Setting up face recognition attendance on mobile is much simpler than buying and installing biometric hardware. Once the company-level settings are done (15 minutes), each employee enrols in 30 seconds. After that, marking attendance takes a quick look at the phone. Here is the practical setup guide for Pakistani SMBs.

Phase 1: Company-level configuration (15 minutes)

1. Enable face recognition module

In the admin console, enable face recognition attendance for the company.

2. Set liveness check requirement

Recommended: ON. This is what stops photo / video spoofing. It adds about a second at check-in, which is a small price for the fraud protection.

3. Set geo-fence policy (optional)

If you want attendance restricted to specific locations, define the geo-fences:

Office location: specify coordinates + radius (typically 100-500 metres)
Per-location for multi-site businesses
"Off" for distributed / remote teams where location does not matter

4. Set time windows

When can employees check in? Often 6am-10am for the morning shift, and so on. Outside the window, check-in is rejected (or marked late).

5. Set device binding (optional)

Restrict each employee's face check-in to their registered phone. This stops someone else checking in from their phone.

6. Configure retention

Decide how long face data is kept after employment ends. Typically it is 90 days, in case of disputes, and then it is deleted.

7. Update WFH / attendance policy

Make sure the employee handbook covers the face attendance setup, consent, and employee rights. See: biometric legality in Pakistan.

Phase 2: Per-employee enrolment (30 seconds each)

For each employee:

Open the HRMS mobile app on their phone
Go to attendance → face enrolment
Hold the phone at face level, in a well-lit area
App captures 3-5 face angles (front, slight left, slight right)
Random micro-prompt (slight head movement) for liveness baseline
System generates face embedding (numerical vector)
Enrolment confirmed

Tip: enrol in good light. Avoid bright light behind the face (such as a window). Keep glasses on if the employee usually wears them.

Phase 3: Daily use (3 seconds per check-in)

Employee opens HRMS mobile app at start of work
Tap "Check In"
App opens camera, prompts for face capture
Employee looks at camera
Liveness check (motion / depth), which passes automatically for a real face
Face matched against enrolled embedding
Attendance recorded; push confirmation

Edge cases to handle

Failed match

If the face does not match (lighting issue, big change in appearance), the system rejects it and the employee can retry. After 3 failed attempts, it falls back to a manual entry approved by the manager.

Appearance changes

Grown a beard, changed glasses, gained or lost weight: re-enrol. It takes 30 seconds.

New phone

If device binding is enabled, the employee registers their new phone with a one-time code from HR.

Lost phone

Use the web kiosk at the office. Face enrolment data is stored in the cloud, not on the phone, so losing the phone doesn't mean losing the enrolment.

Bad lighting / no signal

The app records attendance offline and syncs when the connection comes back. Useful for field staff in areas with patchy coverage.

What employees should be told

"Face data is stored as embeddings, not photos. It can't be turned back into a photo."
"Data is encrypted and only HR + IT in an audit role can access it."
"You can re-enrol any time."
"On exit, your data is deleted after [X] days."
"You can ask to see your own enrolment data."

Common setup mistakes

Skipping the liveness check, which makes buddy punching easy again
Geo-fence too tight (50 metres), causing false rejects when the employee is just outside
Time windows too narrow, so late employees cannot check in
No handbook update, so employees feel caught off guard
No re-enrolment process, leaving employees stuck after a change in appearance

The Zaffre HRM mobile face attendance fit

The Zaffre HRM mobile app comes with face recognition + liveness check + geo-fencing + device binding + offline capture. Per-employee enrolment takes 30 seconds. See: face recognition explained.

Book a demo for live face attendance setup.

How to Do Face Recognition Attendance on Mobile: Setup Guide