The Road To Perfection Has No End

Everybody needs a laugh, isn't it?

Everybody is far from perfection. Even Apple sometimes has issues with their hardware, if you cared to check the net to find out the truth. Siri always gives you diverting answers to your questions and is not really as ‘brainy’ as what the hype claims she was. However, the irony is, everybody is looking for perfection, or constantly looking for imperfection to complain about. That’s being human. 

One thing dangerous, in my opinion, is state of being complacent; going through a long period without having urges to improve in any area in life. While perfection is vastly subjective or rather impossible to achieve yet the struggle to achieve perfection must continue. That’s being human.
2012 is just a few days away and looking back at the year we are going to leave behind, I would say that FingerTec practically ran the whole year on our road to perfection, having so little time to catch our breath; and the run doesn’t stop in December but picks up its speed in January and the struggle continues. There were so many things accomplished yet there are so many things in the pipeline waiting to be perfected for our customers. 

The latest will be the introduction of CloudTrack for all our resellers. A user can access the information of every FingerTec unit purchased from us since July 2011 and get details of every part available in that particular terminal. And even better, resellers will be able to update those records to contain the latest information about the particular terminal. In a way, CloudTrack will work as a record center for all FingerTec products to ever leave our company.


And this is just the beginning of what we have planned for you in the next coming year. Read about our plans in our debut annual magazine, Beyond Biometrics, which will be available in January 2012. And while you are at that, please send me your comments and opinions at ana@fingertec.com

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Get Spotted In An Ocean of Information

Gauging your own popularity in the search engine by typing your own name in Google is an act of vanity and if indeed you do it occasionally, it should be kept under wrap forever. But, gauging your company’s popularity in search engines is not an act of a narcissist; it is an act of a good business sense! When a large part of your marketing relies on your existence in the Internet, being found online should be one of your business’s top priorities. Creating corporate and commercial websites are among the first steps which many companies have taken on seriously plus the advertising of www addresses everywhere, but not many companies would actually promote the website in the Internet for the millions of Internet users out there.

The fact is, the Internet world is more than meets the eye. Think of the Internet as an ocean of information and like the sea, there are mysteries waiting to be unfolded. It requires extra effort from a company to learn about the potential of the Internet in business. 

The key to being found online is keywords. What keywords would your potential clients be using to search for your company? People who don’t know your brand will not key in your brand’s name into the search engine. My point is, you can’t claim that your brand is always on top when you typed in your brand’s in the search engine. The truth of the matter is, people would not type your brand when they are looking for biometrics time attendance or door access machines. And if they type the keywords associated with your products, would they find you? And, if they don’t, would they find your competition instead?

So, the question is, what would be the keywords that come to mind when they want to look for information related to the products that you offer. 

It’s easier to think that everything happens by chance but the reality is not as ideal as that. Search engines have their own unique way to spot you amongst the rests. Though the process is not as simple, the idea is. Scatter the keywords all over your websites, let the robots notice the keywords and bring the information back to the search engine. The more abundant the keywords, the higher the chance of being found. And the best way to pepper these keywords is to do it in your contents! Create content that is rich in keywords and you might just become famous in the Internet. 

Search engine optimization is an investment of commitment and time. The result would not be instant but it’s beneficial and cost effective in the long run. 

Starting from today, I’m urging FingerTec resellers who have websites to intentionally use keywords like fingerprint, time attendance system, biometrics, door access system, etc in articles and websites related to FingerTec. We might create wonder by doing it together. 

What say you?

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

User Generated Content: Ingenious Strategy or Simply Insane?

We are going back and forth on this idea of letting customers discuss about our brand freely in the social channels and new media. On one hand, we are excited to find out what’s being said about the brand, on the other we have a great amount of fear that the move would bring a colossal disaster to the brand we’ve spent years building. Every product has its weak points and if these points are stressed too much, would they affect the brand adversely? 

Considering what I’ve read and known, user generated content or UGC has an impactful influence on customer’s decision-making process. From a trivial buy like movie tickets to a more significant purchase like buying a car or booking a vacation, other customer’s opinions matter. Moviegoers swear by Rottentomatoes reviews; anything that is less than 60-70% average user rating would not entice them to catch the movie. Recently, when I wanted to buy my first Kitchen Aid, I Googled about the machine, contemplating the good, the bad, the ugly before making any decisions five days later. When it is very easy to get opinions from people who have bought and experienced the products, the decision-making process is very much influenced by those (opinions). Even when it involves buying a new apartment or a new car for example, the owners’ say matter in addition to opinions from experts. 

