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In recent years it appears that embedded Linux operating systems are all the rage. You can find Linux OS’s in cameras , mobile phones, set top boxes, PDA’s, networking equipment and in many industrial automation systems. According to a recent Venture Development Survey  Embedded Linux was found in around 18% of consumer electronics devices.

This embedded OS is designed for equipment with limited resources. Size limits these devices to flash memory and lower amounts of RAM. Embedded Linux devices have very specific applications so they necessitate less resources in general. The end effect is a device with amazing but very specialized functionality often in a pint sized package.

Time clock manufacturers are starting to adopt the embedded Linux approach and we are now seeing a number of offerings on the market incorporation the operating system. The default interface for a Linux time clock is a web interface which makes the device suitable for the Apple computer.. an almost completely un touched market. This web interface can include some reasonable award interpretation capabilities unheard of in conventional electronic time clocks courtesy of an application specific OS.

A web enabled time clock provides many extra benefits including a general decrease in costs both in the overall cost of ownership and the initial cost when compared with the traditional electronic time clock and associated windows based software. Additionally, the reporting functions are commonly quite flexible allowing you to export into third party applications such as Excel.

So are there any disadvantages of this technology? The answer to this question often lies in what the device was developed to do and how good a match that is to your specific requirements . Some of these devices have their origins in access control and because of this their time and attendance functionality is somewhat limited . If you are  evaluating these products look closely at the specific time and attendance functionality and make sure it is a good fit for your application } . I have seen a number of these web enabled products fall short in some fundamental areas making them quite unsuitable for many industries.

From a reliability perspective embedded Linux time clocks have been criticised for not being robust enough for industrial applications. There is truth in this criticism but more often than not this is because these devices are not offered the surge protection they require. Fault here lies with the product distributors and resellers who often have a difficult task in ahead of  them offering a product priced at double the price of conventional electronic time clocks. Competition is strong and in spite of the seemly obvious benefits a large number of bundy card style time clocks are still sold. In the face of this competition there is an understandable reluctance to mention that ideally these Linux based time clocks should be connected to a surge protected outlet or better still a uninterruptible power supply.

The embedded Linux time clock is certainly the way of the future . They have a much to offer and improvements in features and performance are occurring every day. The time clocks of the future will almost certainly take this form. Interestingly they may be more often seen with less on board functionality handing this over the SAAS application.

James Bell

The Time and Attendance Consultant