1.1 Introduction
Fingerprint biometric is a field of technology that uses automated methods for identifying and verifying a person based on their fingers thumb printed during registration process. Utilizing biometrics in most cases can be said to be more efficient when speed is considered and convenient than employing password and ID cards method. This system will also help in generating reports and evaluating the attendance eligibility of a Staff. Rather than signing an attendance sheet, individuals will pass their thumb over the fingerprint scanner, the finger print is compared against a list of pre-registered Staff, and once a match is made, the individual will be registered as having attended work in an organization.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Punctuality as Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796 − 1865) said, is the soul of business. Any institution will require its staff to be punctual for it to be a success. Punctuality as a function of time with respect to date is a very essential requirement in every setup, be it small scale or large organization/institution, of which Federal University of Technology, Minna is no exception (Shoewu and Idowu, 2012).
The level of impersonation as well as the ghost worker syndrome in recent times is enormous, in the private and the public sector, Akinduyite, Adetunmbi, Olabode, and Ibidunmoye (2013). Therefore, there is need for a new system which will wipe out all this enumerated issues. The human body has the privilege of having features that are unique and exclusive to each individual. This exclusiveness and unique characteristic has led to the field of biometrics and its application in ensuring security in various fields. Biometrics has gained popularity and has proved itself to be a reliable mode of ensuring privacy, maintaining security and identifying individuals. Today, the technology is being spotlighted as the authentication method because of the need for reliable security (Arulogun et al, 2013).
A system insusceptible to impersonation, that provide dependable and efficient means of taking staff attendance record with the use biometrics captures to provide perpetrators with the uniqueness of biometrics will help organization/institution keep good and accurate record of their Staff punctuality.
Attendance management of Staff can be rigorous using the conventional method of paper sheets and old file system method. The approach of using paper sheets and the old file system to confirmed Staff has been in use for years. There are so many bottlenecks with the conventional method, one of such problem is the difficulty for the management to compute the percentage of Staff attendance in classes and frequently modify their information. Although there are so many positive impacts for using biometric authentication, however, unlike username and password, biometric data is a physical feature of a person that is fixed and cannot be change. If a person could have access to adequate scan another person fingerprint, that scan has the capability to trick the Touch ID system. In that case, the fingerprint features of a person can’t be change consequently a criminal can’t be prevented from having access to your personal information or files. As fingerprint scanning becomes more widely accepted anywhere anytime, this may become a substantial challenge.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
Investigation revealed that traditionally, staff attendance is done by signing in and out in a register which leaves gap for impersonation and staff sometimes record earlier time when they are late.
1.4 Motivation of Study
Punctuality is one of the most important attribute of a good professional, this project is motivated by the desire to bring and enhance professionalism in organizations and institutions.
1.5 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to design and implement a staff attendance system using fingerprint biometrics. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To develop a fingerprint staffs’ attendance capturing system and compare it with manual system;
- To develop a software to store staffs’ database and attendance records;
- To test the implemented Staff attendance system; and
- To carry out the analysis of manual processes involved in staff attendance registry.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The use of staff attendance system is very important because of human being proneness to error, leaving the staff to write down their names might not be accurate as staff can even write attendance for their fellow staff and their handwriting legibility can be a case when compiling the attendance record at the end of the month.
The official in charge of attendance collation is highly favored by this system because use of pen and paper as a means of collating staff attendance will leave the official in charge with numerous sheet of paper, which will be hectic as he/she have to start comparing several sheet to record the average attendance for just a staff.
The official is going to waste a lot of time compiling the attendance percentage at the end of the month, mistake can creep in due to the large volumes of papers
Successful implementation of this project mean the staff attendance credibility can be queried or put to test anytime, and result are produce fast and accuracy, without stress.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The scope of this research is focused on the Design and Implementation of a Staff Attendance System for Federal University of Technology, Minna Using Fingerprint Biometric.
This project is limited to the fact that the proposed system doesn’t have a centralized database, which means staff enrollment will have to be done at their work unit. Furthermore, transferred staff details will be copied to the new unit database or re-enroll at new station before the staff can have access to the system.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this research work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
1.9 Operational Definition of Terms
Biometrics:
It is physiological or behavioral characteristics unique to individuals, this Include Fingerprint, hand geometry, handwriting, iris, retinal, vein, and voice.
PIN:
It is an acronym for Personal Identification Number.
Biometric Verification:
It is any means by which a person can be uniquely identified by evaluating one or more distinguishing biological traits.
Scanner:
A device for examining, reading, or monitoring something in particular..
Fingerprint Sensor:
It is an electronic device used to capture a digital image of the fingerprint pattern.
Rapid Application Development:
It is a concept that products can be developed faster and of higher quality.
Authentication:
It is the process of determining whether someone or something is, in fact, who or what it declared to be.
