Q: Everyone in our office can walk in and touch in at the fingerprint time clock just once and they are clocked in. I've never had to "try again", ever. But we have one person who for some reason has to try 2 or 3 times almost every morning. Is there any reason for a poorer recognition rate on just one person, and is there anything we can do to improve recognition rate for that one employee without making the system less secure?


A: As you pointed out, it will get it in a couple tries. But that can be frustrating to an employee who feels like the time clock is singling them out while everyone else punches in and out with ease. We have only had this reported in a few cases, but here are some tips that have worked for others:


Verify Mode

If an employee enters their ID number and then places a finger, this puts the time clock into "verify mode", which means that rather than comparing the fingerprint with all the checksums in the clock's database, it just has to verify that it is a reasonably close match to the ID entered. This almost always works, but see the other options below to avoid this extra step.


Re-Enrolling

Try re-enrolling the employee and finger. Chances are you have already tried this step, but if not, getting a good centered scan for the original scan can greatly improve matching rates for that employee.  When Enrolling, place the finger without sliding or twisting.  Do place the center of the fingerprint in the center of the lens.  Use Moderate Pressure.  Rotate the finger a little Clockwise on the second press and a little Counter-Clockwise on the third press  


Cleaning

It wouldn't hurt to double check that the glass is not extremely dirty or smudged, although the fingerprint scanner is not overly sensitive to that. Please Review "Cleaning and Disinfecting your Clock"



Try to place the finger centered on subsequent scans. The Fingerprint time clock does not record fingerprints of anyone, but records a mathematical checksum of the patterns of valleys and ridges. So it is never actually trying to match a fingerprint, it is just trying to match the current checksum with the checksums stored in the clock database.


When enrolling your initial fingerprint checksum, the clock takes three readings. Place your finger once squarely in the center of the scan window, once to the left a bit, and once a little to the right. This will allow broadest recognition if your finger is not centered in future punches.


As an alternative, try using a different finger. Some fingerprints may be less pronounced or for some reason hard to distinguish, and sometimes using a different finger with a completely different pattern is the easiest way to get the time clock to make a positive match first try. Employees with especially thin or small fingers have reported better luck using a thumb, because the clock has more information to work with.