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The right fingerprint biometric

Choosing the wrong biometric will hurt more than your pocket.

There is little doubt that fingerprint biometric-based technology is gaining popularity within the access control and identity management markets. Decision makers want to use scanning and reading technology to instantly verify the identity of people, as well as improve productivity through better control of time and attendance.

It is no surprise that the market is saturated with service providers and their solutions. But, as is the case with any burgeoning market, the factors that differentiate one offering from another are critical.

How do we separate superior products from lesser counterparts? In addition to price, there are several critical aspects to consider that could have a long-term impact on the business.

True cost of ownership

While it is true that the cost of the biometric product/terminal can be measured in rands and cents, there are also other financial implications that need to be taken into account when selecting a biometric product. These include:

* Lifespan of device.

* Warrantees offered.

* Factors that influence productivity, such as speed and acceptance rate of devices.

* Cost of adding additional turnstiles for faster throughput.

Scalability/future growth

No company ever plans on staying the same size. Growth occurs in revenue, staffing and functionality requirements. A biometric solution should be scalable and expandable to cater for this growth. The solution should be regarded as an investment and hardware remains the same – whether or not the decision is made to start with a basic system and, as growth occurs, adapt to a professional software suite.

Examples of possible growth in a biometric system:

* More advanced access control/time and attendance solutions.

* Future Department of Home Affairs Integration.

* AFIS integration (police criminal database, for example).

Supplier/manufacturer

This one can be tricky because sales people are often quick to promise the world, but cannot always deliver. Keep the following in mind:

* What is the supplier track record?

* Is the technology proven in our market?

* Does the supplier have the necessary skills and expertise to offer a reliable installation, user training and ongoing support?

* Can the supplier offer an integrated solution or is it ‘cut and paste’?

If still in doubt, request a proof of concept (POC) and test the service and delivery for yourself.

Accuracy and reliability

Using the unique pattern area of the fingerprint, reader solutions allocate minutia points where a ridge ends or splits. From this it extracts and creates a reference template.

The successful analysis and matching of fingerprints depends on the algorithms ability to detect and identify minutia points linked to the natural features of the fingerprint (True Minutia), and to also detect and reject false minutia points created by dirt, dryness or scars.

A fingerprint has around 85 minutia points on average. A badly damaged fingerprint could have 160 minutia points of which 130 are false. If these false points are misinterpreted by the algorithms as minutia, the probability of mismatching the damaged print with another person (FAR – false acceptance rate) becomes very high. Equally the frequency of rejecting a valid print will increase due to this false data (FRR – false rejection rate).

A solution’s ability to detect false minutia and predict missing minutia is considered a key differentiator in the market. Superior algorithms eliminate false minutia points, which means more accurate and faster readings.

Independent studies have been performed on different biometric brands’ algorithms by orginisations like NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) (www.nist.gov) in the USA. The following tests are usually performed:

* Minutiae interoperability testing (How the biometric standards interact with international standards).

* Algorithm speed and accuracy tests.

* Large scale AFIS tests.

The site lists the best-of-the-best and rates them against one another. This is a very good indication of what to expect from a product.

Before investing in biometric technology, consider the answers to these questions and then pitch the response up against the core requirements of the business, the layout and nature of the environment.

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