Face recognition at the gate
A phone or tablet at the hostel gate runs the SmartMy Hostel Staff app. It recognises a resident after a blink and records the in or out punch. Only residents who consented are enrolled, a guardian consents for those who need one, and no photo is kept.
PLANSScale only
Built and tested on our test systems; not yet run on a real phone at a hostel. Try it with a few residents before you rely on it at the gate.
Why it matters
Most hostels that want automatic in and out buy a fingerprint or card machine, and then wait for wiring, cards and a technician. Fingerprints at a busy gate fail on wet or worn fingers, and cards are lent to friends. SmartMy Hostel turns a phone or tablet you already have into a face gate. The punch belongs to the person standing there. Consent comes first and is recorded, a guardian decides for a younger resident, and the phone keeps a list of numbers, never a photo. Every punch then drives leave, late entries and roll calls like any other device.
The problem it solves
- The biometric machine at the gate needs wiring, a technician and a PC, and the hostel has none of them.
- Residents lend their cards to friends, so the in and out record says who had the card, not who walked in.
- Parents and residents worry about photos of faces being stored and shared.
- On a rush evening the queue at a fingerprint reader backs up into the street.
How it works
- The resident, or the guardian for a resident whose category needs one, gives consent in the SmartMy Hostel app. The front desk can also record consent in person on the phone, or a signed paper form on the stay.
- At the desk, staff open Face gate in the staff app, choose Enrol faces and take three to five photos as the screen asks. The app sends only the face template; the photos are dropped.
- A hostel manager makes a phone or tablet a gate with Make this phone a gate. Choose a new gate or one to take over, its name, and what a face records: In, Out or Ask each time.
- Staff open the face gate. The resident looks at the camera and blinks; the card shows the name and Recognised, and the punch is recorded with the source Face.
- The punch updates Who Is In and marks approved leave out or back. It makes late entries and alerts, and feeds roll calls prepared from the punches.
- When a face is not recognised, the resident uses a card or the warden records the punch by hand. Staff may Pick the person, which is logged as a Staff Override.
Everything it does
Consent
- Nobody is enrolled without consent for Hostel entry and exit
- Three ways: in the SmartMy Hostel app, or in person on the staff phone (adults only, with the staff member as witness). Or a paper form, recorded on the stay with the scan
- The hostel keeps no birth date: a resident whose category needs a guardian counts as under age, and the guardians of the stay consent
- States: Not Asked, Asked, Given, Withdrawn, shown on the stay with Face Enrolled
- Saying no changes nothing else: the resident uses the card or the warden as before
Enrolment and gates
- Front desk staff enrol in the staff app only, never in the browser; nobody enrols themself, and staff cannot enrol their own face
- A photo is refused with the reason: too far, too dark, more than one face; a face that looks like someone already enrolled is flagged
- A gate holds the faces of residents in house at its hostel who consented
- The hostel form has a Face Gates button: each gate with Pairing Code, Confirm on Screen and Block for a lost phone
- A gate holds 2,000 faces at most to start with (10,000 at most)
At the gate
- The resident must blink within 3 seconds; Not recognised and Not sure (two people too alike) never punch
- Without signal the gate still recognises and keeps the punches, and sends them when the signal is back
- A gate that has not synced for 7 days deletes its faces and says Sync needed; managers are told after 3 days
- Signing out of the app wipes the faces from the phone
- Punches by face: Hostel > Gate and Access > Attendance > In / Out, filter By Face
What is kept
- The face template, a list of 128 numbers, on the server and in encrypted storage on the gates; never a photo
- Nobody can see or download the template, not even the administrator
- The consent with who gave it, how, when and which notice; the Match Log of every recognition
- Delete Unused Faces and the Match Log are kept for ever to start with (0); you can set months
- One face per person, shared with other SmartMy products the person consented to, such as the mess counter
Withdrawing
- The resident or guardian withdraws in the app, or asks the desk. The face is deleted at once and gates drop it at their next sync
- Remove Face Data on the stay deletes the face and keeps the consent
- Check-out or a cancelled booking ends the consent and deletes the face, unless another product still has a consent
Who uses it
ResidentGives or withdraws consent in the app, at the desk or on paper, and passes the gate by face.
GuardianGives or withdraws consent for a resident whose category needs a guardian, in their own app or on paper.
