Touchless Geo-fenced Attendance

Biometric devices solved one problem and created another. Employees queued to touch the same sensor, and distributed workforces had no sensor to touch.

The situation

Shared biometric devices require physical contact and a physical location. For workforces that move between sites, and for any organization that wants to avoid shared touch points, the model does not fit.

What we built

A touchless, geo-fenced time and attendance system. Employees record attendance from their phones when they are within the boundary of an approved location, and supervisors manage rosters and exceptions from an admin portal. Attendance records feed the HR and payroll processes.

It was released in March 2020, at the point when avoiding shared devices became a public-health concern, and it was the first touchless geo-fenced system of its kind to replace biometric devices in Saudi Arabia.

Design note

Any location-based system raises a fair question about privacy, and it should be answered before launch. Employees should know exactly when location is checked and what is stored. We treat that policy as part of the product.