Fingerprint Based Devices

 

Purchasing a time-attendance system can be a major decision for any organization irrespective of its size. Many purchase criteria must be considered – everything from functionality to integration to cost must be weighed carefully when evaluating time-attendance system.

A good time-attendance system should be able to address all major concerns like buddy punching, manual attendance calculation, manual entry in the payroll system, flexibility in attendance marking for different employees etc. Ultimately it should help to save the time, reduces error, improve employee morale, improves the productivity and most importantly adding value to the business.

 

Number of Suppliers in the Market:

Time-attendance is a very unorganized market with many local players and imported devices. It should be noted that a time-attendance system is a complete solution not just a box product like a mobile handset. So vendor selection should be based on the ability to customize, local support, proper training and ultimately matching with the organization need.

 

Confusing Specifications/Features:

At the first sight, all the features offered by different vendors are looking like the same. But the depth of feature and flexibility each feature provides; is different from vendor to vendor. So depending upon the organization’s need an evaluation of the system should be performed.

 

Price Variations:

As mentioned earlier, the time-attendance market is very fragmented. Many imported players are offering a time-attendance solutions at very low prices while some good players are selling their solution at some higher price. However as a good decision maker, one should considerthe total cost of ownership of the solution. Total cost of ownership includes actual product cost, installation charges, after sales support, customization charges, warranty, down time cost etc.

 

Prepare Time-Attendance Requirement List

Time-attendance is very dynamic in nature. No two organizations have identical attendance and leave policy. The same organization may follow different timings and holiday for its different facilities. Various departments like manufacturing, marketing, R&D within an office differ in their timing, grace period and overtime calculation. Further people working in the same department need different time-attendance flexibility.

In short, while approaching to the time-attendance vendor, you should be ready and clear with your organization requirements in detail. In this selection mainly HR and IT team can play a crucial role. Ultimately a time-attendance system is HR’s baby!

 

HR should have complete clarification of attendance policy with:

• Number of Doors Used for Entry and Exit
• Number of Business Entities
• Working Hours
• Shift Timings (if applicable)
• Weekly Offs
• Late-In Policy
• Early-Out Policy
• Overtime Policy
• Leave Policy
• Official Out
• Types of Reports required
• Payroll Integration requirement
• Others if any…

Questions for Ensuringthe Right Time-Attendance System

An HR or IT person should have enough justification on below questions while evaluating different vendors in the market.

Meeting Exact Needs

The power of the TA solution is derived from its software. The first and most important question is the TA software designed for your country, region and application? TA application is always localized due to many factors including local laws, federal laws, culture, industry, size, etc. There is no one universal size that fits all. Therefore, it is necessary that the TA application should be designed specifically to address all your needs without compromises. It would be a mistake to buy a TA solution that offers “universal” or “standard” software designed to work in Asia, Africa, Middle-East and the rest of the world.

 

Data Management

 

TA solution manages all the entries, exits, attendance, overtime, leaves and other such transactions, analysis and summaries. All organizations maintain this data for a long time for their internal usages and sometimes for legal compliance. In a way, this data is as important as accounts and financial data of the organization. It is imperative you need easy and fast access to the current and historical data. Your TA solution should support strong storage, backup, archival and retrieval methods?

 

Flexible Enough to Fit with Requirements

When it comes to working hours, leaves, late-ins, early-outs and overtime, all organizations have their own policies and rules. These are like customs and traditions of a culture. They have evolved over a period of time and served you so well all these years. It is neither advisable nor necessary to change them overnight. Therefore, you need a TA application that can adapt to your systems with minimum changes. Is the software flexible enough to adapt to your organization’s practices and policies?

 

Reports and Charts

 

A good time-attendance solution is as good as the output it offers in terms of reports and charts. A proper report and chart can reduce data analysis time drastically and improve efficiency. All vendors offer many kinds of time-attendance reports but you should check whether your reports are there or not in their list. Reports should be informative and in required format so that it can be easily used for some other applications like salary calculation or other purposes.

 

Configuration and Monitoring

If you want to get the most out of your time-attendance system, it must have user-friendly hardware and software configuration. You should not expect any detail learning on its important day to day functions. Moreover system should have the facility to display all important data like total absent users, leave detail, real time user data with detail, holiday list, shift information on its opening page. This will reduce the time of the HR person.

