I'm Verified

The Road To Perfection Has No End

2011-12-23T00:12:00.000-08:00

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

Get Spotted In An Ocean of Information

2011-11-30T00:08:00.001-08:00

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?

User Generated Content: Ingenious Strategy or Simply Insane?

2011-11-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

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.

New Media -- You Are What You Write?

2011-10-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

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’a image simultaneously.

Everybody Needs To Do A Noodle Dance!

2011-10-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Anybody who has kids thatwatch Disney channel would know what is a Noodle Dance. When PB & J otterstumble upon a problem, they would do a Noodle Dance to find the answer, andall the cute little kids around the world would dance with them to find thesolution. And at the end of the dance, they would find the answer and everybodywill end up being happy. The dance was created to promote rational thinking inkids.

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

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

We can’t separatethinking from our lives. Ideas make the world interesting and ideas, no matterhow small, is never trivial. Thinking process and rational thinking are veryimportant in building a healthy society and a healthy company. Physicalexercise is always emphasized on these days, but what about mental excersize?

At FingerTec, we evenhave a channel for employees to submit any new ideas in return for a monetaryreward. We want to create aculture where thinking processes is not only relevant to the top management; itshould be relevant to all levels. The questions include how to make our workbetter and contribute more to the progress of the company and the brand we areworking for. A logistic staffcould contribute ideas concerning the packaging process, to reduce the timetaken to prepare all items and to reduce the transportation costs for ourclients. Work process could be made simpler and better when thinking processestake place.

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

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

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

When There's A Will...

2011-08-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

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?”

Knock! Knock! Who's there?

2011-07-26T18:37:00.000-07:00

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)

United We Stand, Divided We Fall

2011-07-11T01:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Once Upon A Time...

2011-06-15T01:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

“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.

Tapping on Sharing

2011-04-15T00:52:00.000-07:00

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.

Casual yet Committed

2011-03-29T22:59:00.000-07:00

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? ☺

Green is Gold

2011-02-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

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.

Nothing is Trivial When it Comes to Your Brand

2011-01-11T23:30:00.000-08:00

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.

Simplicity is the essence of beauty

2010-12-24T17:38:00.001-08:00

We are about to say hello to 2011 and today I'm chilling at home, enjoying a cuppa hot steaming coffee, writing this blog while listening to the "Codename: Kids Next Door" my little star is watching on tele. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the number my team and I churn this year. They have worked hard and the result shows. The thing with sales and marketing is, it's a never ending climb. You have a target to reach and when you touched the top, you found yourself at the foot of the hill ready to start climbing again. We let loose in December and hit some bowling pins last Friday. The team won big time, leaving the technical department biting our dusts so to speak. But we leave it at that and set our gear for the new year that's coming in 6 days.

2011 is indeed a brand new year but FingerTec will certainly be the same, providing our customers with convenience and finding ways to make things easy for everybody. Some people love complexity, me on the other hand is a fan of simplicity. I think simplicity rocks. I'd like to quote Edward de Bono who said that simplicity is easy to learn and to use. People are usually frightened by simplicity because it threatens the complexity of which it is their job to explain. I couldn't agree more. My high school math teacher told us to use the simplest calculation in math, if you could spoon a food straight to your mouth, why do you want to twist your arm to the back of your head to spoon the food into your mouth. Get what I mean? By the way, grab "Teach Yourself To Think", a pretty good self-development book, i'd say.

By being simple as well, we are reaching a larger audience rather than the select few who have grade A brains. Being simple does not mean we neglect attention to details. Being simple means to explain things in the best possible manner to reach the largest audience possible.

Therefore, it has become our collective efforts to make things easy for our clients from all aspects of the business. Our job is not to test IQs instead whatever resources we provide we must ENRICH and ASSIST our clients the world over to the best of our ability.

Next year also marks the beginning of our effort to apply simplicity in our operation and saving the world in the process. We have gone back and forth in this issue and it's time that we put our foot down and stress on the importance of simplicity and conservation. I'm excited to what's in store for us in 2011 and I have my high hopes that FingerTec will thrive as a brand that cares.

You Think It’s Easy Buying A TV?

2010-11-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

It might be a bit embarrassing but this is my confession. I’m a tv addict. I use a lot of my waking hours watching television instead of doing something productive. But that’s not the embarrassing bit. I just changed my 29’ basic mundane tv to a Plasma HD just last Sunday. That fact is thwarting for a self-proclaimed tv addict. Personally, I’m a bit slow when technology is concerned. Like a snail, I’d like to know what’s hitting the rabbit upfront. Television technology has transformed tremendously since the black and white in a box that could be transformed into a vintage aquarium era. The decision of the tv companies to hire crème de la crème for their research and development team has finally paid off with the introduction of sleeker and slimmer televisions with picture quality so good, you thought you were in a Gold Class cinema at Pavillion (a posh shopping center in a middle of Kuala Lumpur) minus the sweet caramel popcorn. And now I need to change my cable to Beyond and my DVD player to Bluray to experience the awesomeness of modern television.

It’s not easy buying tv these days. You can’t walk in and say, I want to buy a color tv please. The sales person would stare you in the eyes and interrogate you like nobody’s business before recommending you to a biased-choice, the brand which provides him the better commission. Familiarize yourself with the terms before you even attempt to step into the shop. What’s HD? What’s plasma? What’s HDMI? What’s analog? What’s LED, LCD, Flat TV? Do you need extra cabling? Can you do your own installation? How to do the settings? Et cetera…et cetera. Samsung even goes a step further and introduce 3D tv, which I think is a bit premature at this stage considering that contents are still scarce. And now also, you cannot settle with only 3C! They have introduced 4C in the newly advertisement by Sharp. At last they figured out how to add the yellow. Pffft..

The size of the tv is also another matter to discuss about. A 29’ inch would invite smirks in the faces of relatives who come visit. The owner of a 55’ would purposely invite neighbors over for an afternoon tea to watch soap even though she hates making tea. Our world has truly changed as at 2010 with new tvs, Facebook, Twitter, online shopping, fake faces and etc. What could be expected of in the next 10 years?

My point is, technology changes at rapid pace and those who slack off would be left so far behind, you wouldn’t be able to catch up. In 2000, I was so afraid to scan my finger during an exhibition because it’d take me countless time to get verified. In 2010, I can scan in less than 1 second and I can even scan my face and get verified. Not only that, now I can scan my finger AND then scan my face for better protection.

FingerTec is always finding ways to improve ourselves and introduce better products that are up-to-date with the latest technology. We are also using the latest technology to support you constantly without any extra costs to you. Come 2011, we’ll be introducing interesting new products and accessories that would make your business thrive even further. This new year also, we will be a better company that promotes a better cause. I am excited to welcome the new year, how about you?

Impactful Soft Marketing

2010-10-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

Traveling Mind: Have you got a copy yet?

I write for a living. I'm not a writer but I do write quite often. The reason is simple. Nowadays people read a lot! Before you roll your eyes, I never said books. A lot of people are surfing the Internet in search of something. Some like to do online shopping, some like to Google information, some like to view pictures, some like to find friends, and the list of virtual activities continue. Google articles, Facebook notes, Twitter links, blogs, tumblr, etc are amongst the most popular Internet reading pleasures. The pieces don't have to be thesis-worth long to gain interest; they just need to be fascinating in some sense. A tv personality said the word "Perspection" on live national tv! was seen on Twitter and the rest of the nation talked about the event where a TV personality was seen asking a Swedish astronaut, "What is your perspection about the event tonight?" The rating for that event shoot up to 3.2mil viewers.

A recent news published that Malaysia ranks first for most online friends, and the trend duplicates in other countries as well. It's apparent that soft marketing in the Internet world in crucial. Soft marketing is the term used to describe when marketing your products without invading individual space or they called it marketing under the radar. To do this, writing is essential. Again, you don't have to seek your professor's approval; you just need to have good idea of what your brand is all about and not to go against your brand value.

What do you see when you watch Fernando Alonso's F1 car? You see Vodafone, you see Shell. That is soft marketing. What do you see when you watch the good looking Fernando Torres trying to score for Liverpool? Standard Chartered on his chest and Adidas on his pants. Well, those are expensive marketing venues; product placement on strategic spots during airtime. Seeing Simon Cowell sip on Coke during American Idol made me crave Coke in the middle of the night. That’s soft marketing and the effect is ridiculous! I drove to the nearest 7-Evelen for a bottle of cool fizzy tasty CocaCola.

How do we do it at a lesser cost? Spend some time to write and publish it regularly on strategic spots. Most business websites that I stumbled upon have very stiff business writings and are mostly not updated regularly. Many also make efforts to join the social media wagon but after some time, fall off of it because of decreased updates and no follow ups. The idea of newsletter is not new, people have been using it for ages but the trick is to do it regularly so that your audience is kept updated with what's going on with your brand. Companies usually have missions and visions on their websites, which mostly are cookie-cutter phrases borrowed from other business sites. Yawn! Yawn! The audience needs more than that.

FingerTec's Tagline Contest on Facebook has just ended and that for us is soft-marketing. Something fun that gets the crowd to know the brand. We blog about our brand and we hope you do too. We want to tumblr as well. We create FingerTec games. And definitely we want to do more in the future. FingerTec is not a consumer product and it’s even tougher for us. Therefore, we treasure your ideas if any. Please do contact us at editorial@fingertec.com. In the meantime, it'd be great if you could soft market FingerTec too. Thank you.