Now, control is very important when it comes to leaving the floor to the audience to discuss about your brand. If it’s not controlled properly, it could do more harm than good. How are we making sure that the competitors are not contributing to the discussions and dropping vindictive remarks along the way? Are the ones who provide the comments users of the product or just random visitors whom based on their experience with other similar products want to vent their frustrations? 

One thing for sure, contributors do not like to be deleted or denied an opinion if you have comment removal as part of the plan. So long as the comments are fair and not overbearing or breaking any laws, it should be permitted to appear on the sites. Presence of some negative comments also provide consumers with a feeling of trust in the genuineness of the feedbacks. Nonetheless, when the control is favoring the supplier too much, consumers are not getting the real picture of the brand. The question is, how to let go without losing control?

Whatever the issues are, we’ve got to start. When the online market is available 24/7 all year long, somehow or other the brand is going to get discussed somewhere. If we are not opening any channels to know what’s being said about us, the discussions are still going on, the brand is still being discussed over conversations and we miss the opportunity to listen and improve on our products and services. 

FingerTec is looking into incorporating UGC in our websites. One key to successfully letting go of the control to the user is to start small and manageable. Another is to be responsive and ready to engage and address consumer’s concerns. When we’ve gained enough experience, perhaps we could attempt something complex. In the meantime, let us start with baby steps towards acquiring UGC. 

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

New Media -- You Are What You Write?

Content is King said Bill Gates some 12 years ago and I concur. And true enough content is much more urgent in the new media now than ever with the flooding of smart phones, tablets and digital devices the world over. A friend of mine bought a Playbook and couldn’t stop cursing it for the lack of contents; she ended up using the Playbook as a digital photo frame placed in the bedroom. The demand for interesting apps grew spectacularly when the iPad and Galaxy Tab were introduced into the market. Google and Wiki has become common terms to mean looking for information in the Internet. Though not all information gathered via Google is reliable, it provides vast amount of information from various sources. 

When Steve Jobs passed away, the news hit the world like a storm, everybody tweeted the about it, Facebook walls were filled with condolences, blogs started talking about the great man he was, news portals filled with stories about him. Contents about Steve Jobs were churned and dug swiftly to satisfy the audience who were waiting to read more about the man who gave more meaning to the letter ‘i’ . The world literally stopped to announce his passing and I’m pretty sure “Steve Jobs” was the top Google search word the next couple of weeks following the news. 

Probably the most searched and displayed photo for the past two weeks

Nowadays, news is not lagged anymore. It’s all realtime. I was so shocked to read the tweet that Guiliana Rancic, my favorite E! News newscaster, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer when she was going for fertility treatment. And I received the news the same time the Americans did. The news drove people to search for information about breast cancer and its possible treatments. 

When news is literally at your fingertips, you are indeed what you write. People tend to believe what’s being written out there. As celebrities, it’s impossible to shy away from all the publicity irrespective of the truth but as a brand of a product, you can create and recreate your brand’s image away. 

Audiences relate through actual experience, real participation. Renowned brands like Adidas and Nike promote healthy lifestyles by organizing marathons and sports related events, inviting interested groups to talk about in the social media and the new media. Cosmetics like Elizabeth Arden highlight cancer awareness by printing the logo on the product packaging. Timberland, an active outdoor sports brand stresses on the importance of recycling with the introduction of their Earthkeepers line that use recycled materials for shoes.

What’s your brand’s cause? What does your brand stand up for? Apart from placing importance on the products, people relate better with causes and real participations. And while you are at that, write away and improve that brand’s image simultaneously.

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Everybody Needs To Do A Noodle Dance!

Anybody who has kids that watch Disney channel would know what is a Noodle Dance. When PB & J otter stumble upon a problem, they would do a Noodle Dance to find the answer, and all the cute little kids around the world would dance with them to find the solution. And at the end of the dance, they would find the answer and everybody will end up being happy. The dance was created to promote rational thinking in kids.

But, what about us, adults? If one thinking process is equivalent to one Noodle dance, how many times do we Noodle dance a day?

Technology has made our life simpler but it shouldn’t make our society dimmer. One fine day and this is a true story, I asked a fellow colleague a ‘tricky’ question. What is the sum of 3x3+3? She thought for a while before grabbing her calculator and giving me the answer very slowly like she was second guessing herself. What have we become? A simple equation like 5+5 also requires an iPhone 4’s calculator to answer. We rely too much on Wikipedia, we chat with too much nonsense and short forms on social media and in the process of all these, we refuse to think.

We can’t separate thinking from our lives. Ideas make the world interesting and ideas, no matter how small, is never trivial. Thinking process and rational thinking are very important in building a healthy society and a healthy company. Physical exercise is always emphasized on these days, but what about mental excersize?

