Biometric - What Is The Meaning Of Biometric And Its Importance | HRMantra HR Software

Biometric - What Is The Meaning Of Biometric And Its Importance | HRMantra HR Software

6-7 minutes

Definition of Biometric

Biometrics is measuring and analyzing people''s unique physical or behavioral characteristics for the purpose of verification. This is often used by schools, colleges, and organizations for identification and authentication purposes.

As humans, we have always fallen back upon the ability to recognize familiar faces, voices, and gestures for security and comfort. But now, with technology''s invasion into our biological world, what we see is a very radical shift wherein biology meets technology in an extremely simple and safe way to recognize identity.

Thus, if we must put the whole concept of biometrics into a single sentence, we''ll say that it is simply the marriage of biology and technology.

In an era that sees passwords and PINs are vulnerable, biometrics comes to be one of the most secure options for identification. There''s a lot to this technology you must be aware of.

Let''s explore:

• What is Biometric?
• Types of Biometrics
• What is Biometric Authentication and Biometric Identification?
• How Does a Biometric Device Work?
• Top 5 Reasons to Use a Biometric Management System

What is Biometric?

Biometrics is outstanding technology that helps organizations recognize and authenticate employees through their singular physical/behavioral characteristics.

Not like passwords or ID cards, biometrics offers employers quicker and more convenient methods of authentication.

Biometric systems find their use in security, access control, and authentication applications, which range from unlocking your smartphones to border security.

Kinds of Biometrics

Though there are many, take a view of the most common five biometrics:

• Biometric Fingerprint: In this, unique fingertip patterns are used to verify the identities of people. Fingerprint biometrics are considered highly accurate and widely used by companies, both big and small.
• Facial Recognition: This biometric confirms a person''s identity based on his or her facial characteristics. You can see this type of biometric in your smartphones, airport security, and more.
• Voice Recognition: As the name suggests, this type of biometric makes use of vocal characteristics for authentication mostly used in phone banking systems and voice assistants.
• Iris Scanning: This scans the distinct patterns of eye iris of a person. Government applications and secure facilities make use of this type of biometric.
• Palm/Finger Vein Patterns: It involves the examination of the vein patterns in the palm or the fingers. This kind of biometric device is used by industries such as healthcare and banking.

What is Biometric Authentication and Biometric Identification?

Biometric authentication and biometric identification are basically security techniques where distinct physical or behavioral traits are used to verify the identity of a certain individual.

Biometric authentication verifies the identity of a person and grants him access to a device or a system by matching his biometric data. We will discuss in detail how exactly these systems work, comparing the data in the next section.

In contrast, biometric identification involves one-to-many matching. It looks for a modality in a database of biometric data to match a person among many individuals.

How Does a Biometric Device Work?

The following is a brief tutorial on how a biometric device works:

1. Capture: It first captures a biometric sample like a fingerprint, iris scan, facial image, or voice recording, of the person.
2. Extract: The device scans the captured biometric sample of the individual, extracting his/her unique features and creating a template.
3. Storage: The templates created for different individuals are safely collected and stored in a database.
4. Verification: Whenever the person tries to access a place, facility, or system, s/he provides a different biometric sample.
5. Comparison: The biometric device then matches the new sample with the earlier stored template to check and confirm if there is a match.
6. Access Control: In case the system matches, access shall be permitted to the concerned individual. And in case there is no match, access shall be denied. This finally ensures more security and no unauthorized entries.

Top 5 Reasons to Use a Biometric Management System

Here are the top five reasons why companies are using biometric management systems and you should join them:

• Higher Security: As far as security is concerned, identifying people by their unique biological features, such as fingerprints or eye iris, is desirable. No chance will be left for unauthorized access; hence, it will reduce identity fraud.
• Error-Free Attendance Tracking: Geo-fencing attendance is one of the great features of biometric systems. For those who might not know, geo-fencing attendance helps organizations track and monitor accurate employee attendance, ensuring that employees are where they are supposed to be during their working hours. This way, you can cut down attendance mismanagements and improve overall workforce management.
• No Buddy Punching: A good biometric management system can also completely eliminate buddy punching from your workplace, because such systems allow only the registered individuals to mark their attendance.
• Time Efficiency: Biometric systems also optimize attendance and access control operations. This in turn saves a large chunk of time for both employees as well as HR professionals.
• Compliance and Reporting: Biometric systems are useful in compliance with the law and provide extensive reports for the auditing process. These could prove very important for various businesses that engage in the different industries and ensure accountability as well as transparency.

There you go!

Now that you are ready to face the future of attendance management with open palms, or shall we say, an open eye, why wait and not try a biometric system ASAP? Explore HRMantra HRMS integrable with biometric to simplify the whole attendance process.

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