FingerTec in ISAF - Wooing An Istanbul Distributor

2010-09-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

Tamy received a lot of Konichiwas

The show in Istanbul just ended today leaving us with a feeling of hope. Turkiye is one of the important markets of the security industry; made strong by its geographical location, vastness and economic power. ISAF attracted vendors from various sectors from CCTV, fire security, turnstiles, gates, etc and biometrics certainly is not a novel technology in this show. People are already familiar with this solution or at least know that fingerprint products are available.

The main challenge now is finding a right partner which could carry FingerTec's brand essence without compromising on price factor significantly.

And I received a lot of "Are you a muslim?" question. :)

The first and second day of the show were rather slow on Hall 10, where we were located along with the fire security companies, as compared to Hall 9, which was a little bit happening with some songs on loudspeakers. The next two days were much better for us. Everybody was looking to view the price list and not so much on the product specifications. The fact that China made products have been flooding the Istanbul market made our price seems a bit on the higher side. This fact needed some explanation and our audiences understood the fact after being presented with the resources we offer them as our resellers. Interestingly, unlike many other places we've been to, many are interested to become resellers to a Turkish distributor. They are willing to pay higher price rather than dealing with importation of products from abroad. We find this situation quite unique as compared to many countries that always want to be distributors despite how low the quantity of their orders. :)

The show started to draw on crowds on the weekend

This time we didn't hire any translator because the one that came to work didn't know English. She understands Turkish and understands English (as what she signaled to me) but she couldn't speak any English except "so-so" and then she flashed a big smile to us. We had to send her back without any replacement. And surprisingly, people who are interested to deal with us came back with their translator to make things easy for both parties. Marketing your products in English in Turkey is a no-brainer. It is our mission to find a partner that can communicate in English but we will definitely do our marketing and resources in Turkish to capture this market. Translations of our software and hardware in Turkish are done so far and we will move on to other data sheets and materials. We already made a few acquaintances in Turkey to assist us on good translations.

ISAF is definitely a good platform for the security industry and we are proud to be apart of this growing market. All we could do now is to be hopeful that we could secure a good partner that could bring FingerTec to a greater height in this great country. Any party interested, please email me at info@fingertec.com.

Istanbul – A Reminder of What Would We Left Behind

2010-09-22T10:04:00.001-07:00

I am in awe by the majestic yet melancholy views of Istanbul city. A place so rich in history and culture once glorified by its gigantic and powerful empire and then succumbed to the fall of the westernized Ottoman Empire, now is a desired tourist destination the world over. The beauty of Istanbul at both sides of the Bosphorus River is as subtle as the drawing of Melling, understated but impactful. I left out a sigh for not being able to capture the desired snapshots of Istanbul, the feel of the city is not justified by any photographs.

The landmarks of this great city like the Hagia Sophia, the Sultanahmet Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, would leave all visitors with at least a tinge of admiration regardless of one’s religion, to the level of dedication and passion this city had on beauty, intricate details and on arts itself. Modern design is just an excuse word to escape being labeled as lazy, in my opinion.

A step into the Saint Sophia made my heart skipped a beat. Though it looks tired at some angles, every inch of the building spills professed love of the devotees of Christianity and Islam to this place of worship. There are huge calligraphy arts at a diameter of 7-meter wide each hanging high inside the building bearing the name of the Creator, Allah, Muhammad the messenger and his respectable caliphs. At the same time, in every corner of the first floor right wing, there are several mosaic arts made of real gold depicting the hand over of the city Istanbul to Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary by Constantine, “my Istanbul (Constantinople) is your Istanbul”

Every door is carved with intricate details, the mimbar, the prayer area of the Sultan – everything exudes handcraftsmanship at its highest level of perfection. A visit to Sultanahmet Blue Mosque confirms the same attitude the Istanbullus possesed in creating a monumental landmark. The grand mosque was built in a mere 5 years by 10,000 workers has every detail of precision and delicate designs to make it stand out even after the tests of time.

The art and culture are deeply rooted in the heart and soul of the Istanbullus. I stood in the middle of the night admiring the beautiful mosaic piece on the wall of its Metro station. I find joy strolling the city of Istanbul with the rests of millions visitors admiring the bits and pieces of the city’s uniqueness.

I couldn’t let go of the fact that we have come so far in ignoring the needs in paying attention to small details, and to always strive for excellence in everything that we do, even how trivial. Today’s generation are so void, engulfed and engaged on Facebook and the Internet without realizing that we have lost so much of our own identity and pride over time.

What would be our legacy to the next generation and would they be in awe when they think about us and the stories we left behind?

FingerTec Bringing Malaysia To The World

2010-08-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

There is a television ad going on in Malaysia right now where a lady was torn between a locally made product and an oversea made product sold at the same price. When feeling the local product, her recollection of childhood’s memory came flashing back and she ended up buying it; the product/brand was sentimental to her. Both my husband and I rolled our eyes in disbelief. It’s a bit pretentious, isn’t it?

AirAsia is always preferred by many because of its pricing strategy

Between a renowned world brand and a locally made brand similarly priced, no way we are going to choose a local brand, unless it is also a renowned world brand. And I believe majorities of people are on my side. It’s not about me being less patriotic or I have lack of nationalism, it is simply about brand value.

Renowned international brands are preferred because of their higher brand values. Between a Proton and a Honda, the only factor that drives consumers to choose the former is the price. If both are offered at the same price, I doubt anybody would go for the former. It’s nothing to do with loving the country less, as a consumer we are just being sensible and looking for the most value for our money. Royal Selangor, AirAsia, Secret Recipe, Maggi, Stage Makeup are all good international brands and they are local brands as well, and consumers would be willing to pay extra for the experience, wouldn't they?

What separates a good brand and a substandard one? Quality. Customer experience. Appeal. Prestige. Presumed or not. It doesn’t matter where the products are made of as long as the brands fulfill the expectation of the consumers. Good brands usually do. A lot of Nike’s products are made in Malaysia but Nike is not a Malaysian brand. There are a lot of clothing lines made in Bangladesh but certainly not the brands originated from Bangladesh.

FingerTec is a local brand but we aim to play at the international platform and indeed we are thriving around the world. We don’t beg that consumer purchase our products just because we are Malaysian product; we want that decision be made based on the fact that our products fulfill what they desire as a consumer. And we are certainly proud to be a Malaysian brand that’s making its mark around the world.

Exactly one week from now the nation will celebrate its 53th year of Independence. We have come so far since 1957 and I believe that the nation has the capacity to go even further with the right plan, determination and attitude. Happy Birthday My Malaysia. I heart you.

Jalur Gemilang is the nation's beautiful flag,

Creating Values in Business

2010-07-26T21:15:00.001-07:00

Time flies. I’ve been in this business for 10 years already and I’ve experienced many things, the good and the bad, the ups and the downs that taught me about business and life. When we first started in the beginning of 2000, I didn’t think much about the future of FingerTec, as my involvement in the brand was inconsequential. Business was run as usual, I carried out my tasks as instructed.

When the major change turned the company around later in 2004, it changed the way we do business entirely. Many were skeptic. How could this kind of business be conducted this way? With so much hard work and persistence, what looked like trivial matters then, added so much value to the brand now. When I combined all the little pieces of effort that we put on, its impact is mammoth to our business today. Progressively we create values to FingerTec brand to the delight of all our resellers around the world.

Newsletter has been proven to uplift an image of a company/brand to a higher level. Try one!

One plus one doesn’t equal two. Simply putting a name to a brand does not create its value. It (the value) will not be magically visible by attaching a motto to that brand as well. Value comes to life when it has substance to the customers. When you have something that customers couldn’t live without, that’s value. When you create something that makes your customers nodding their heads with a tinge of smile on their lips, that’s value. When your customers are not cringing when they pay you that sum of money, that’s value.

The big ongoing question for FingerTec is what’s valuable to our individual customers. By trying to find out that answer, we would attempt to deliver the value that customer wants.

Have you been to our micro websites lately? If you haven’t please do so because it’s time for you to capture the value and prosper. Create your values to your clients through us, we don't mind because that's what we take pleasure in doing.

www.fingertec.com/microsites, where our values reside

Values Determine Relevance

2010-06-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

The mural painted by inmates

Another history was made earlier this week when Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur demolished the infamous 100-year old Pudu jail in Kuala Lumpur to widen the roads in that area and to have plans for redevelopment. The move had aroused anger and disappointment in many people who appreciate places of history. Historic items must be preserved, according to them, who are convinced that Pudu jail was a historic site that could tell a lot of the nation’s stories. The jail that was built in 1891 was closed in 1996 when all the inmates were transferred to the new prison in Sg Buloh. From 1996 onwards, the former Jail was made a museum for a short period of time and then again in 2004 before it was closed for public.

Is this a piece of art that should be treasured?

I don’t really get the point of why people were being sentimental about this place. The fact that it’s old is one but there are many other things that are old and useless. Tower of London for example is a place of history that contains interesting stories of the English royals and the heads that were chopped (quite often) there. But, Pudu Jail to me was just a jail in the middle of the city centre that was not even kept well by the government and didn’t even house notorious criminals. Yeah, there are famous prisons such as the Rock, Chateau d'If in Marseilles and the one in the Devil’s Island of France that are now tourist attractions. But, for everything that needs to be preserved, it has to have values and it has to be taken care of. This place was ignored. Period.

