Biometric technologies capitalize upon unique, permanent, and scannable human characteristics. The reason that this is unique is because biometrics scan characteristics that no other person shares. What makes biometrics unique is also the fact that the technology, as used in biometric time clocks, scans for human traits that should both remain the same over time, and be reliably collectable using a sensor.

Technological Breakthrough

All biometric devices and biometric time clocks take a number of measurements from an individual then digitally process the result. The visual results based on the physical scan  is then saved (as the individual’s traits) into a template. The templates are then stored in a database associated with the device. Though they can also be stored in a smartcard.

When the individual employee attempts to identify himself by scanning a finger or hand—the biometric device will compare the new scan to all available templates in order to find the match to your prints or physical traits. In addition, the biometric scan can also compare the new scan to a known template for the individual while still in the verification process. To be verified, a person must first claim an identity using a login name, smart card, or token. As the individual continues to use the technology, the template continually is refined and adjusted for slight changes in the employee’s characteristics.

How it all breaks down

Different biometric technologies measure diverse aspects of the human anatomy. Finger readers measure the space between the forks of the ridges in a fingerprint. Hand readers can measure the orientation of veins in the hand, or the shape, length, and width of the fingers. Eye readers measure the veins in the retina or the texture of the iris. Though certain types of scans such as iris vs. finger scan are slightly different in terms of initial accuracy—generally, any biometric scanning technology rules supreme for identity tracking.