 

Support and Software Up-gradation

 

Does the product backed up by long-term support, up-gradation?

Change is the only constant. With time and growth everything will change – number of people, organization structure, policies, local/federal laws, etc. You need to check whether the TA solution you are considering can evolve with your changing needs? Would the vendor be around all those years? It should not happen all the investments and implementation efforts go waste and there is need to scrap the solution and reinvest in another one in just a few years.

 

Product Versatility

Many technologies are available in the market for time-attendance with their own pros and cons. As a smart buyer you should know which technology is suitable for your application. If you are selecting one technology today e.g. fingerprint then if you want to add rfid card in it what would be the cost. Is it just addition of card module cost or complete hardware replacement cost?  For basic access control application, does the system have door relay port to connect an electronic lock with it?

 

Product Design

<<IF design, India design mark and red dot logo>>

Any system you select should add value to your office interior. It should not look like a patch on the wall. A good design is not only aesthetics but also ease of use, proper audio-visual notifications, environment friendly, dust proof etc.

 

Hardware Reliability

High quality materials like gold flash PCBs, industrial grade components, engineering plastic etc. will add value into the product and increase its life and performance. Many imported vendors are offering their solutions at half the price with lack of product depth and performance. In short,selection should not be on the base of one time cost but on the total cost of ownership.

 

Connectivity Options

 

 

For user punch data transfer and device configuration, connectivity is required between device and software. Before you select any device you should have an idea what type of infrastructure is possible in the organization. There are products available with multiple connectivity options like Ethernet, Wi-Fi, GPRS, mobile broadband, PoE, manual transfer using USB drive etc.

 

Manufacturer’s Credibility

 

After understanding about a product, you should also check manufacture’s credibility in the market. Who are their existing customers? Whether they are satisfied or not with the solution? How is their support? How is their R&D? etc. These questions will give you confidence in decision making.

 

Matrix COSEC SAMAY

 

Matrix COSEC SAMAY is a professional time-attendance solution specially designed for small organizations. COSEC SAMAY manages the diverse requirements of systematic yet flexible timings with user-wise attendance, shifts and leave policies. It’s human-like intelligence calculates attendance and leaves and integrates seamlessly with payroll systems. Matrix COSEC SAMAY dramatically improves productivity and discipline of the organization.

Why COSEC SAMAY?

Matrix COSEC SAMAY is a superior time-attendance solution compared to many other cheap products available in the market!

 

Feature	Matrix COSEC SAMAY	Benefit	Cheap Products
User-wise Timings	User-wise Attendance, Late-In, Early-Out, C-OFF and Overtime	Adapt to the organization’s real needs.
Flexible Shifts	Multiple Shifts and Shift Patterns	Allocate manpower for maximum efficiency.
Leaves and Holidays	Various Leave Types, Balance Tracking and Encashment	Match organization’s exact leaves and holidays policies.
Overtime	User-wise Overtime Policy and Automatic Calculation	Save time, increase accuracy and reduce cost.
Online Events Recording	Auto Push Events from Device to Software with User Photo	Prevent human-intervention, errors and manipulation.
Live Dashboard	Live Status of Attendance, Devices, Shifts and Holiday in a Single Window	Monitor manpower status for better control and faster decisions.
Reports and Charts	Customized Reports in Excel and Graphical Charts with Filters	Interpret data easily for better and faster decisions.
Payroll Integration	Direct Integration with Tally and Other Payroll	Reduce manual work and eliminate errors or manipulation.
Award Winning Design	iF and Red Dot International Awards for Product Engineering and Aesthetics	Improve aesthetics and  ease-of-use.
Sturdy Hardware	Gold-Flash PCBs, Touch-Sense Keys, Scratch-Proof Plastics and Heavy Duty Components	Reliability and long life.
Multiple Connectivities	Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Mobile Broadband (3G/2G) and   Power over Ethernet (PoE)	Reduce wiring cost and improve network reliability.

 

Conclusion

Right selection of a time-attendance system will add value to your business and improve productivity and efficiency multifold for many years. So selection should not be overlooked by neglecting many important parameters mentioned in this white paper. Secondly, decision maker should consider the total cost of ownership of owning this product rather one cost.