The protestors were talking so sentimentally about the mural. Yeah, it was great that the criminals were given something to do and some of them could paint but after so many years, the mural was worn down and it’s not an eye pleaser at all. It's not like it's Banksy's. In fact, those who championed this issue were not even looking at the mural when they passed the place before this issue surfaced. Should the government pay attention to the place? I vote yes but since they are not, why waste such space.

I say conserve the places that have values to society and future generations. In this time and age, do something that has values for if not, it has no relevance.

Coming back to FingerTec, we are always thinking about creating values for our customers. What’s the point of doing something if it has no values? The support micro sites currently are being used by our clients for sales and support materials.

Haven't registered yet? www.fingertec.com/registration

We do not want to follow other people’s moves blindly, just because. Our website is created in such a way for a purpose, we do not do according to normal business’s corporate website. Complains were lodged when we first introduced the website because people were not used to it. The newsletter is not for us to boast about our company and the brand but we offer information so that our resellers could pick up relevant news for their sales and marketing activities. We let our sales and support personnel standby online in case you need them to assist you swiftly, not just available icons to indicate there’s someone online when in fact it is none. In short, whatever we do, the plan is to offer value added services to all our clients. If it has no purpose, stop it.

iLoveTechnology

2010-06-02T03:02:00.000-07:00

Last night my husband came back with a pad in his hand. Do not cringe just yet, it’s iPad! I squealed like a little girl for a brief two seconds. How could I not? Yeah, it is a blown up version of iPod touch but it’s full of awesomeness! Using the same iTunes, I quickly sync my applications into iPad. Love the way they do iBooks, easy to download, easy to read and it is visually stunning, the book on iBooks I mean and the iPad of course! Unfortunately, they do not yet have their iBookstore to sell good titles to iPad users. I’m sure a group of people is living on coffee and nicotine to get the store set up and launch while iPad is still the hot topic of the gadget-craze urbanites. I went to Kobo store instead and bought a couple of ebook titles and the experience was simply amazing!

There was a time 10 years back when we (as part of the group) were interested in the ebook business but the interest turned stale after encountering countless hurdles and inconveniences. Though the development of ebook improves a lot since then, iPad and Kindle bring the trend to another level of sophistication. I can flip my ebook like flipping the print book, and smiling while doing it. I don’t need to go to the bookstore to browse through thousands of books; I can browse, pay and read in a matter of minutes. Pretty impressive I must say. My point is, development of technology takes time but it’s the time worth waiting.

Technology is awesome. It makes our life better in so many ways. I work in technology-based business. Who would have thought that your fingerprint could be used as your private key? We bumped into glitches when we first started but now, 10 years later, everybody is looking for convenience. This year, face recognition technology is making its debut. Look and go is the concept of the Face ID 2 where you do not need to touch anything and you are good to go. FingerTec will continue to progress in biometrics industry, providing people with conveniences.

Yesterday I bought something on eBay, now I’m reading my book on iPad, tomorrow who knows what the future has in store for me. And that to me, what makes life interesting.

The (Biometrics) Time is Now

2010-05-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

Volcanic ash cloud left and returned to Europe early this month but the effects were not felt in IFSEC 2010. The exhibition staged over four days in the NEC Birmingham ended on Thursday, May 13^th and my feet couldn’t be happier. Remind me not to wear a 3-inch heels the next time I stage a solo 4-day show.

Fingerprint products are not novelty in the industry but the increasing stability of the technology entices vast amount of opportunities. Demands for biometrics products from end-users are escalating; making fingerprint technology inevitable as an option. Unlike face recognition technology that created a new kind of excitement, consumer confidence in this technology is still at its infancy. I reckon it’d take sometimes for the technology to take gain its place in the industry as compared to fingerprint technology.

Interestingly, the most common question I received during the show was “What industry do you target these products for?” I thought the answer to the question was apparent but obviously I was wrong.

To put it simply, FingerTec products target office automation industry for the most part with our time attendance and door access system.

FingerTec range is relevant to offices ranging from small to medium enterprise. Having bundled the powerful software with all our models, FingerTec system offers more value for less money. The ability of the system to record precise time attendance and access control besides producing relevant reports have been able to reduce the workload of the human resources to the maximum. FingerTec system also provides an option for a company to start small and expand. This versatility of this system is a valuable investment for many companies. The range that we provide covers various kinds of office setups and requirements.

During this visit, I had a chance to visit Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. I don’t know much about Shakespeare but I bet he was a genius in English literary world; he is the pride of England. I got a chance to read some of the jokes by him and he was indeed an observant and perceptive writer. English people are known for their dry humor. Watch The Office or The Extras, you’ll get what I mean. Or simply watch Simon Cowell in action. FingerTec is in the business of security where seriousness and formality are anticipated. We, on the other hand, always find ways to loosen up a bit and inject humor in our materials; some gets it and some not. Truth be told, some of our artworks tickle people in a different way. We appreciate the feedback and we would make some changes in the future for the benefit of all. Jokes are only relevant if people laugh. It’s hard to please everybody but the most important thing of all is we don’t offend anybody.

IFSEC is an annual meeting point for the majority of security players in the UK and Europe and FingerTec is proud to be a part of the industry. I also had the pleasure of meeting Mr Jeremy from AIS Malta, Mr Olukayode Osunsan from Logix Uganda, Mr Mikael from Denmark, Mr Faisal from Dubai, Dr Riyadh from Al Salam Iraq, Mr Chukwame from Rapid Vigil, Nigeria and last but not least Mr Bob Marshall from CSD, London.

Much Ado About Marketing

2010-04-29T21:34:00.001-07:00

Listen up! I'm selling!

Theoretically, an investment in the media is an important marketing strategy to build and grow a business. Advertisements in print media and electronic media are without a doubt could grow a business in the shortest amount of time possible; it has been proven time and time again. The only problem with that theory is budget, which many new startups and SMEs do not have to splurge on such luxurious marketing activities. A few insertions in the national newspaper could be your margin for a few months and without tactfully planning for the media coverage, a company could end up spending more money than earning it. Renting a billboard could put your products out there but at the same time location is the most important factor for outdoor advertisement and the prime locations translate to even more money.

The more pressing matter for small companies is how to grow a business without spending a fortune on advertisements?

The username to success is hard working and the password is writing. A business couldn’t grow if your resellers and customers didn’t have clear understanding of your products, of what you do and didn’t receive sufficient support. The business is judged by the way you run it. Every time a customer deals with you is an experience. As a metaphor, when choosing a restaurant, the priority is good food and good service. The rests are trifling. Obviously, the good food is your product. On top of the non-negotiable good product, customers are often impressed and sustained by good service, which in FingerTec business means pre and pro sales support.

We do business internationally and for us, the best way to let our customers enjoying good service without having to meet them face-to-face is to make everything they need available at all times without much hassle. In short, giving them what they want, online. Local resellers do come to the office once in a while, but most of the time information is obtained online.

While driving home I saw a huge billboard with an interesting advertisement. I typed in the URL and hit return to find out that nothing’s offered online for me, their prospective customer. And the interest level was reduced to zero starting that day. The point I’m getting at is that, customers nowadays are inquisitive. They no longer believe in messages thrown at them blindly and always looking for answers from various channels. The best way to obtain information is through the website because it’s anonymous, borderless, cheap and fast. Information must be available for clients reference at all times because night here is day somewhere else. Information could be expensive when sales or projects are at stake. And that’s why we at FingerTec believe that the password to success is the ability to write what you know and share it with others who are interested in your products and activities.

Writing is powerful

A few years back we came out with the idea of producing our very own newsletter. It was not a new idea in marketing, however it is the new way to get to your customers and potential customers without burning cold hard cash on advertisements. In marketing term, it is permission marketing where if you don’t like it, please request to be excluded. With the newsletter, we share our ideas, we share latest information and we keep our brand in fresh in your mind. Participations from our partners worldwide are also encouraged for a better relationship and contents. Many could argue that not everybody reads the newsletter but we believe that many do. Always focus on the positive to generate the positives.

New media is the way to go. Many government bodies recognize this factor and starting to offer online way of doing business with them. Employee Provident Fund in Malaysia is offering i-Akaun for members to check their accounts online. Banks have done more businesses online and reckon the crowds are lesser in the branches. At least I haven’t been to the bank for at least 6 months or so now. New generations are into new media because the information is direct from the source, and we assume that nothing’s lost in translations.

Coming back to writing, it is an important factor for companies to make it in the new media. We are neither Shakespeare nor Stephen King, but we have our own stories to tell. And perhaps there’s someone in your company who could write and tell your stories to your clients too. Invite your clients to share their stories with you because you have a common topic to discuss about, the business. The impact might not be sudden and apparent but gradually you will build that much needed connection between you and your clients, and hopefully towards a fruitful and prosperous journey together.

Can't Recognize You, Open Your Eyes Please..

