Biometric Attendance Problems and Fixes: A Checklist

Most biometric attendance projects do not fail because the machine is bad. They fail because of small, avoidable issues: a clock that drifts, an unplugged network cable, a staff member enrolled twice, a manager who edits records without telling anyone. Below are the ten problems we see most often, how to recognise each, and how to prevent it. Use it as a checklist before and after you go live.

1. The device clock is wrong

A terminal that is ten minutes fast makes half your staff late. After every power cut, check the date and time. Set the clock from the server where possible and confirm it weekly. Remember that the date on the device is in AD while your reports are in BS, so confirm the conversion.

2. The device is offline and nobody notices

A loose cable or a router that restarted can stop sync for days. Choose a system that shows the last sync time per device and alerts HR when a device has not reported for a set period. Local storage on the terminal usually holds punches until the connection returns, but only up to a limit.

3. A person is enrolled twice or under the wrong number

Duplicate users create two half-records. Use the employee code as the device user number, and keep a list matching device number, employee code and name. Check it whenever a new joiner is added.

4. Fingerprints or faces keep failing

Enrol more than one finger per person, and re-enrol workers whose hands are rough. For face terminals, enrol in the lighting where the device is installed. Provide a PIN or card fallback and record each fallback use in the log.

5. Staff punch for friends

With fingerprints this is difficult, but cards and PINs can be shared. Decide whether you allow them at all. If you use face terminals with photo capture, review random photos. Make the policy clear: proxy punching is misconduct.

6. Missed punches are fixed informally

Managers tell the accountant by phone that "Ram was here", and the sheet is changed. Within months nobody trusts the data. Route every correction through a request that shows the reason and approver, and keep the original punch visible.

7. Shift assignments are out of date

A worker moves from day to night shift but the system still treats the old shift, so all punches look wrong. Assign shifts with start dates and review them whenever rosters change.

8. Holidays and leave are not loaded

If the Nepali holiday list for the fiscal year or approved leave are not in the system, absence appears where there was none. Load holidays in Shrawan and link leave approvals to the attendance sheet.

9. Reports are never read

If no one looks at the daily late and absent report, the system becomes an expensive clock. Nominate a person per department who reviews it each morning and acts on it. A short conversation the same week works better than a penalty at month end.

10. Backups are forgotten

The attendance database is a payroll input and, in disputes, evidence. Take scheduled backups and test a restore. Keep one copy off the premises.

The checklist in one table

Check	How often	Owner
Device time correct	Weekly and after power cuts	IT or admin
Last sync per device	Daily	HR
New joiners enrolled with the right code	On joining	HR
Fallback usage reviewed	Weekly	HR
Correction requests approved	Daily	Managers
Shift roster updated	Whenever it changes	Managers
Holiday list loaded	Every Shrawan	HR
Backup tested	Monthly	IT

A short case-style walkthrough

Imagine a factory with sixty workers and two shifts. In the first week of the new system, the supervisor sees the daily report showing eight workers late. A check shows all eight are on the night shift but assigned to days. The roster is fixed in five minutes and the report becomes accurate. Without the report, the same error would have shown up at month end as sixty-odd false late marks and an argument over salary.

Software and process together

A good attendance management system makes most of these checks visible: device status, correction logs, shift assignments, exception reports. It also connects to payroll so that the corrected record, not a retyped one, determines salary.

Preparing for load-shedding and outages

Even where scheduled load-shedding has ended, local faults still cut power for hours. A terminal without battery backup loses its clock and may restart in an unknown state. Fit a small UPS to the device and router, and for a local server a larger one with safe shutdown. Ask the supplier how many records the terminal stores internally and how it behaves when storage is full. If an outage is long, switch to a paper sheet for that day and enter the punches as manual entries with a note, so the record remains complete.

Training users after go-live

Hold a short session in the second week, once real problems have appeared. Show staff how to place a finger or face properly, how to ask for a correction and how to read their own record. Show managers how to approve corrections. People remember training better after they have met the problem it solves.

Next step

Print the table and assign owners this week. If you already have a device and are not sure whether it will work with software, send us the model name on WhatsApp and we will check it before suggesting anything to buy.

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