At FingerTec, we even have a channel for employees to submit any new ideas in return for a monetary reward.  We want to create a culture where thinking processes is not only relevant to the top management; it should be relevant to all levels. The questions include how to make our work better and contribute more to the progress of the company and the brand we are working for.  A logistic staff could contribute ideas concerning the packaging process, to reduce the time taken to prepare all items and to reduce the transportation costs for our clients. Work process could be made simpler and better when thinking processes take place.

Whenever a question is thrown at you, the worst answer you could give is “I don’t know” This shows the level of commitment you have into something you do and how you refuse to use your brain in the process.

When we were younger, our parents did their best to make sure that we have the best brain in the world. Sadly, as we grow up, we tend to forget to use this very capable organ to better our lives.

So, what say you if we do the Noodle dance whenever you are stuck with a problem? 

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

When There's A Will...

A must-have at Tia's restaurant

My husband and I asked our 6-year old daughter about her ambition, and she replied us confidently. “I want to open a restaurant.” We were caught by surprise because we thought that she was going to give us a cliché answer like teacher, engineer and/or lawyer, as we both did when we were at her age. Apparently, this was not just a random idea of hers. She had thought this through and she has had several discussions with her 5-year old playmate, whom she’s going to employ as a manager. “The next step for me is to find a cook,” she told us. “Why don’t you cook yourself?” we asked, playing along as we went on. “I’m the owner of the restaurant, so I don’t cook. I just need to hire someone who knows how to cook delicious food.” Quite a clever strategy, we thought.

Her mind is set to open an Italian restaurant that serves a variety of breads, pastas and pizzas. The important thing is, her restaurant must have a menu for kids. Kids are always her priority since she was three. Once, we went to a place that served spicy food for kids and my daughter complained “This restaurant only thinks about money, they don’t care about kids” And we couldn’t agree more. How could you serve spicy fried chicken to kids? It doesn’t make sense, does it?

She has the location in place though she doesn’t know yet that property in Kelana Jaya could be pretty expensive by the time she’s ready. And she plans to open the restaurant on a 24-hour basis because when people need food, they have her restaurant to go to. I told her that she’s going to be very busy and the cost would be high to maintain a 24-hour restaurant. “Well, McDonald’s can do it, why can’t I?” another answer that we didn’t expect. In my daughter’s head, everything is possible if you put your mind to it. Her business sense amazes us. She wants to provide the best food and the best services to her clients at all times. She also told us that only relatives would get a 10% discount and parents can eat for free, while other clients must pay in full. Quite the joker, my daughter, isn’t she?

At FingerTec, providing the best products and the best services have been our constant goals all these years. We have new product line ups with technology improvements to meet customers very soon e.g. TimeTec, TimeTec Mobile, Face ID3, R2c. Also starting this year, we have introduced additional support hours for our online and email support, and we have been able to satisfy a lot of customers during those hours.

To take a step further, FingerTec is planning to offer a 24-hour support system very soon to serve our customers’ in different time zones around the world. Initially, we won’t be doing 24-7 system yet; but that’d be our ultimate goal. We are confident that we will be able to achieve this. After all, “If McDonald’s can do it, why can’t we?”

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Knock! Knock! Who's there?

I bought a DVD last week and as it turned out the DVD is only suitable for Region 1 DVD player. I didn’t know that! Do you? Don’t pretend; it’s okay to admit your ignorance too. Who knows these details! In fact, I was in a hurry so I just asked the shop assistant to help me look for the title of the movie that I wanted to buy. She picked up the DVD, I paid and left. In the evening, I put on the DVD in the player just to find out that my player did not support DVDs from Region 1. I searched for the contact number of the shop and I called.

The conversation went ugly when the person who took the call scoffed at me for not knowing the region type of my DVD player. His suggestion was to play the movie on the Region 1 player. Yeah! I have 5 types of DVD players in my house; the one in the kitchen is the Region 1 player. In my effort to appear civilized and cultured, I told him that it was their staff who gave the DVD to me and it was the responsibility of the employee to notify me that the DVD is not good for this region. “We have all kinds of DVD! You think we have one type only ah?,” he again blamed me for my ignorance. “Since you bought from the girl, you settle the matter with her lah!,” he added. “What time did you come? Morning? Afternoon? Night? Dawn?” he toyed with my feelings in a very irritating way. I was flabbergasted to learn that VideoEZY could employ someone who is not only unprofessional but also very hostile to the client. I lodged a complaint via email to the shop and VideoEzy but after one week, nobody replies. I guess one client is not important enough for them to care.