2010-03-18T01:05:00.001-07:00

Someone interesting stopped by our booth at CeBIT 2010 in Hannover early of the month. Dr Geoffry Sweet is a mathematician from London who's intrigued about biometrics technology. Mathematically, he told me, biometrics is impossible to make sense of. A few years ago, he met someone who were involved in iris technology. This professor was adamant that face recognition is impossible to do and stressed that iris is so much better. He might have angered the guy by laughing so loud. If your face couldn't tell you who you are, then how should we do it? I can't recognize you, open your eyes please..

It's A Drama!

2010-03-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

Maybe I woke up in the wrong side of the bed the day I left Kuala Lumpur. For a start, I wasn’t feeling good, my head was giddy, my nose was stuffy and I had mistaken the date of my flight until I received an sms from Nattalina saying that she would come over at 230pm. The first flight to Singapore via MAS left me feeling flabbergasted with a thumping landing that could wake up a giant. Everything about that flight was vulgar and I didn’t connect with the 1MH, Malaysian Hospitality concept being marketed by MAS. Perhaps, it was the rookie who flew that plane and an hour was a short time to assess an airlines.

Stranded in Paris

I slept all my way to Paris via AirFrance and arrived at Paris de Guelle at 610am in the morning to discover that the flight to Hannover got cancelled due to bad weather. Apparently we arrived on the day of the Europe storms that left people die and homeless. After about 5 hours of queuing, we received our accommodation for the night and meal tickets from AirFrance. The night spent at Campanile hotel was the night wasted and the next morning at 11pm, we boarded AirFrance to Hannover after a delayed one hour flight. By that time, we hadn’t changed any clothes for two days, we were frustrated, tired and feeling lousy.

Upon arrival at the Hannover Airport, the first luggage that came out to the belt was ours and the second luggage; the most important one didn’t arrive at all. “We are going to send your luggage to the hotel today,” assured the lost baggage lady of AirFrance without any doubt in her eyes. And on the first day, we were at the show with practically nothing. Vacant booth and ourselves to display. Our luggage that contained the terminals, brochures, and everything else was still stuck somewhere and the lady who provided us an assurance yesterday couldn’t care less that we were in CeBIT without anything to display.

It’s a depressing situation but we were determined to make the best out of what we had. Nattalina made a good decision to bring some brochures in our hand carry luggage and we were using those flyers and our beautiful faces to entice people to our booth, which hadn’t been that successful (haha!)

Me in front of the entrance, CeBIT is a humongous show! Kudos to the organizer!

It’s freezing but apart from the unforgiving weather, we found it easy to move around the city. The tram system is well established; we stayed at the suburb and it took us around 11 minutes to the city center and 30 minutes to the exhibition center via tram.

Nattalina attending to visitors

The luggage came on the midnight of the 2nd March. The booth was set and many people came to the booth, most of them were end-users, very excited to try the fingerprint and face technologies. The Keylock 8800 garnered a lot of attention from Europeans. The plus point was that decision makers were the ones who came. Distributorships for France, Italy and Germany look positive and we are hoping that the samples bought will lead us to fruitful relationships.

Scenic Hannover

Fostering Relationships Through Business

2010-02-25T18:31:00.001-08:00

What I have enjoyed most about working in FingerTec is the opportunity to meet people from around the world. It’s not a chance that anybody could have, for me it’s an eye opener, an experience that is so priceless, I wouldn’t want to trade it with anything else. Knowing people from the other parts of the globe with diverse culture and beliefs shape the way I perceived the world. It constitutes a lot to my understanding of the business and the way we should deal with our clients and it also makes me a much better person than I was, well at least I hope so.

One way doesn’t fit all. When I went to New Delhi a couple of years back, I was pleasantly surprised by the Indian hospitality. A sit down with a few cups of tea and coffee with Mr Bhooshan from Compax made me felt welcome and we talked for hours about almost everything under the sun. When the relationship is built and strengthened, business runs smoother and we find ways to prosper together. How could I forget Mr Krishnaraj from Dhonadhi Chennai with his antics, entertaining us throughout the night while sipping on his favorite beer. And at the end of the night, I took the infamous Indian auto from the city to the hotel, enjoying the stale air of Delhi. Talking about Indians bargaining skill, they could have won gold in the Olympics. From that experience, I took it to understand better on how to deal with them, how to build a better business with Indians.

Such a nice ride..

When I arrived in Dubai for InterSec, Abbas from Seven Seas waited for me with a bouquet of roses. It was a nice touch, even though I knew that fetching someone at 4am in the morning was not fun AT ALL. Upon arrival at the hotel, I was welcome with a basket of fruits from IPTec. All of those gestures no matter how big or how small went into my heart and one way or another, it affects the way we perceive and respect each other, and the friendships continue.

Indonesia tells a different story, I have been to Medan and Jakarta for business and friendships. The Indonesians take care of their visitors like VIPs. We don’t have to worry about anything at all and we were constantly being provided with excellent food. The fish head curry was out of this world and Ayam Pop (Pop Chicken) made me thinking about opening a franchise in Malaysia, haha! And believe it or not, I thought I've discovered a new fruit in Indonesia, to later found out that they trimmed the rambutan’s hair because it's full of ants. One thing I realize about Indonesians is, they do not complain. It’s not that I look forward to complaints but I do want to know problems, hurdles, setbacks, anything that could help us to improve our business and us. I guess it’s the culture of people from this part of the world to not nag (complaint) while the guests are around. Nonetheless, our relationships are getting stronger and better by the day. They are like a part of our family.

Fast forward to 2009, I went to the United Kingdom for IFSEC in Birmingham. We took a flight to Standsted Airport and Bob Marshall was waiting for us at the airport. Such a warm welcome which I would never forget. Standsted to Birmingham is quite a distance. And after the show he took us to London and show us around. We hope to receive Bob in Malaysia soon to discuss business and to show him this land of scorching sunshine.

Meeting you again soon!

Apart from traveling overseas and meeting clients, I’m constantly in contact with resellers from around the world through Skype and MSN. And while business is utmost priority, we do talk about our lives and other stuff, and from there relationships grow. We also receive visitations from our resellers every year, introducing them to Malaysian spicy food and to Malaysian hospitality. I do not drive a Mercedes but I hope they feel comfortable riding in my car to the city center.

A yearly visit is a must from Rapid Vigil, Nigeria

This Sunday Nattalina and I will be going to Germany for CeBIT 2010. Nobody is going to be there to welcome our arrivals but I have no doubt that we’ll find new relationships to foster, and of course bring some business back too. Good bye, und ich komme bald wieder

The Business of Attendance

2010-01-24T23:18:00.000-08:00

My long lost friend asked me last week about my job. I told her that I’m in fingerprint business for attendance and door access. She was surprised to know that taking attendance could be a thriving business. Working as a high-school teacher, taking attendance comes naturally; they can even do it subconsciously! Every teacher in Malaysia has to prepare an attendance book for students. Students names must be handwritten in black ink and capital letters only, and the taking of attendance has to be done manually, in other words, Teacher shouts -- “so and so, are you there?” student answer -- “yes/no, teacher”. After sometimes, the teachers need to submit some kind of attendance reports to the principal. I’m not sure whether the report also must be handwritten in black ink and in caps but they do need to submit some kind of report to the principal. I feel for the teachers who have to do a lot of work for attendance taking and perhaps a lot of answering when the attendance reports showing a lot of absences. On top of the overwhelming workload, what’s with the handwriting only?

Cleverly, I suggested to her the use of biometrics system to only receive the biggest laugh of all time. “Why do you think the government would want to spend money on biometrics system when they can use every biometrics in our body to take students’ attendance, literally for free” she asked me. Of course, she said it jokingly. But again, what’s so funny about automating attendance to monitor student’s attendance? Perhaps it would cost a fortune, perhaps that would mean a colossal change to the system, perhaps it’s easier said than done but logically speaking, biometrics is an effective way to take attendance. We have been in the business of attendance since 10 years ago and the demand (for attendance system) is escalating every year. The reason for the business world is simple. Your time is my money. But even more than that, automated attendance is indeed automated. No more manual work, no more writing attendance in Capital letters, no more counting days of absence, no more burden or work in that area. And at the end of the month, reports can be printed with precise data and information.

I can’t simply surrender. I annoyed her more. “The government promotes the use of IT and IT shouldn’t be just a theory, it should be practical. Biometrics is one way to make IT practical. What’s with the old school manual attendance?” Data communication through network is awesome. Distance is not a factor anymore and updates can be obtained in a matter of minutes. “If we could use biometrics as attendance and link the data to text parents the whereabouts of their kids, that would be a breakthrough. That’s the power of IT,” I continued. She looked at me with a smile on her chubby face, “Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, we (teachers) called an electrician to come for some electrical works in the teacher’s room and the service cost was RM60. He had to fill in a few forms, fought with at least two clerks and ended up not getting paid instantly. So, you go figure.” “I’d welcome the system so much but at this point in time, the students have to listen to my biometrics voice”.

When everything else fails..

'Franchising’ FingerTec – Doing Business The FingerTec Way

2010-01-01T02:32:00.000-08:00

FingerTec Business Guidebook will be introduced in 2010. We don’t exactly plan to venture into franchising business. In fact, franchising is not exactly the proper word in this context but some parts of what we want to do match the term’s definitions. The common feature of a franchising business is creating the same experience for customers anywhere in the world. For example, Starbucks Caramel Macchiato in Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta have the same taste as the one in Malaysia. I’ve tasted the Macchiatos and they all taste the same. Starbucks stores look similar, the cups feel the same, and the pastries and cakes look the same and taste the same. McDonald’s, KFC, TGIF, Pizza Hut, Domino’s maintain similarities between franchises to let customers feel the same experience, regardless of location.