Front deskRecords consent in person or on paper, enrols faces, opens the face gate, removes face data.
Hostel managerEverything the desk does, and makes a phone or tablet a gate.
AdministratorThe consent notice and the face settings under Face Recognition > Configuration.
Where you use it
- The SmartMy Hostel Staff app: Face gate in the Menu, with Residents' consent, Enrol faces, Open the face gate and Gate status
- The SmartMy Hostel app: face consent in the Menu, with Give consent, Withdraw, History and Everything I agreed to
- Web: the stay's Check-in tab (consent, Record Paper Consent, Remove Face Data) and the Face Gates button on the hostel. Also Face Recognition > Consents, Devices and the Match Log
- Both apps are built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- Not a camera or face terminal to buy: any Android or iOS phone or tablet with a camera
What you control
Settings
- What a face records on each gate: In, Out or Ask each time; with neither, it alternates from the last punch
- Confirm on Screen: staff check the name before the punch counts; off to start with
- Faces held by a gate: 2,000 (10,000 at most)
- Devices Out of Sync: 7 days; Device Not Synced alert: 3 days; Many Failed Matches: 10 in an hour
- Delete Unused Faces and Match Log: 0 (never)
Notifications
- Managers are told when a gate has not synced for 3 days, and when one gate has many failed matches in an hour
- The punches lead to the usual late-entry, leave and absence messages
Works with
SmartMy FeastA resident enrolled at the hostel desk is also recognised at the mess counter if the mess consent is given too.
SmartMy CampusStudents' parents are the guardians who consent, and the same face serves the other face uses the student consented to.
Questions
Is a photo of my child stored?
No. Photos stay in the phone's memory only while the face template is made, then are dropped. The template is a list of 128 numbers that nobody can view or download.Who gives consent for a school student?
The guardians on the stay, in their own SmartMy Hostel app or on a paper form the office records. The hostel treats a resident whose category needs a guardian as under age.Can a printed photo fool the gate?
The resident must blink, which stops a printed or still photo. It does not stop a video played on a screen, a mask or a close look-alike. Keep the gate attended, or switch on Confirm on Screen so staff check the name.What if the gate loses signal?
It keeps recognising and holds the punches until the signal is back. A gate offline for 7 days deletes its faces and asks for a sync.Do we need special hardware?
No. Any Android or iOS phone or tablet with a camera works, ideally on a stand at face height and out of direct sunlight.What happens when a resident leaves the hostel?
Check-out ends the hostel consent and deletes the face, unless the person still consents to another SmartMy use such as the mess.Related features
ATTENDANCE DEVICESWho Is In board and in / out by handOne list shows every resident in house as In or Out, with the time of their last punch. Without a device, wardens record in and out by hand on the web or the phone. Each punch drives late entries, leave and roll calls.ATTENDANCE DEVICESAttendance devices at the gateFingerprint, card, face or QR devices at the hostel gate send their punches to SmartMy Hostel. They go through a small program on a PC at the site, are read by the server, or are pushed by the device itself. Leave out and back, late entries and roll calls are then made from the punches.DAILY LIFELate entries, warnings and finesEach time a resident comes in after the in-time, a late entry is recorded with the minutes late. From the numbers you set, guardians are warned and late entries are fined. Wardens hear when someone goes out after the in-time without leave.DAILY LIFELeave and out-passes with guardian approvalResidents ask for leave or an out-pass on the portal or in the app. The guardian, the warden or both approve it. Going out and coming back are recorded, and guardians and wardens hear when someone is not back.PRIVACY, AUDIT, PLATFORMChange log, masked ID numbers and document removalEvery stay, hostel, card and bill keeps its own history of who changed what and when. ID numbers and scans are seen in full only by the front desk and managers; wardens see the last four characters. Set a number of days and ID documents are removed by themselves after check-out.PORTAL AND APPSThe staff app for wardens and the deskSmartMy Hostel Staff puts the warden's and the front desk's day on a phone. Wardens approve leave, mark residents out and back, and take the night roll call, even without signal. The desk searches residents, checks them in and out, takes payments and records inspections, incidents, late entries, visitors and meter readings. Any of them can press SOS to call the other staff for help.
See it with your own blocks and classes.
Tell us how many hostels and students you have. We will show you an allotment, a leave request approved by a parent and a night roll call, set up the way your hostel works.