My husband and I have made our executive decision to not buy or enter any VideoEZY outlet til the day we leave this earth. Therefore, Speedy will get our money and we do spend a lot on DVDs and BluRays every month. The point is: it’s pretty easy to lose a customer.

Support is an important part of any business. Shall the person who picked up my call tell me that I could swap the DVD with the correct Region type within 2 days; it would make me a happy customer. Shall he apologize on the girl’s behalf and tell me to come to the shop and he’ll see what he could do, that would make my day. Apart from solving the problem, the way you attempt to solve it is equally important.

In these days and age, people are getting impatience than before. A delayed response to an enquiry or a support request could risk a business opportunity or could lose you an important client. And most important of all, customers must have channels to reach you and you must be able to feedback to them in a timely manner.
Strengthen your support system, tap on FingerTec’s support resources online, alert on all enquiries and support requests, I bet you will not only retain happy customers, orders will come in due to rave reviews from your current clients.

When your customers knock, make sure you answer. And for the uninitiated, Region 1 is for America.

Oh how you wish our technical team would look like this (and wishes could come true)

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

United We Stand, Divided We Fall

Last Saturday, on the 9^th of July 2011, the whole nation was anxious to see what’s going to happen in the so-called illegal rally of Bersih 2.0 in Kuala Lumpur. After weeks of demonizing the rally from all angles, and threats from the authorities to clamp down hard on the demonstrators, the whole nation waited at the edge of their seats. All major roads to the city were closed. People were diverted away from the city, and advised to stay at home. Announcements to not partake in the illegal rally flooded major newspapers and even electrical road signboards. Civil servants and scholarship students were warned not to join the rally, or they would have face the consequences. Roadblocks that were staged on Wednesday to check for imaginary weapons had caused massive jam in the already heavy office rush in Lembah Klang and anger throughout the KLites. And as the last resort, the authority announced 91 names of key people to be banned from entering Kuala Lumpur. Thousands of police officers and police reserves were planted on various sites in the city to keep the demonstrators away and to maintain the peace.

So when the day came, people waited to see whether the clamp down had deterred the spirits of the demonstrators. They waited to see how many would turn up and successfully slipped the fortress. By 10am, 1,000 were seen on the road and the numbers increased by the hour and despite the rain, tear gas and water cannons attacks fired by the police and FRU, more than twenty thousands turned up to flood the roads of Kuala Lumpur for a peaceful rally demanding Electoral Reform for clean elections. The demonstration went on regardless.

I’m not being political in this article but this event goes to show that united we stand, divided we fall. All these people stand united for a cause and they didn’t let any threat to discourage their fighting spirit. They may be small in comparison to the whole population but the impact they created were huge and they rocked the nation to its core. They didn’t let the big boy dictate how they should do things. They stuck to their promise to stage a peaceful rally, so peaceful they came, peaceful they walked and peaceful they left. Whether they achieved their objective or not had become secondary, the more important thing was, they tried.

It’s important to be seen, it’s important to be heard, it’s important to create an impact. It’s especially true in business as well. Why do we constantly insist on success stories, Facebook updates, Twitter updates, website links from all our esteemed partners around the world? The answer is simple; we want to create an impact. One party couldn’t do it as large as a large group could. Let’s stand together and unite to create an impactful marketing for the FingerTec brand. An update of Twitter about FingerTec in India could create an impact for FingerTec in South Africa. Let’s build a community of FingerTec Worldwide that’s available worldwide using the available technologies. Let the big boys do as they please – we will go our own way and if we are sustaining our way, we might just create an exceptional impact one day. Godspeed.

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Once Upon A Time...

Children love to listen to stories. My daughter couldn’t wait to listen to my bedtime storytelling every night. Generally, we love to indulge ourselves into other people’s tales through stories and books. Stories ignite imagination, they create excitement, they build anticipation, they spark ideas, and with stories, a connection is forever established between the readers and the storytellers. The impact that stories have on people is strong as while images are built around those stories, values are created along the way and an identity is established.

I bought How Starbucks Saved My Life six month ago and it moved me. I felt like quitting my job and applying as a barrister at the nearest Starbucks in town. Well, that was absolutely only my imagination and entirely not true but the story made the Starbucks brand looks like such a good employer. A read on Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity also connects me to Virgin as a brand that is young, fun and adventurous, even though I’ve never experienced anything Virgin, pun unintended. There are tons of books written about successful brands like Google, Nike, Adidas, Apple, rock bands, fashion icons etc. The feud between the Dassler brothers, who founded Adidas, gave birth to the Puma brand; between their sneaker wars and world domination, they provided their brand enthusiasts connection and emotion to the brands that they are wearing. The fact is, every brand has its stories and customers subconsciously connect to these stories.