Same everywhere

The FingerTec Business Guidebook is intended to guide resellers to do FingerTec business the FingerTec Way. We want our customers to feel the same experience whether they are dealing directly with FingerTec or they are dealing with FingerTec resellers around the world. We have had visitors who found it hard to believe that we do almost everything using the Internet. The Internet is THE tool of the new millennium. For those who haven’t convinced about the power of the Internet have to make an appointment with psychiatrists because you have a serious problem with reality. The world has changed and it moves faster than before. We have made our millions with very little use of phone calls and meetings but we meet our customers A LOT on Skype and MSN. We discuss business in these social channels, we send millions of emails per year to our customers, and we send them links to our resources, videos, and newsletters to attend to their needs. We do take our customers’ needs very seriously but we attend to them the FingerTec Way.

Change is not easy. And asking you to change the way you do business perhaps is risky but this is not only theory. We have had years of experience doing business this way; it is proven fruitful. Some might think that we do not provide personalized service to our clients if everything is done virtually but I beg to have a different opinion. In this current world, personalization is very much happening in the virtual world because it’s less hassle and more effective. Banks have introduced online banking, online credit card payments are very much required to buy products from abroad, customer service have to be available online to support clients 24-hours, etc. More and more people are into online transactions and communications these days than ever before. The gist of the FingerTec Way is not only cost saving but it also info loaded program and very much client-friendly.

This is personal

In short, we want to create the FingerTec experience for all our customers worldwide via the FingerTec Way of doing business. And what’s the best way to inform all of our esteemed distributors and resellers, The FingerTec Business Guidebook. Of course.

Quality Control Australian Style

2009-11-19T01:39:00.000-08:00

At the Kings Park, Perth Australia

I went to Perth Australia last month for a short break. I had little idea about what Australia is going to offer me but from my readings people review that Perth is one of the best cities in the world and Australia is one of the best vacation spots in the world. A pretty good reason to pay a visit, isn't it?

We took advantage of the AirAsia-X offer, my husband and I flew to Perth to wind down in October. No doubt Perth is a gorgeous city. It's clean, organized and breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful. I don't fancy hustle and bustle, and I love the fact that the city takes its time. The shops are closed at 530pm on weekdays except Friday and a lot of people actually doing exercise outdoor. I took my own sweet time and relaxing as much as I could while enjoying what the city has to offer.

Many people that i know have the idea that Perth is boring (*wink). Well, it depends on what you are looking for. I beg to differ. I even saw with my own eyes a lady happily drinking while driving on early Friday night. Well, she actually waved and shouted at us happily from the car, offering us her drink. Carry on, mate!!

Boab Tree, Perth Australia

What I admire the most about Australia is it's border control. Nobody is an exception and even it's very early in the morning, the officers were all fired up. Very professional, very efficient. With that kind of control, I think a very small percent of offenders can get pass through them. I thought it's only during entry, exit also the same thing. I forgot to take out a jar of honey from my luggage and it's gone.

Quality control steps should be as detailed as Australian Border Control. Every unit has to be checked thoroughly to make sure no error escapes. Are we at the level of Australian Border Control, perhaps not yet but my plan is to name the department Quality Control Australian Style. I will get to it in 2010. Promise!

Enjoying fresh crabs at Fremantle, Perth Australia

Against All Odds

2009-11-11T01:57:00.000-08:00

2009 is coming to an end. A pretty tough year in my book. The major disaster was the economy that decided to play pranks and left everybody exasperated. The value of money shrunk, reduced purchasing power and most probably would affect this fiscal year’s PNLs of most companies. The bad economy also had forced players to offer rock bottom dirt prices to opportunists, squeezing the already slim margin to almost flat.

Yet, against all odds, I think FingerTec has done a pretty great job in this year of ox.

Last Friday we had an internal meeting and for the first time were introduced to the prototype of Face ID. I’ve been in the business for almost a decade and I’ve never experienced anything like it. I’ve tried on iris when I was in New Delhi last year but this Face ID is a really cool machine. The gadget you thought was only available in movies.

The registration takes less than 2 minutes because the machine needs to get your face in 3 dimensions. Front, left, right, up and down. And, verification takes a split second, unless you cover your face or doing funny distorted facial expression, which trust me, a lot of users would attempt that in the first month of use.

Even when the room was dark, the machine spotted me. It’s truly awesome! The markets are going to be excited about Face ID just as I am and I reckon with the price that we are offering, the Face ID is going to do good in the market.

Another great product, which many customers are asking about, is Smart Keylock 8800. Yesterday I got the chance to experience the prototype that we are going to bring to India for the show, and again, I’m impressed. I’m not biased. I have seen and feel other products but this one is the ultimate. Registration and management of users can be done at this keylock itself through keypads and LCD. It has NO/NC feature, useful for visitor management. You can set the keylock at Normally Open if your office is accessible all day long or you can opt otherwise if you want every user who enters your room is verified before entry. The smart keylock has 2 latches. Motis on top and bar latch in the bottom, added security feature for installation on the front door or main doors of important rooms. The colors and finishing of this Keylock are sophisticated.

We are still doing some minor touch-ups on the Face ID to produce near-to- perfection machine. The release date is pushed back to end of December or early January 2010. The production of Keylock 8800 will start very soon.

Nonetheless, we accept pre-booking of Face ID and Keylock 8800 this month. No payment is required once you make a pre-booking (we will only request the payment prior to delivery).

One FingerTec, One Malaysia

2009-10-02T03:47:00.000-07:00

“Are you a Chinese?” a client asked. The answer is obvious to Malaysians but not for foreigners like most of our clients. There are a few traits to look for in determining the race of Malaysians. First, look at the skin color, if she is fairer, most probably she is a Chinese but don’t jump to conclusion. Now, look at the eyes, narrow small eyes, your prediction might be correct but not quite yet. Ask her to speak Chinese, if she can, most probably she is. The last is, simply ask her and you will get your answer. My point is, to the outsiders, it’s not that easy to tell us apart.

I’m a Malay Muslim. My father is half-Chinese and my mum was a Malay. Natt is a Malay Muslim as well but she is much fairer and she doesn’t wear a scarf. Tamy is a Chinese but she can speak Malay very well. My boss, Mr Teh is a Chinese, he has fair skin, narrow eyes, he can speak Chinese very well but he can also speak Malay and his mother also is very fluent in Malay language. Our finance manager is a sweet Chinese lad who loves to wear Malay traditional clothes in the office.

While the new Najib administration calls for One Malaysia concept, we have been One Malaysia since the day I joined this company 10 years ago. Regardless of races, we treat everybody with a lot of respects and love, and definitely no discrimination based on race. We discriminate based on their salaries, and you know I’m kidding.

How can I confidently say so? I’ve been given the opportunity to lead a capable team of international sales and marketing since 5 years ago, running the business side by side with my mentor, Mr Teh. He has never looked at me with race boundary. If he had, I wouldn’t stand a chance to go ahead. The same applies to my team, my beloved assistant Tamy is a Chinese and she’s capable in many aspects of the business. Next to Tamy is Natt who is a Malay. In short, race doesn’t matter.

I strongly believe that discrimination is nurtured. If in a family, parents taught their kids to find distinctions between races and use those differences to abhor each other, it’s just plain wrong. A human is a human regardless of races. We have to respect each other differences and to live in harmony. Races are still important but not to detest others but to find colorful lives in those variations. My daughter is 5 years old and her classmates are multiracial. She doesn’t understand the differences at all. For her, those are her friends, and we couldn’t agree more.

And it’s been the same in FingerTec family. I have so much respect for my mentor. To me amongst other talents that he has, he has a good heart. This is by no means indicating that he can be taken for granted. He is firm but he has a very good heart. And for those who think that I write this for personal benefits, you are correct. I have wanted to say this for a long time and today I feel the need to say it out loud, in writing. It’s for my own personal reason. I can argue with him in various subjects and he likes to make fun of certain things, but one thing I cannot deny is his good heart.

There are too much craziness in the world but there are also too much kindness to spread around. The truth of the matter is, we are all humans living in the same world, wishing for happiness til the day we die.

Facing Forward

2009-08-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

The next move for us is face recognition technology. I’ve always known that FingerTec would diversify into other biometrics technology and I am excited to be informed that face is the choice. I’m all for face because I think face is the most non-intrusive product of biometrics. After almost a decade in fingerprint, why now?, some might ask. This is not at all an indication that fingerprint technology has fewer demands in the market; it’s just attested the increasing demands for stable and reliable biometrics technology from various sectors. Face has been in the market for quite sometimes but commercially viable products are scarce.

Shall we invite him to work in QC?

