Buying a fingerprint device does not give you a time attendance system. The device records when someone came in and went out. The question the accountant cares about at month end is different: how many days did the employee attend, how late were they, and how many overtime hours are they owed? That answer comes from the system behind the device.
First: the device
- How it recognises people. Fingerprint is cheaper and most common. Face is faster and suits sites where hands get dirty. Cards are easy but get lent.
- How it sends data. Some devices wait for software on a branch PC to pull from them; others send punches themselves over the internet to the system. The second kind needs no PC at the branch and no static IP address.
- Memory when the connection drops. Make sure the device keeps the punches and sends them when the internet returns.
Second: after the punch
This is where systems differ:
- Shifts. Does it support night shifts that cross midnight? Split shifts? A roster that changes weekly?
- Lateness and excuses. Can an approved excuse be recorded so the lateness is not deducted?
- Overtime. Is it calculated automatically, and does it pass approval before reaching payroll?
- Leave and holidays. Does a day covered by leave or a public holiday show as absence?
- Branches and supervisors. Does each supervisor see only their own staff?
Third: reports and salary
- Does it produce a monthly report that can be handed to the accountant as it is?
- Can the salary be calculated from attendance inside the same system, or is data exported to a spreadsheet?
- Are the figures traceable? Can you get from a deduction to the day and the punch that caused it?
Ten questions for the vendor
- Which device models does the system work with?
- Do devices send to the system directly, or through software at the branch?
- What happens to punches when the internet drops?
- Does it support night shifts and rosters?
- How are excuses and overtime recorded, and who approves them?
- Are the interface and reports really in Arabic, or partly translated?
- Where is the data stored, and is my company’s data isolated from others?
- How often are backups taken, and has a restore been tested?
- Will you move our data and past attendance from our current system?
- What does the system not do? A straight answer here is a good sign.
In short
Choose the system for what it does with a punch after recording it, not for how the device looks. Ask for a live demo on a case from your own company: a night shift, an employee late with an excuse, and another who worked on a holiday.
To see how IdaraSuite handles these cases, look at the time attendance feature or book a demo.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws and regulations change; refer to the official text in force or to a legal adviser before making a decision.