A Fingerprint Based Attendance Monitoring System with SMS Alert

Abstract

Management of the attendance of students in an institution can be rigorous using the conventional method of paper sheets and the old file system method. The approach and accuracy of this attendance record are marred with various issues, such as the manipulation of the attendance record by fraudulent students, updating of the current attendance record to the already collated previous attendance records, and so on. Previous attendance management systems monitor attendance of the students without giving feedback such as sending Short Message Service (SMS). A fingerprint-based attendance management system with an SMS alert was developed to monitor the attendance of the student and inform them of their attendance status before the examination. The system utilizes a portable fingerprint scanner as the input to acquire fingerprint images and notebook personal computers as the mobile terminal for the processing of the images and to record attendance. The system consists of two modules, the enrolment and the authentication modules. The enrolment module takes the fingerprint of an individual, extract its unique features and stores it in a database while the authentication module takes a fingerprint, extract its features and compare it with the fingerprints stored in the database. A database was developed to store student’s information, lecturer’s information, and attendance records of the students. Java was used as the programming language, SQLite as the database, and eBulkSMS API as the means of SMS. The system was tested with ten courses and an accuracy of 90% was achieved.