Facial recognition-based time and attendance provides MJ Gallagher with peace of mind.
Reinforced concrete frame contractor Michael J. Gallagher Ltd is using Aurora’s ClockFace facial recognition-based time and attendance technology to provide accurate and reliable records of its on-site workforce. And the company’s MD says the system is ideally suited for small and medium-sized construction firms that have labour costs as their largest expense.
MJ Gallagher Managing Director Alastair Maciver says his company has invested in three units and would use them on any site where more than 20 operatives are required.
“By far the biggest cost to us as a company is our wage bill on site,” he says. “And as soon as you have more than 20 workers on a project that will last longer than three months, it makes sense to use the Aurora technology.”
Established for over 50 years, Michael J. Gallagher Ltd is a specialist in-situ reinforced concrete frame contractor. When the company took on its biggest project to date, the Midland Metropolitan Hospital, Maciver tasked his staff with finding a time and attendance solution that was accurate, robust and efficient.
“We had used a fingerprint recognition system before, but it had issues, as most of these systems did,” Maciver says. “So we wanted to check out what else was available. When Aurora was tabled in front of me I thought, well this is obviously different – face recognition, it seems more accurate.
“So Aurora gave us a demonstration, which was impressive, and after speaking to contacts in large construction companies who were already using ClockFace with a lot of success, we decided to go ahead with it.”
ClockFace is a fast and highly accurate biometric facial recognition system, designed to clock operatives on and off site. The unit is capable of being sited in high-throughput areas, and users simply enter a pin code and stand in front of the hardware whilst their identification is verified in seconds.
Aurora is a leader in facial recognition technology, enabling fast, reliable non-contact biometric entry for users.
That non-contact aspect is one of ClockFace’s advantages over fingerprint technology, Maciver believes.
“The fingerprint system didn’t always recognise all of the operatives, which isn’t a problem we’ve had with the Aurora system,” he says. “And the fingerprint system was able to be scratched easily, which meant it had to be sent away for repair.
“With facial recognition, there’s no contact, so the risk of vandalism is much lower. We haven’t had any incidents so far. And even if someone does take a hammer to it, they don’t know what might actually be seen by the camera!”
MJ Gallagher is using two ClockFace units on the Midland Metropolitan Hospital site, and a third on a site in Crawley, shortly to be transferred to another project in Walton-on-Thames.
“We use it as a management tool,” Maciver says. “It gives us the confidence that the guys are doing the hours that we are paying them for, and allows us to pick up on any rate or hours discrepancies that might occur. I’d like to think eventually we’d use ClockFace on all our sites with more than about 20 people working on them. We like the system, and we’re going to continue using it.”
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