The second one is based on the fact that by avoiding compulsory «card-issuance», there are no overheads or required costs regarding the loss of cards or newly-hired personnel.
• The third and most important cost reduction is that the payroll time that is paid (worked days, overtime, etc.) is the time actually worked by employees.
• Finally, Human Resources personnel may devote to more productive tasks instead of wasting their time in repetitive and troublesome tasks, such as: printing cards, capturing missed faults due to cards that are lost or forgotten.

Security: Fingerprints are an unbeatable alternative to access restricted areas such as operating rooms, warehouses and safe deposit boxes, since the person who is actually having access «is who he/she claims to be».
Implementation Time: The time for implementing a Fingerprint System is 80% lower than for a card system.

Objective: The objective of a card system is to issue cards, while a Biometric System is aimed at managing actual information.