FingerTec has its own bittersweet story of how we built this business from ground up, stumbled upon a success that led to a failure and in the face of adversities, bold enough to make a drastic change to become one of the most successful, Internet-savvy and user-friendly biometrics brand in the world. While the FingerTec story is juicy, the more important stories for the business would be the success stories from around the world contributed by our esteemed partners. A story does make a whole lot of difference. The image of a company that purchased 1000 units but having no success stories would look smaller than a company that purchased 100 units but having stories about how and where they installed all the FingerTec units. Relationships between potential clients and your company would be instantly established once they read the story.

One or two stories a month should be sufficient to build your company’s library of success stories, a reference point for your potential clients to read and to get excited about owning FingerTec branded goods. If a successful bank is using FingerTec biometrics systems, what are the reasons for other banks to stick to the conventional one? A small office is having FingerTec as time attendance system and they are satisfied by its performance; that could create interest on other companies that have similar setup to explore further into FingerTec.


There are a lot of excuses not to do it but there are a lot more advantages of doing it. Don’t dwell on who’s gonna read it?.. because trust me, there are people who would read your stories. If you would like to send FingerTec installation success story to us, you are most welcome to do so here.

I would like to end my story today by asking you a question: where have you installed FingerTec terminals all these years? The answer to that question could sprout your very own success story.

Embrace the Change: Time to go with the flow

“Sometimes wishes do come true”. This line will forever be engraved on my iPad 2 and in my heart as a reminder of the day I got lucky at work. The day that every confirmed staff at FingerTec Worldwide was given an iPad 2 as a reward and motivation for the contribution they have done.

So, to avoid the havoc of iPad 2 frenzy at the shops, I placed my order online, where I could personalize it with my own little engraving. After two weeks of constantly and tirelessly checking the delivery status in the Apple store, my brand new angelic white iPad 2 arrived safely at my doorstep at work. It’s definitely worth the wait. I parted with my first iPad with a couple of tears down my cheeks and embraced the new, much slimmer one.

What I love about the iPad is its limitless possibilities. Anything can be anything. At this point in time, I think we haven’t really seen much yet but the things we’ve seen so far wow us. The apps I’m most in love with are the amazing magazine apps i.e. Oprah, TIME, Esquire, Vanity Fair, etc. Absolutely gorgeous e-magazines to keep me informed and entertained all night long. They offer me more than just text and stories. The pictures are breathtakingly HD, incredible videos are embedded in the stories, purchases can be placed instantly, personality quizzes can be completed with a few clicks, and the list goes on. Not only does it save a lot of trees, the price is even heaper than the ones on the mag stand. When we watched the Harry Potter movies a few years back which showed pictures in the newspaper talking and moving, we thought.. wow, that’s magic. Lo and behold, the magic is in our possession with this iPad mag apps now. And to me this is the real magic of technology.

And at FingerTec, we ride along with the technology be it social networking, team viewing, etc. The latest venture is the iphone/ipad application that we are building for FingerTec, which will be made available by next month. I have seen the app, and I’m loving it. I have no doubt at all that all partners and clients would gleefully welcome this new effort by the CEO. The image it adds to the brand would be tremendous but most of all, it makes things even easier to everybody. Many question our efforts in this area because FingerTec is not a consumer product but we refuse to be that mouse that asked “who moved my cheese?”

For the uninitiated, “Who Moved My Cheese” is one of the motivational book bestsellers, and the moral of the story is simple. If you can’t change, you will lose out on opportunities.

We applaud the effort by Technology Line of Egypt to set up their own FingerTec Facebook account, one small step could lead to one big impact. We appreciate the effort of our clients who sent in successful FingerTec implementation stories to show the world how FingerTec system could benefit them. We love the newly revamped website of FingerTec South Africa that features FingerTec so boldly. We are pleasantly surprised to see the number of followers in FingerTec USA twitter. We love the fact that promotions are carried out through social network. The efforts do not cost a lot but the impact would be tremendous if everybody plays their part in making FingerTec a popular brand.

Just like Newton who was inspired by a falling apple, iPad sparks ideas, and with those ideas consumers are presented with a huge range of possibilities. To say that I admire Apple for its technology is an understatement.

For those who are adamant to stay with the conventional way, are you not inspired by what’s going on around you? Change is definitely inevitable.