The challenge for the team and me is the marketing aspect of these products; positioning, pricing, competitiveness, marketing plan, and etc. It’s such a thrill to start all over again from ground zero with a set of new products, and I’m anxious to find out the reaction of our existing resellers about face technology. At the same time, I also have to gauge the impact of face technology introduction on our fingerprint products. Somehow I believe that face recognition could be in symbiosis with fingerprint products and tap into areas that are missed by the later. The major advantage of face recognition products is its contactless nature! No touching of things sounds so appealing to avoid transmission of anything from one stranger to another but more importantly, the feasibility of the product to user. Walk into an office, look at the machine and you are done.

Another benefit is its speed. When a door access or time attendance product can work effectively in high traffic environments, we have a hit. Contactless, fast and reliable, sounds perfect but the next challenge is the pricing and when talking about competitiveness, who are the competitions? From our market research, some are offering solutions for governments and if we are talking commercial products, only a handful and most of them are offering bulky machines. It shouldn’t make us exhale our relief yet, as there are a lot to be done. The products are scheduled to be out this year-end but between now and the launch, it’s not at all a long time.

To our resellers who are reading this, tell me your opinion about face products. If you are interested, perhaps you could start doing some market research in your area and feedback me your findings. That’d be helpful for us to strategize on our marketing plan.

FingerTec 101

2009-07-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to be informed that the failure rate of FingerTec products is almost 50% at one of our customer’s site, which was a very rare complaint. Sensing that something might have gone wrong, we planned a visit only to find out that most of the failed users were so afraid to place their fingers on the machine until they trembled. And some did not place the fingers properly and some placed their fingers very briefly until the system couldn’t response in time.

Placing a finger on a scanner sounds so simple; a no brainer could do it, argue many. Dealers always focus on installation, integration, training and commissioning on the administration side of the system; often times do not pay enough attention on users of the system. As long as the system is up and running, the users have no choice but to use it. Correct?

Not necessarily.

What? Now they wanna use fingerprint system in zoos?

Biometrics, though becoming popular in the industry, is still an alien to many. Biometrics doesn’t make sense to regular people, to Joe and Jane, unless they have done a bit of research or they have the need to get to know biometrics. Unlike punch card, biometrics is a novelty subject. This subject requires explanation to the general public. Some thought that this product is a mobile phone and I’m not making this up!

What goes through users’ minds when it comes to putting their fingers on the scanner? Human mind is uniquely powerful; human emotions could vary from one extreme to another. Could the machine burn my finger? Of course it could not or it wouldn’t pass any safety tests. But, in my opinion, the question is relevant. Not everyone is having an IQ of 100 and more; a bigger portion of the population has an IQ of less than that, which makes the question a valid one.

Trying a new gadget or a machine prompts excitement, apprehension and inquisition. All sorts of questions pop out. Could the system save my fingerprint details and use it for other things? Though FingerTec’s system is using algorithm to translate the fingerprint minutiae into strings of code, which ONLY can be used for the purpose it is intended to, the question is a definitely not wrong. Particularly when it involves foreign workers, like the one at the site, which we visited. It might seem ridiculous but they have reasons to feel what they felt. Would they use my fingerprint for harmful purpose? What if I’m late 10 minutes, would they accumulate the short time and cut my salary? All these are valid questions and need to be clarified.

New thing requires an introduction. And the same goes to the introduction of FingerTec to new users. Apart from performing the most effective enrollments to ensure successful verification, administration needs to EDUCATE users on how to use fingerprint machines, the facts and the fictions. Knowledge makes acceptance quicker and easier, and it also makes operation smoother. When people are in the know, everything becomes easier.

Hi-Tech Human Touch.

Twittering Business

2009-06-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

It’s amazing how people are craving for attention these days. Even rock stars cannot escape the current waves. I personally am following Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert (from afar that is). People all around the world want the world to know every little move that they make. “Just had a shower… putting on talcum under my arms..feels good”, “Looking at a cute chick passing by my lawn”, “Need to get my ear checked, I didn’t sound like Mariah Carey.” These are the type of ‘news’ people are spreading around and hoping to get a little tiny bit of attention from strangers from around the world.

At the same time, we bluntly tell other people, I’m interested to busybody about you, and thus, I am your follower/groupie. This is how the world is, now. Stalker might find their 'hobbies' easier. Post your whereabouts, post your picture, post your activities, post your worry, post every little tiny thought that you have online so people who are following (yes, you need followers) will know exactly how you run your daily life. Interesting… It’s unheard of in our forefather’s eras. If not, the world would be a different place. “Plan to coup d'état French tomorrow” Napoleon would Tweet. “Bye bye Anne Boleyn,” Henry VIII update would be on the day of execution.

A famous little robin bird named Twitter brings about this 'crazy' phenomenon.

Now everybody twitters. Regular guys, celebrities, politicians, comedians, doctors, lawyers, etc. Type in max 104 characters and send the message to let people know about you. “Having lamb shank with a hot date!”, “The post office is not opened yet. Bored waiting…” Basically type anything that floats your boat and make the world a more interesting place to stay.

Conan O' Brien guessing a word in celebrity's tweet post in 'beat that tweet'

Twitterville, full of twitpeeps, needs some businesses too. Dell made use of Twitter to rake sales from its 600,000 followers according to a report. Conan O’Brien has a segment called TwitterTracker in the Tonight’s Show, making fun of celebrities’ blabbering. Lindsay Lohan twitted her own topless photo to gain cheap publicity and E! has used the twitpost repeatedly to garner viewers.

Why is Twitter important in business? Apart from the entertainment value it has, customers can get updated instantly and therefore, get the best deals or the freshest news straight from the source.

We welcome our customers to become our followers in Twitter. Follow us @FingerTec at http://twitter.com/FingerTec

Biometrics Hazard: A Damaging Perception

2009-06-06T08:50:00.001-07:00

Not so long ago, life began imitating movies. Tom Cruise opened doors with his eyes in Mission Impossible. Leo accessed the Situation Room with his palm in The West Wing. Retinal scan was used numerous times in Barb Wire. Voice recognitions are also featured in several movies. And geek watched those movies. Soon after, similar products were developed for government and commercial use. Following the development, commercial biometrics products were introduced to the market and since then, many companies sprouting the industry with biometrics technology ranging from fingerprint to voice to palm to face recognition to vein and etc. Unique body parts have been used in identity recognition and keys have becoming old news.

Everything was good and people welcome the futuristic invention until one day somebody’s mind starting to have a schizophrenic moment. What if the machine has radiation? Could I get cancer? What if somebody before me has an infectious disease, would I get it too if I touched the machine after him? Would I be prone to blindness if the machine read my eyes everyday? Could I miscarry if I used this machine?

It all started as an idea or a perception and after sometimes (plus words of unreliable mouths), the perception becomes ‘facts’ and worry seeps in. One user actually linked her miscarriage to the frequent use of biometrics machine, which was only installed at her office for a month. It’s human nature to put the blame to someone or something else; that’s understandable but to blame it on a machine is not the smart move at all. Another worker made up a story that biometrics machine could cause tumor and it scared the rest of the colleagues. It’s either that or they found a way to escape from using accurate time attendance machine that actually requires them to come to work punctually every day.

As a consumer, we have to be smart. Of course, health issue is not to be taken lightly. Nonetheless, to simply claim that a product is causing some serious diseases like cancer without any proofs is damaging to the business and the employing company.

When talking about contact with the scanner, we have to ask ourselves, how many times do we have contact with any surface daily? Toilet, desk, doors, people, keyboards, so on and so forth. The scanner surface is so small and the usage is not that frequent if it is used for time clocking. You need to contact the scanner more if it’s a door access, assuming that you go in and out of the office very often. Other than that, touching or contact with the scanner is minimal as compared to the other ‘unofficial’ contact daily. Another thing fact is, the light used in the scanner is only LED light and it does not emit radiation. Therefore, to irresponsibly claim that biometrics products are hazardous for human is simply preposterous.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

There is a huge difference between a fact and a perception. Perception does not necessarily become fact unless it’s supported by proofs. When we think that something is dangerous, it doesn’t make our perception right. This is a fact, “Biometrics have been used for 25 years with no health hazards and it’s non-invasive to human.” It’s simply because after 25 years, there’s no health case reported linking biometrics products to fatal diseases. Unless there’s an actual case or study to confirm danger of frequent biometrics products, we maintain that fingerprint products are safe for human use.

Dare To Be Simple

2009-05-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

We Make Things Easy!

IFSEC UK 2009 at the NEC Birmingham was massive. Being one of the largest security shows in the world; it definitely attracted many bigger players from around the world to partake. Earlier this year when Norbain pulled out, the news sent panic attacks to other participants who had confirmed their participations. Went against the grain, FingerTec booked after the news, taking advantage of the lower price offered during the economic downturn, hoping to secure European market. The shrinking of space in IFSEC this year was the evidence that the economy is limping. Nonetheless, not all players were pessimistic; those who carried on with the show, still made it a success for the industry.

Shall We Put On Heavy Make Up or Shall We Go Fresh & Bare?

I don’t have issues with companies with big budgets spending it on booth’s cosmetics. The better the booth’s make up, the better impression it conveys to visitors with an objective to secure more serious buyers. I believe that before any of them investing a lot of money for their booth’s cosmetics, they first have invested in research to confirm effectiveness of their proposed design. And perhaps it’s not a waste to spend some dough on feng shui’s masters as well.

