Time and attendance system with verification of employee identity and geographical location
First Claim
1. A self-contained, portable time and attendance recording apparatus, comprising:
- a processor;
a data storage device connected to said processor;
a data input device connected to said processor, said data input device being adapted for entering attendance data by a person indicating the identity of said person and that said person is clocking into or out of a worksite, said data input device being further adapted for transmitting said attendance data to said processor;
a clock connected to said processor, said clock being adapted for providing the time and date of said entering to said processor;
a geographical locating device connected to said processor, said geographical locating device being adapted for providing the geographical location of said apparatus to said processor, said processor being adapted to store said attendance data and said time and date in said storage device and to associate said attendance data and said time and date with each other and with said geographical location as related data;
a data interface device adapted for transmitting said related data through a communication network to a computer on said network; and
a power source adapted to provide power to said processor, said data storage device, said data input device, said clock, said geographical locating device and said data interface.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A time and attendance system and method are provided for monitoring employees at remote worksites such as construction sites. The system comprises one or more portable recording apparatuses. Each of these portable recording apparatuses includes means for identifying its geographical location, a keypad for the employees'"'"' entry of an ID upon clocking into or out of a worksite and a digital camera for capturing a visual image of the employees upon each such event. The recording apparatus captures and stores these data on a local database in association with the employees'"'"' IDs. The recording apparatus periodically establishes contact, over the Internet or another network, with a central computer to transmit the stored information, including the recording apparatus'"'"'s geographical location, to the central computer. The central computer stores reference visual images for the employees. Using a computer connected to the network, an authorized user can access the central computer at any time to verify attendance at the worksite including comparing the visual images captured by the recording apparatus for the employees with their reference visual images.
113 Citations
114 Claims
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1. A self-contained, portable time and attendance recording apparatus, comprising:
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a processor;
a data storage device connected to said processor;
a data input device connected to said processor, said data input device being adapted for entering attendance data by a person indicating the identity of said person and that said person is clocking into or out of a worksite, said data input device being further adapted for transmitting said attendance data to said processor;
a clock connected to said processor, said clock being adapted for providing the time and date of said entering to said processor;
a geographical locating device connected to said processor, said geographical locating device being adapted for providing the geographical location of said apparatus to said processor, said processor being adapted to store said attendance data and said time and date in said storage device and to associate said attendance data and said time and date with each other and with said geographical location as related data;
a data interface device adapted for transmitting said related data through a communication network to a computer on said network; and
a power source adapted to provide power to said processor, said data storage device, said data input device, said clock, said geographical locating device and said data interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A self-contained, portable time and attendance recording apparatus, comprising:
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a processor;
a data storage device connected to said processor;
a data input device connected to said processor, said data input device being adapted for entering attendance data by a person indicating the identity of said person and that said person is clocking into or out of a worksite, said data input device being further adapted for transmitting said attendance data to said processor;
a clock connected to said processor, said clock being adapted for providing the time and date of said entering to said processor;
a biometric-capture device connected to said processor, said biometric-capture device being adapted for capturing a biometric characteristic of said person, said processor being adapted to associate said attendance data, said time and date and said biometric characteristic with each other as related data and to store said related data in said storage device;
a data interface device adapted for transmitting said related data through a communication network to a computer on said network; and
a power source adapted to provide power to said processor, said data storage device, said data input device, said clock, said biometric-capture device and said data interface. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A self-contained, portable time and attendance recording apparatus, comprising:
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a processor;
a data storage device connected to said processor;
a data input device connected to said processor, said data input device being adapted for entering attendance data by a person indicating the identity of said person and that said person is clocking into or out of a worksite, said data input device being further adapted for transmitting said attendance data to said processor;
a clock connected to said processor, said clock being adapted for providing the time and date of said entering to said processor;
a biometric-capture device connected to said processor, said biometric-capture device being adapted for capturing a biometric characteristic of said person and providing said characteristic to said processor;
a geographical locating device connected to said processor, said geographical locating device being adapted for providing the geographical location of said apparatus to said processor, said processor being adapted to store said attendance data, said time and date and said biometric characteristic in said storage device and to associate said attendance data, said time and date, said biometric characteristic and said geographical location with each other as related data;
a data interface device adapted for transmitting said related data through a communication network to a computer on said network; and
a power source adapted to provide power to said processor, said data storage device, said data input device, said clock, said biometric-capture device, said geographical locating device and said data interface. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A method for recording and verifying time and attendance data entered by employees at a worksite, comprising
providing at a worksite a portable time and attendance recording apparatus, said recording apparatus comprising a data storage device, a data input device, a clock, a geographical locating device and a data interface device; -
receiving on said recording apparatus attendance data entered by a person on said data input device indicating the identity of said person and that said person is clocking into or out of said worksite;
determining from said clock the time and date of said entering;
determining from said geographical locating device the geographical location of said recording apparatus;
storing said attendance data and said time and date in said storage device;
associating said attendance data and said time and date with each other and with said geographical location as related data;
transmitting said related data from said data interface device through a communication network to a first computer on said network remote from said geographical location. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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81. A method for recording and verifying time and attendance data entered by employees at a worksite, comprising
providing at a worksite a portable time and attendance recording apparatus, said recording apparatus comprising a data storage device, a data input device, a clock, a biometric-capture device and a data interface device; -
receiving on said recording apparatus attendance data entered by a person on said data input device indicating the identity of said person and that said person is clocking into or out of said worksite;
determining from said clock the time and date of said entering;
capturing from said biometric-capture device a biometric characteristic of said person;
storing said attendance data, said time and date and said biometric characteristic in said storage device;
associating said attendance data, said time and date and said biometric characteristic with each other as related data;
transmitting said related data from said data interface device through a communication network to a first computer on said network remote from said worksite. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99)
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100. A method for recording and verifying time and attendance data entered by employees at a worksite, comprising
providing at a worksite a portable time and attendance recording apparatus, said recording apparatus comprising a data storage device, a data input device, a clock, a biometric-capture device, a geographical locating device and a data interface device; -
receiving on said recording apparatus attendance data entered by a person on said data input device indicating the identity of said person and that said person is clocking into or out of said worksite;
determining from said clock the time and date of said entering;
capturing from said biometric-capture device a biometric characteristic of said person;
determining from said geographical locating device the geographical location of said recording apparatus;
storing said attendance data, said time and date and said biometric characteristic in said storage device;
associating said attendance data, said time and date, said biometric characteristic and said geographical location with each other as related data;
transmitting said related data from said data interface device through a communication network to a first computer on said network remote from said geographical location. - View Dependent Claims (101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114)
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Specification