FARMINGTON HILLS -- InfoTronics is poised to launch a new Web-based system that allows companies to manage their employees' time and attendance records online.

The Attendance on Demand service will debut this year and supplements InfoTronics' flagship product, Attendance Enterprise, which is software installed on-site to manage time and attendance.

"It’s relatively new and we're in a pilot phase right now," said Jenny Simich, vice president of corporate communications. "We do see this exploding over the next five years."

The Web-based system will work with existing time clocks and other hardware employees use to punch in for work. Companies would no longer need to buy, install, maintain and update software to manage attendance records, she said. Instead, a company would use a computer and Internet connection to load and access the attendance information at costs that might range from $2-$5 per employee per month, depending on what functions an employer needs, Simich said.

While the company continues to test the Web-based system, InfoTronics also has introduced a new biometric data collection system that uses an employee’s fingerprints to clock in and out. Biometrics refers to technologies that measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as fingerprints, retinas, voice patterns and hand measurements. The system eliminates "buddy punching," where one employee punches in for a friend.

"What’s driving biometrics is the technology is getting smarter and the cost is coming down," Simich said.

Global biometric revenues are expected to reach $2.1 billion this year and grow to $5.7 billion by 2010, according to the International Biometric Group. Fingerprint identification is expected to hold 43.6 percent of the market this year followed by face recognition at 19 percent. InfoTronics uses fingerprint and hand measurements (almost 9 percent of the market) in its products, Simich said. Iris recognition and other technologies remain too expensive, she added.

With an extensive dealer network, more than 15,000 companies have used InfoTronics products to manage labor data, schedule employees and track attendance. Schoolcraft College in Livonia started using InfoTronics software two years ago to keep track of nonsalaried employee attendance and benefits, replacing a paper system with one that allows employees to wave their badges near a terminal to check in, said Jim Polkowski, director of business services and risk management.

The college selected InfoTronics over Kronos, a publicly traded company out of Massachusetts and the leader in the field due to pricing and an ability to customize the software to meet the complex needs of the school, Polkowski said. The new system had to handle a high turnover rate among hundreds of student employees every semester, several unions and their specific contracts and dozens of supervisors monitoring employees across the college.

"It’s a more efficient way of processing our payroll and keeping track of our benefits," Polkowski said.

Neal Haldane is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.