FingerTec however, chose simplicity. Many were puzzled with our decision to be simple in exhibitions. “You should display more products”, one said. “You should have more technical posters,” the other suggested. “You should at least have an LCD TV installed,” another told. “Perhaps you could have two beautiful girls wearing less dress to greet your customers.” Thank you for all the suggestions but somehow we went with simple.

Thorough explanation on the brand value by the MD himself

In fact, we have a standard operating procedure “SOP” on how to make up our booth. First step, second, third and done! I’m joking though; we have like nine steps instead. Never in our intention to not taking any shows seriously. We take pride in all our participations. We simply need to be simple because we want to be consistent; we want to keep our value intact. We make things easy, remember?

Visitors Have Expectations

I also believe that if you were a buyer looking for a fingerprint system, you wouldn’t miss my booth. If you were not looking for a fingerprint system, you are not my target customers. At this junction, FingerTec is looking for small to medium sized enterprises to distribute our products and market our brand in their respective regions. And being simple at a show will not intimidate anybody. The important thing for us is to have a chance to explain to people who show interest, the concept of our marketing, and the value of our brands. Once we are done with our presentation, usually we will secure the orders through the third or fourth email communications.

IFSEC – A Gateway to Europe

It’s important to be in IFSEC. The presence of the brand is not only good for the UK market but also for other European countries. We have great potential clients from Switzerland, the Nederland, France, Czech Republic, Latvia, Spain, just to name a few. We secured sales from Denmark and from some companies in the UK. All in all IFSEC was a good show despite all the challenges and the simplicity of the booth.

With Dr Riyadh and wife from Iraq

With Prince and Theodora from Nigeria

Me, Mandy, Bob and Mr Teh

We also had the opportunity to meet our valued partners from around the world at IFSEC. We would like to convey our thank you to Bob Marshall from Video Marques, our reseller since 2007 for your kind hospitality. We thank Mr Faisal Kan, Managing Director of IPTEC, for keeping faith in FingerTec products. Thank you to Dr Riyadh and the wife for stopping by and for the special treat from Iraq. And last but not least, thank you to Ms Theodora and Mr Prince from Rapid Vigil from Nigeria for taking the time to visit our booth.

Strolling the city of Birmingham after work

Will you be seeing us again in Birmingham next year? A definite YES and please don’t expect any fancy booth because we dare to be simple in a massive show but rest assure that we will always find ways to improve on our simplicity to attract lot more customers, and no, we are not going to hire girls with less dress. I can see Bob is making sad face..

Asian Culture in Business

2009-05-04T01:26:00.000-07:00

We might not be as casual as Google or having a cool boss like Richard Branson (sorry boss, you are not into daredevil activities) but we do have our own culture, which makes FingerTec the best place to work, at least in my opinion. When I started working some 12 years ago, people told me that if you like the toilet, you will work long in that company. Guess what? I have been working at FingerTec close to nine years. Current renovation of the toilet foresees my career in FingerTec for another 10.

Truth be told, Asians have a lot of qualities desired by Westerners. We are warm people, the women are obedient as compared to the same gender from the West perhaps most of our men too :-), we are (kind of) busy body where we like to know what happen to others and prefer to help if they need help and we have the ‘it’s okay’ attitude in many circumstances. In other words, we don’t really sweat small stuff. When the same attitudes are applied to the workplace, we can only make our customers happy.

I recalled one customer who bought cartons of FingerTec products and on top of that order he asked us to source for him a baby stroller. While most of ‘professional’ companies would not even consider, we included the said stroller along with his consignment. It didn’t make us less professional, only a little closer to the heart of our client. When a customer wants us to separate his order into cartons of different items instead of the readily packed products, we obeyed. A bit more tasks on our side but it’s okay. At the end of the day, the objective is to make our customers happy. When a customer asked for a favor to get for his son a birthday present that can be sourced at a better price in Malaysia, we said we try and we did.

The management also borrows the motto of Google, “Don’t be evil” to stress the importance of being nice, not only to clients but also to colleagues and competitors. One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch, some said. And I couldn’t agree more. An evil staff can influence other staff to be slackers, an evil staff can damage the image of a brand and an evil staff can spill the beans to competitors without having any remorse.

We do have some problems and crisis to attend to along the way but we don’t sweat small stuff, we help as much as we could and we don’t act evil. That is the best recipe to get us through the days.

Recently, the company employs an internal auditor to make our work more systematic. Not that we don’t have systems but his job is to make our current systems more methodical. He is astounded by our flexibility and right now is trying his very best to make us “professional”.

But the question is, how business do we want to be when it comes to dealing with our clients? A few things to be noted are, we are not lenient when payment is concerned; we are kiasu* (check footnote) Asians. We don’t want to be taken for granted just because we love to assist; we are sensitive people. We hate false promises; so do other people around the world. The challenge for us is to offer a business that is professionally conducted but accommodating to the needs of our clients.

And we believe FingerTec can because we always want to make things easy and we try to solve it all for you, our valued customers.

I will be in IFSEC next week. See you in Birmingham at Hall 4E, Booth 152.

*Kiasu - Hokkien adjective literally meaning, "afraid of losing".

A Change of System or A System of Change

2009-04-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Change is not as easy as it sounds. To change, one needs to have a desire to change and he has to work towards the change. Unwelcome change would definitely face resistance; it doesn’t matter whether it’s a huge or a baby-step change.

To change a clocking system from a normal card system to a fingerprint system is not a mere change of system, it’s a change of attitude.

Card system has ‘flexibility’ in the sense that you don’t have to always be you. Your buddy can act as you and nobody knows. Just give your card and maybe your password to him and you are ‘present’, you are there.

But for a fingerprint system, there’s no exception. The machine doesn’t accept your buddy’s fingerprint to claim it’s yours. It’s not so ‘user-friendly’ in that sense. So, the pressure is on for those who are not punctual or I would like call them “time-cheater”.

Therefore, to change a clocking system to a fingerprint system would face a certain degree of resistance from the time-cheater. It might cause uneasiness to some but at the same time it can also causing havoc and starting damaging rumors and false claims about the fingerprint system just to NOT using it.

Fingerprint Causing Cancer?

So does chocolate. So does deodorant. So does talcum. So does your enemy. That, if you believed everything you read was true. Believe doesn’t make things become true. I believe that my cat can talk, and she actually calls me ‘mommy’.

In an effort to tarnish the credibility of fingerprint system so that they can continue to slacken in their time discipline at the office, some irresponsible parties have claimed that fingerprint system is causing cancer.

A fingerprint system doesn’t radiate any kind of ray except LED light, which has been proven to be harmless to human. And FingerTec systems are CE and FCC certified, again to prove that the products are safe to be used by human beings.

But again, we don’t have to defend ourselves from the false claims by these lazy people because at the end of the day, their intentions were truly selfish.

FingerTec System Causing A Change In Attitude

When you-are-you concept was introduced more than 5 years ago, identity verification was taken to another level by biometrics. The presence of fingerprint verification data is important to prove presence in attendance system and to access certain spaces. Nobody can say he came but no data recorded or claimed that he was not there when his fingerprint data was present.

If this wouldn’t cause you to change attitude towards better time management, what would?

Because Complexity Never Made Anyone Feel Good

2009-03-02T00:27:00.000-08:00

Even definition of complexity is very difficult to define. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary version 2000, complexity / noun 1 [U] the state of being informed of many parts; the state of being difficult to understand 2 (complexities) [pl.] the features of a problem or situation that are difficult to understand. The word complexity originated from Latin word complexus, which signifies entwined, twisted together.

I was introduced to the term fingerprint technology the same year that I bought the dictionary and the year I joined FingerTec Worldwide. Complex and alien words such as algorithm, minutiae points, biometrics, capacitance, and bifurcation were added to my vocabulary.

Minutiae or the points of interest in a fingerprint have 3 significant features. First is known as a ridge, basically a line on a fingerprint. It’s important to determine where these lines end, referred to as ridge endings. Second, if a ridge split, the feature is known as bifurcation, and ridges split in many places and at random. The third important feature on minutiae is a dot or a short ridge.

Combinations of these minutia features make up the uniqueness of fingerprints. And this is just the beginning of a fingerprint story. When algorithm, a set of finite mathematical formula becomes a crucial factor in its technology, the complexity of fingerprint technology intensified. Capacitance has passive and active, optical vs ultrasonic, ultrasonic has to use piezoelectric transducers, etc. While the topic of fingerprint technology might excite scientists and engineers, it is definitely not a cup of tea for the common technologically challenge people who are more interested in merely using the technology and to the business people who are more focused on how they could make money out of this technology.

The solid algorithm for fingerprint technology cannot be compromised in anyway in any kinds of fingerprint technology neither for criminal identification nor for commercial fingerprint. That’s default. However, the complexity of the technology shouldn’t be imposed on customers during the marketing of fingerprint technology products.

We tried that in the first few years of FingerTec business. Talking to customers like we were highly qualified scientists trying to sell them high-technology time machine. We explained to customers how the technology works, how the matching is done, even taught them about fingerprint through magnifying glass.

The question is, do customers interested to know how technology works? Let me give you an example. You pick up a mobile, you dial a legitimate number and it connects you to a recipient. You can hear his voice and you can talk for long until the battery or the credit finishes, whichever comes earlier. But did the salesman who sold you the mobile phone tell you how your voice could be transferred from one phone to the exact person you called? Did he explain to you the components that capture the signal emitted by your mobile? That’s what I’m getting at. Consumers do not need to know the details of the technology.