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Tapping on Sharing

The microwikinomics concept is not a novel one; it’s been there before the invention of the Internet, before the virtual world existed; just that we didn’t call it anything that fancy. When I was a child, my mum always gave 100 boiled eggs as her contribution/investment to a wedding; sometimes she gave a few kilos of sugar, sometimes a few kilos of rice grains. The reason was simple: to make a grand wedding possible. In the 80s, people who lived in villages didn’t have much money to go by, let alone to stage a wedding. You help me, I help you business, a.k.a. mass collaboration. Sharing was the way to go, there was no other way around it. It not so different today, though we don’t deal with that many boiled eggs.

I had a conversation with my boss the other day, who told me that if you don’t have that much capital to run your business, tackle the Internet and tackle it hard. I didn’t exactly quote him verbatim but that was the gist of the conversation. Come to think of it, it is so true. Opening a physical office requires a large amount of capital, thorough planning and various kinds of investment, yet the ROI is not a guarantee. The question remains; how could you reach potential buyers from miles away if you don’t have an office close enough for them to contact or if you don’t have employees who could pay them a visit to explain about your products to them? The Internet is the way to go, the Internet is the ‘divine’ intervention.

However, one party’s effort might not be impactful; a collective effort might create magic. FingerTec as a brand has been using the Internet heavily to market our products at the global stage since 2004. When we first started, we didn’t have much knowledge of what was in store for us. Come 2011, the world is our playground so to speak. We have created some impact for the business and if you, our partners can play your part, we could be big, couldn’t we? We have various resources available that you could use for your own benefit and if you could add your resources, you could use it to expand your business, other partners could use it for the same goal and the cycle continues.

Do not see the Internet as vain, if you start being friendly with the Internet, you’ll see that this virtual world is dynamic, the opportunity is limitless. Rebecca Black, the latest teen singer who was featured in YouTube got her first million when her video went viral and people started to download the music via iTunes in less than a month. 97% of the viewers hate the song but the million dollars is already in her bank account. That’s how powerful the Internet is. Justin Bieber became a sensational artist after he was discovered from YouTube by Scooter Braun who introduced him to Usher. Amazon.com makes the whole world their customers. Apple makes us drool over their iPad 2 by just looking at the advertisements in apple.com. These are just some examples which I’m sure many of you are familiar with.

Note: Please do not blame me for any nightmares you might have after you watched this video

Businesses create campaigns using Facebook, customers are being updated by the latest news using Twitter, websites for online shopping are sprouting like mushrooms after the rain. The truth of the matter is, everybody spends most of their time CONNECTED to the Internet via computer, smartphones and tablets.

If you don’t tap that opportunity, then other people would. Let’s share information and create a louder FingerTec buzz in this virtual world. The positive effect would definitely be seen in your book at the end of your financial year.

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Casual yet Committed

I would like to present to you a thing or two about FingerTec's team in Malaysia. Are you ready?

What makes an employee turnover low in a company? Salary and benefits are definitely priority for some but when it comes to ambiance, i'd say the priorities get reorganized. Environment sets the mood right, it provides motivation, it creates excitement. When we have something to look forward to in the office, work feels good. I have been in the company for many years and I’ve witnessed progress that FingerTec made from an organization that’s formal and very work-driven to a more casual team of staff without compromising on our commitment to our level of work and our provision of good service to our clients.

For a start, my relationship with my boss is very easy going in the sense that I could talk to him about almost anything under the Sun. He opens to ideas, suggestions and comments, and knowing him for years, I would describe him as a laid back person who possesses a unique leadership style. Everybody in the company is aware that he knows about everyone but at the same time, everybody knows that he's not prying into our lives.We are free to use Facebook and the Internet at all times but one thing he always makes sure is that we finish the assignments he sets for us or we'd get an earful. The trust he provides to the staff and I is valued, as without that it's quite hard to progress and achieve the goal for the company.

As a leader, I believe in getting down and dirty to show (your staff) what matters. During our early years, I was there with them during good and bad times. Everybody knows me well as a person who solves problems. No matter how hard I talk/scold to them, they’ll be lining up in front of my room to talk to me, either on work related matter or personal problem because the fact is, I listen. I’m the kind of person who gives it to them straight, someone like Simon Cowell in the office. It might hurt sometimes but that’s the truth that they want to listen to. I think an office that provides comfort and friendship is the one that’s been binding us together as a family.

Tamy joined the company at her tender age of 19. She has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years, in personal as well as in career. One quality that’s priceless in Tamy is her care for people. Her heart is close to her clients; she’d try her very best to fulfill whatever requirements you have. A person who’s very hard to get angry no matter how hard she’s been provoked. I value Tamy as a part of the marketing team for her great values and positive attitudes. Most of the time you couldn’t hear her talking but she types as fast as lightning on her keyboard, ‘talking’ non-stop with her clients. There’s a case when a customer from Africa asked Tamy to help him buy him a tv in Malaysia and even though I discouraged her, she believed that this small favor could strengthen the relationship between FingerTec and this company, and she was right. After her lasik operation last year, specky Tamy has transformed to be a very beautiful swan.

