When it comes to tracking employee attendance, most people by now have heard of RFID cards, biometric fingerprint machines, facial recognition machines and even using a smartphone app to clock in and out. But there’s an exciting new kid on the block that you may not have heard of: NFC Clocking. And this is exactly the technology that’s been used to create our EAC Wave.
But what is it, how does it work and why should you consider using it? Read on and we’ll tell you…
What is NFC Clocking?
NFC stands for near-field communication and is a technology that actually forms part of the RFID family. Although it feels like a very new development, NFC technology has been around for over 20 years. Ever paid for something using contactless card payment? That’s NFC technology in action: your bank card, which is equipped with NFC technology, transfers data to the payment terminal in a split second. In fact, contactless payment is by far how NFC tech is best known nowadays.
At Employee Attendance Cloud, we now offer EAC Wave. This adhesive sticker is embedded with an encrypted NFC tag, which, when used in conjunction with the EAC clocking-in app, can be used as an additional clocking point.
How does NFC Clocking work?
In a very similar way to RFID clocking, except for one important difference: NFC has a much shorter read range, which means you have to be in very close proximity to the reader – usually between 1-12 cm (for Wave, for example, it’s 10cm). This is why NFC is often used for secure communications. Another good thing about NFC is that it uses an alternating magnetic field, meaning that no radio waves are emitted – this prevents any interference with other devices.
So, if we apply this to clocking, it means that employees who have the EAC app on their phone will be able to hold their phone close to the Wave sticker, and select the option to clock in or out.
The data transfer between the app and the NFC reader (Wave, in this case) takes place in less than a second.
Why is NFC worth considering?
Firstly, it’s simple, extremely fast and a very reliable way of gathering your employees’ clocking data. Perhaps even more importantly, it’s also our most affordable clocking device – costing just £25 (plus VAT and shipping). This is especially important if you need various clocking machines to cover several sites – the investment needed to purchase several biometric machines, for example, is significantly higher. NFC Clocking is also an ideal solution if you work on a project basis and only need to a temporary clocking point.
Another good reason to consider NFC clocking is the fact that there is no configuration of any kind required. No cables, no screws, nothing. With Wave, you just stick it on the wall of your choice.
Not everyone will have NFC on their phones, and not everyone will want to use this clocking method – that really doesn’t matter. EAC is all about making your business run smoother and your lives easier, and NFC clocking is just one more method to choose from when it comes to finding the right solution for your needs.
To find out more about EAC wave, and how it can easily be used with your Employee Attendance Cloud account, please contact a member of our sales team.