Hand Geometry Fast Facts
Biometric Technology in Brief
May 3, 2001
Hand Geometry Fast Facts
Technology
Hand geometry is one of many forms of biometric identification. Biometric devices measure and analyze human characteristics for identification or verification purposes.
Hand geometry is not intrusive; it does NOT read fingerprints or palm prints.
Hand geometry reads the size and shape of a person's hand.
Over 90 measurements of a hand's length, width, thickness and surface area are combined to form the digital hand template.
A hand typically takes less than 1 second to verify.
Security
Improvements in technology have made biometric identification far more reliable, practical and secure than other memory-based verification methods, such as passwords, PINs or proximity cards.
Biometrics are more reliable than smart cards, magnetic stripe cards or bar code badges alone, since biometric traits cannot be lost, stolen or duplicated.
Hand geometry can be paired with an employee ID number via the HandReader's keypad, resulting in a card-free solution.
Privacy
Most biometric devices are used for verification, not identification . (This means they provide a search to determine a match between a biometric template and a unique ID number, versus searching an entire database to find a match.)
Hand templates are stored as mathematical values that cannot be read by any other device or third party.
Applications
Hand geometry is used most often in two applications: Access Control and Time and Attendance (time clocks).
Recognition Systems, Inc. HandReaders are used everywhere, from INS border checkpoints (including Dulles, Seattle, San Francisco, Honolulu, New York and Miami airports) and nuclear power plants (installed in over 90 percent of all U.S. nuclear plants) to day-care centers.
Typical installations are factories, corporations, schools, universities, computer equipment rooms, hospitals, pharmacies, bank vaults, insurance companies, day-care centers, private clubs and gyms.
Most businesses find that hand geometry verification systems pay for themselves in as little as three months.
People usually become comfortable with the system after 6 to 10 uses.
HandReaders are durable and can perform millions of transactions.
Acceptance usually increases after users are assured that privacy won't be violated and that hygiene risks are no greater than those associated with doorknobs or currency.
Cost
Biometric readers represent a small part of the overall cost of a typical security system. While a building's permanent security or time and attendance system could cost $30,000 to install, the HandReader might represent only about 5 percent of the overall cost.
HandReaders are a cost-effective alternative to employee ID cards, which cost several dollars each. ID cards can be lost, stolen, or wear out, and they verify only the card, not the person using it.
Cost/Benefit (Time and Attendance Applications)
Hand geometry eliminates "buddy punching" and other forms of time clock fraud.
When tied in with HR and payroll departments, HandPunch® HandReaders allow factory employees to view accrued HR and benefits records at kiosks on the shop floor.
If a company has 3,000 employees with each earning $10 per hour, and every employee punches in 2 minutes early every day, the extra payroll cost per year would be $250,000.
A 100-employee company that loses one hour per week, per employee, could lose more than $50,000 in one year.
Professionals are much more accepting of HandReaders than time clocks, and they appreciate the enhanced utility for billing and accounting purposes.
About Recognition Systems, Inc.: With over 35,000 hand geometry readers in use throughout the world, Recognition Systems, Inc. (RSI), founded in 1986, is the pioneer of hand recognition technology developed to meet the growing needs of the commercial access control, time and attendance, and identification markets. The company is the world sales leader of biometric verification devices and serves an international clientele from its headquarters in Campbell, Calif. RSI is a subsidiary of Ingersoll-Rand Corporation. For more information about IR, visit the company's Web site at www.irco.com.
Technology
Hand geometry is one of many forms of biometric identification. Biometric devices measure and analyze human characteristics for identification or verification purposes.
Hand geometry is not intrusive; it does NOT read fingerprints or palm prints.
Hand geometry reads the size and shape of a person's hand.
Over 90 measurements of a hand's length, width, thickness and surface area are combined to form the digital hand template.
A hand typically takes less than 1 second to verify.
Security
Improvements in technology have made biometric identification far more reliable, practical and secure than other memory-based verification methods, such as passwords, PINs or proximity cards.
Biometrics are more reliable than smart cards, magnetic stripe cards or bar code badges alone, since biometric traits cannot be lost, stolen or duplicated.
Hand geometry can be paired with an employee ID number via the HandReader's keypad, resulting in a card-free solution.
Privacy
Most biometric devices are used for verification, not identification . (This means they provide a search to determine a match between a biometric template and a unique ID number, versus searching an entire database to find a match.)
Hand templates are stored as mathematical values that cannot be read by any other device or third party.
Applications
Hand geometry is used most often in two applications: Access Control and Time and Attendance (time clocks).
Recognition Systems, Inc. HandReaders are used everywhere, from INS border checkpoints (including Dulles, Seattle, San Francisco, Honolulu, New York and Miami airports) and nuclear power plants (installed in over 90 percent of all U.S. nuclear plants) to day-care centers.
Typical installations are factories, corporations, schools, universities, computer equipment rooms, hospitals, pharmacies, bank vaults, insurance companies, day-care centers, private clubs and gyms.
Most businesses find that hand geometry verification systems pay for themselves in as little as three months.
People usually become comfortable with the system after 6 to 10 uses.
HandReaders are durable and can perform millions of transactions.
Acceptance usually increases after users are assured that privacy won't be violated and that hygiene risks are no greater than those associated with doorknobs or currency.
Cost
Biometric readers represent a small part of the overall cost of a typical security system. While a building's permanent security or time and attendance system could cost $30,000 to install, the HandReader might represent only about 5 percent of the overall cost.
HandReaders are a cost-effective alternative to employee ID cards, which cost several dollars each. ID cards can be lost, stolen, or wear out, and they verify only the card, not the person using it.
Cost/Benefit (Time and Attendance Applications)
Hand geometry eliminates "buddy punching" and other forms of time clock fraud.
When tied in with HR and payroll departments, HandPunch® HandReaders allow factory employees to view accrued HR and benefits records at kiosks on the shop floor.
If a company has 3,000 employees with each earning $10 per hour, and every employee punches in 2 minutes early every day, the extra payroll cost per year would be $250,000.
A 100-employee company that loses one hour per week, per employee, could lose more than $50,000 in one year.
Professionals are much more accepting of HandReaders than time clocks, and they appreciate the enhanced utility for billing and accounting purposes.
About Recognition Systems, Inc.: With over 35,000 hand geometry readers in use throughout the world, Recognition Systems, Inc. (RSI), founded in 1986, is the pioneer of hand recognition technology developed to meet the growing needs of the commercial access control, time and attendance, and identification markets. The company is the world sales leader of biometric verification devices and serves an international clientele from its headquarters in Campbell, Calif. RSI is a subsidiary of Ingersoll-Rand Corporation. For more information about IR, visit the company's Web site at www.irco.com.