Natt on the other hand is quite serious when it comes to business, if I might say so. She does as you say and won’t take any nonsense for an answer. Nonetheless, she’ll assist every customer the best way she could, she’d go to great length to make sure that you get the best service from us, so long as your requirements are legitimate and logical. But if you mess with her, you can expect a cold response, though she’d help you still. Natt also has been with the company for a number of years, everybody went to her wedding last year and she’s expecting a baby in August. And by the way, her full name is Nattalina Zainal. Many mistakenly write Nathalin, Natalie, Natalini, and best of all Mrs Zintal. Natt is a person of many talents; singing, dancing and crafts are some of her best skills. Don’t you ever dare her to salsa; she’d shake your world goooood!

When it comes to Ms Nisha Tara Naidu, I think she’s God sent. Haha! In FingerTec, there are so many things to write, if we could sell these writings, we could make millions. I have been handling the writing tasks since 2004 and glad that she joins the team. She joined us last year after a string of interviews, fresh from college. The level of professionalism she shows is at its absolute best even though she’s in her black jeans, t-shirt and flats every single day. Nisha has the sweetest smile that can light up the whole of Kuala Lumpur, and a weird sense of humor. Her latest book purchase from Amazon is 5 Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth by The Oatmeal, go figure.

Regielou Rolloque is a Pinoy who joined us in 2007. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for language, which explains her proficiency in Spanish. One time, we had two clients from Venezuela and I was nervous that she couldn't converse in Spanish as we claim her to be but she carried the conversation like a telenovela actress. As far as I've known her, Regie to me is a very quiet girl who always like to be alone and eat organic fruits. But once in a while she'd blurt a loud laugh over a joke. She's also an avid fan of Harry Potter and probably has a wand in her drawer, looking at us as if we're plain muggles. In business, with Regie, WYSIWYG -- what you see is what you get. She's straight to the point and very serious when dealing with customers.

Benacer Douadi is another expatriate in our team and he's been with us since 2008. Originated from Algeria, Ben is a warm person who could be friendly with customers on the first meet. He is a qualified veteranian, who always has his soft spots for animals. He speaks Arabic and French well and he likes to fool around with fellow colleagues. Knowing that Nisha is the number one fan of Adam Lambert, he told Nisha that there was a concert of Adam Lambert in Korea during our company trip there. Poor this girl, already planned to book the ticket only to find out that it was a total hoax. We had a good laugh that day. Ben has opened Middle East market for us with his understanding of the language and culture.

The only boyz-to-man in Sales and Marketing is Mr Curtis Tan. He was with us for quite sometime before he quit to pursue a career in Singapore. Fate brought us back together and now he’s handling international sales and marketing. Curtis has his own charms and wits when dealing with customers. I sense that customers are always at ease when he’s around. He brings with him loads of humor into the office but when it comes to handling business, he never jokes around. Curtis speaks pure Singlish in the office but when he picks up the phone, he sounds like an Englishman. “Hello.. this is Curt..tis. How may I help you, mam” With the exposure that FingerTec provides to him, we believe that he’ll grow into a man sometime soon - you know that I’m joking, don’t you?

The incomparable Mr Ricky

Ricky a.k.a Mr Licky is our beloved brother. Sometimes he reminds us of the Oscar winning film, The King Speech. You have to have some patience when talking to him but he’s adorable to say the least. One day I heard a blasting laugh from the team. Mr Ricky had said in the phone “Hello, I’m Licky, can I speak to Mr Lion?” We were wondering "Who on earth would name their son Lion?" then we realized it was actually “Hello, I’m Ricky, can I speak to Mr Ryan”. Chinese always have problems pronouncing an "r". Instead of an "aaar", it sounds like "el". And he joined the laugh, realizing what he’s just said. Ricky is in charge of the Malaysia sales and his years of experience in the business gives him that edge when dealing with customers.

Ms Kartina Azlina or better known as Tina has a calming effect on clients. Since she took over the local sales, the figure is getting bigger and better because she uses her special voice when she talks to clients. It’s like the power of a woman’s voice in TomTom, a portable GPS car navigation system, and I’m telling you we have lots of male clients. Well, the fact is, Tina is the person who takes care of your needs all the time. She’s flexible, considerate and most of all kind-hearted.

Curtis, Tamy, Natt, Nisha, Tina and Yours Truly.

All in all, the message is clear. We are a bunch of casual people that are committed to our work in FingerTec and take pride at the fact that FingerTec is an organization that cares. We do like to mess around and have fun once in a way, but this is what keeps our flexible and adaptable personality that is, in fact, vital when it comes to dealing with our variety of customers, from young to old, from easy going to extremely picky. Take this opportunity to join our facebook community and get closer to us. Business is one thing but isn’t it good to have a healthy relationship on the side? ☺

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Green is Gold

It’s never too late to do something right, that I believe is true. The recent initiation by FingerTec to go green is an example of us trying to do the right thing. It’s definitely not the pat-in-the-back moment but the change must start with us no matter how small it is. First and foremost, FingerTec IS an environmentally friendly product to start with, there’s no doubt about that. The use of fingerprint definitely reduces paper usage significantly. FingerTec data is digital and printable when necessary, and the only factor left to make our brand friendlier to the Mother Earth is to reduce the use of papers in the packaging.

After exploring the pros and cons, we executed the idea with the objective to enrich and reduce simultaneously; it might sound ironic but it is doable. The solution is to put all our resources into one DVD!

Let’s explore what we have in store for you in this smiley green DVD:

On the left of the DVD, you can download TCMS software, TCMS manuals, view TCMS video and on the right side, you could obtain Quick Start Guide, Installation Guide, User Guide, Video Guide and Enrolment Form. This DVD also links you to various useful websites when you are connected to the Internet.

Remember WORLD and you’d be okay.

W stands for Warranty where you can submit your warranty registration at http://www.fingertec.com/GPW/warranty.htm to get your 24-month warranty coverage.

O stands for Online news where you could get some tips and latest info of our products at http://user.fingertec.com

R stands for Read online where you read your manuals online at htpp://user.fingertec.com

L stands for Learn to use by viewing the readily available video guides at http://user.fingertec.com/video-guide-hardware.html

D stands for Download latest software updates at http://user.fingertec.com/software-updates.html

This DVD is truly making things easy for you!

And on top of that we also repackage our product in a more compact packaging, in our effort to support the world; the boxes are smaller and printed materials lesser. With this reduction we could fit in more boxes in one shipping and the weight is reduced to the benefit of our clients.

FingerTec will keep on thinking about ways to improve ourselves for the good of everybody. Drop me an email at ana@fingertec.com should you have any ideas or feedback about FingerTec.

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Nothing is Trivial When it Comes to Your Brand

Apparently, nobody paid attention to the sole until Louboutin and his brand is uber-expensive, catered for the rich and famous

Over the years, I’ve had my shares of experience dealing with fussy clients. A mere deviation from uniformity such as a slightly different color of one back plate from the rest of the other 100 units would prompt them to send us a long “love” email. Just one terminal’s sleeve is tighter than another and our salesperson would get an earful from our beloved customer. Imagine when their problems are major. Subsequently, somebody in the office would have to wear a Troy-like costume when providing answers as to why it (the problem) happened. The reason that FingerTec takes this ‘trivial’ matter very seriously is pretty simple, what good is a brand if it cannot satisfy customers in the most minor of matters. Pixar goes to great lengths with their short film before or after an extraordinary great animation movie just for the fun of it. Louboutin paints the sole of his heels red just to create a difference.

A brand that decides to ignore the simplest complaint will be on the way to doomsville. There were many good brands that remained as history just because they let things happen. The position of a brand is not permanent, not invincible. I would like to quote Heidi Klum who frequently delivers this line in her unique voice, “In fashion, one day you’re in, the next day you’re out.” The same is true when it comes to business. A lot of work has to be invested into maintaining the brand position. A brand is definitely not just a name slapped onto a product. Of late, we can observe many so-called brands popping out in the market especially in the apparel business. Look closely; many of them do not even care to hire a seamstress. A good brand always pays attention to the tiniest details, regardless of whether it’s visible or not to the buyers.

FingerTec is a now a brand of biometric products. We started off with a name and we built on that name, slowly and steadily with sincere intention in mind, to make things easy for everybody who experiences FingerTec’s products. That is our brand promise. Once we start to deliver otherwise, we will then not be keeping the promise and the effect might be catastrophic to the brand itself. Therefore, no matter how much work we have to do behind the scenes, no matter how much sweat, tears and blood (perhaps not) we have to spill, we intend to keep our promise intact.

Keep those complaints coming no matter how trivial they are, we like to listen to you and improve upon our weaknesses. Direct your complaints to info@fingertec.com or to me at ana@fingertec.com.

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