What matter to them are, the technology should solve their problems, the technology should come affordable and the technology should not come with a set of new problems to worsen their constant headache.

People despise complexity. The only complex that people like, and I’m talking about common people is shopping complex, and that’s maybe only true for women. That’s the reason why Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef is so popular. That explains why For Dummies and The Complete Idiot’s Guide To titles flooded bookstores around the world. And also why many people fail math and science.

In any marketing activities, which target customers, boost on system’s simplicity, instill the idea of “we solves it all” for you instead of we sell you inventive high technology products which are new and perhaps you are the only one in the world who has it. Customers need to be convinced about efficiency of the system. They don’t need to know how the plane flies but what matters to them is the plane gets them to the destination. They don’t need to know how capable the pilot is because that’s the responsibility of the airlines.

Don’t get intimidated by brands, which boast on their high technologies, it doesn’t really matter to the consumers. Get to the heart of the customers, telling them we care. Like LG says it, Life’s Good with LG. Like Nokia who keeps on connecting people. At FingerTec, we solves it all.

And in attempts not to burden them with explanation about the technology, we shouldn’t burden them with substandard quality of products and services. In short, we have to be true to our marketing promise of making things easy for customers.

We Invented Time Machine

2009-02-22T00:39:00.000-08:00

Time is precious. I learnt this later in life when I found myself having not enough time to spend at my own leisure. The brutal fact is, everybody gets 24-hours a day. No one in this world gets more, neither Britney Spears nor Courtney Love. You can’t pray to God and ask for an extra 3 hours in the first week of next month. You just don’t get more. Period. And, it’s totally up to an individual to use hours he gets in his life to make it worthwhile. But at the same time, why did some people achieve more and others did less? Interesting.

Who discovered time?
Time wasn’t an issue in the older days; clocks were merely accessories. Time becomes important when each hour equals dollars and cents. Time becomes vital when companies decided to be calculative; when words like productivity, discipline, and man-hours meant something. In the older days people who did not use the time wisely were just referred to as lazy.

People Did Invent Time Machine
To actually time people, a punch card machine was introduced. Every staff was given a card to time his working hour. There was even a song made about punch card sung by the late Sudirman, which went like this in my translated version. “People were hustling and bustling to get into the office on time. Punch card! You gotta be hurry! Punch card! You gotta be hurry!” I was in primary school at that time and though I didn’t really understand what was a punch card, the melody was catchy. I’m not pulling your leg! A SONG was made about punch card!

When I was serving a government agency 12 years back, my days went in slow motions. They were like Keanu Reeve’s Matrix moments every day except when I had to catch a bus for a ride home. Work finished at 430pm but at 3pm everybody was restless to leave the office. At 4pm, there were some fellows already lined up in front of the punch card machine to make sure a constant 430 for a month on the card.

I could have used some of those times now, if possible, to do some of the things I needed done.

Implementations of the punch card were good until one fine day a ‘brilliant’ employee had an idea to ask his colleague to punch the card for him while he went to watch a movie with his girlfriend. “Buddy-punching” term was created, the meaning spread around and everybody was relieved to discover that the system had flaw. And that was when the resellers of punch card knew that their days were numbered.

Well, not exactly like 10,9, 8, 7, 6 kinda count down. It took the people in the industry years to still be doing cards like proximity and smart card, but when biometrics technique like fingerprint was introduced for office automation, the real thing has arrived. Sorry-dear-friend, I-can’t-help- to-punch-your-time-no-more scenario plagues the offices.

Unfortunately, no song was made this time.

I got a bad news from a friend in USA recently. She told me that its either a pay cut or a job cut for her. She doesn’t really mind a pay cut but what about if the worst happened. In difficult times like this, purse strings are pulled tightly; every cent going out and coming in counts, and everybody realizes he has a Dutch in him.

And Time Machine Becomes Sophisticated
In times like this, an employee wishes she could have practiced more discipline. In times like this, an employer wishes he/she some kind of indicator about how a fellow staff uses his time.

Fingerprint system for time attendance is not about benefiting employer only; it works to the best of both sides. Automated reports generated by fingerprint readers counted hours more honestly than before. Employee has honest records to show his performance and employer has honest records of his employees. And honesty is STILL the best policy!

Time matters. When work hours equal pay and when hours work equals performance, time is a necessity. And by writing this, I spent many minutes of my time not watching my favorite American Idol. Thank God for reruns.

What’s Name Got To Do With It?

2009-02-10T02:00:00.000-08:00

(Photo taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpatterson)

Whoever says that choosing a brand name for a product is not THAT crucial to the business needs a brain check. I’m serious. As I was watching Australian Open a week ago I kept seeing the logo of Nike, which was correct all the time. The name is simple yet unique, hard to copy. The closest I can think of is Hike or and it still doesn’t sound close to Nike. My father used to have a pair of Abibas sandal and I thought that was hilarious. Virgin is another example of a good name; applicable to various industries and at the same time oozes innocence, truth, and pure vibe to even saying the brand name. A name creates energy around your products, it basically determines the destiny of your products, it has the power to move or to remove your products from the market.

FingerTec came about in 2000. To some people in the industry, it’s not deep but at the same time they are kicking themselves in the head for not thinking of that name earlier. It’s a good name for what we do. Finger Technology – FingerTec; it could be a generic name for fingerprint system like Colgate for toothpaste and Google for the Search Engine. When I was in India, my reseller informed ma that someone was using FingerTec name to sell his other brand’s fingerprint system. My dealer made a call to his office. “Hi Sir! Are you selling FingerTec?” in which the culprit replied him nonchalantly, “Yes, we are Sir. FingerTec we have many and we sell at a very reasonable price.” “But Sir, we are the exclusive distributor of FingerTec in India and we didn’t know you exist” “Don’t get me wrong, I am selling Finger technology, FingerTec! My brand name is XXX. Are you interested?” “But Sir, your advertisement mentioned FingerTec instead of your brand!” “I mean finger technology! Finger technology! FingerTec! &*^%*”

Apple is an extremely good name. For those who made fun of Gywneth have to first see the history of an apple. It’s innocently inviting yet dangerously cursed in the story of Adam and Eve, the same plot retold in the Sleeping Beauty, an alluring products with dangerously huge potentials in the computer and electronic market when it comes to Apple, the brand. Apple is indeed a good name!

FingerTec for fingerprint product is a match made in heaven. However, there’s also a hurdle when it comes to diversification. The name FingerTec is a little bit off for iris technology, palm, voice, cards and cameras for example. So, shall we name our new product line Pomegranate or Papaya?

Hopeful 2009

2009-01-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

The economy hasn’t made any sign of recovery at the time I’m writing this article. America, while it is hopeful with the change who leads the nation, still is lingered with doubts on the future of the country in terms of economy. Russia is blanketed with questions on how they would recover the credit crunch crisis that leaves many hardworking citizens unemployed. Britain is broke and so are many other countries. Tensions and conflicts continue to worsen around the world, fueled by India-Pakistan crisis which has escalated to a new level of warning following the attacks in Mumbai; Bangkok’s politic remains unpredictable despite democratic selection of the Prime Minister, attacks in Gaza divides the world. It’s indeed melodramatic to keep on singing the poignant tunes. Nonetheless, to remain in business, a certain level of optimism must be preserved. How’s the world faring for us in 2009, I would like to offer my perspective.

Close to Home, Closer to the Heart

South East Asia is a small, yet very relevant region to FingerTec. Credit crunch crisis might have affected some countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore more severely than the rest due to plummeting of local currencies against the US Dollar; however demands for security products remain positive from the consumer market, as security is still the major concern of businesses. For example, In Malaysia, tax incentive is proposed for security control equipments in 2009, encouraging businesses to put focus on security at the workplace. As promising the market sounds, resellers have to take most of the beatings, managing cash flow to keep the company going, constant haggling for cheaper price with suppliers, at the same time facing the risk of customer pull out at any attempts to increase retail price.

FingerTec has to remain hopeful in the South East Asia with carefully strategize marketing plan in Malaysia and Indonesia, the two biggest markets of FingerTec in this region. On January 15, FingerTec Worldwide in collaboration with CV Retailindo Tech will organize TA100 DIY product launching in Jakarta, targeting smaller offices, which prefer hardware without software complexity. The new founded partnership with Silver Seas rekindles FingerTec’s hope in Vietnam which had been kept in view in the last two years. India is a constant struggle with pricing in order for us to remain relevant in the market that is filled with cheaper goods and mediocre support. Compax is fighting for a space for FingerTec in this tough and price sensitive market.

Don’t Make War, Make Money

The love hate relationship between the Middle East and the West doesn’t affect us that much or at all. We hails the Middle East for all different reasons, the business is abundance from this part of the world for FingerTec. Grey marketing remains one of the biggest challenges because apparently the middle easterners are friendlier with their neighboring countries and business moves freely between them across borders, and the fact remains that they know about one another pretty well. Exclusivity in distributorship while on the one hand comforting to both agreed parties, on the other it could spell insignificant tie if parallel importers remained a problem in this region. FingerTec will be showcased in Comex, Mashahad Iran by our partner Toos Anis this January and concurrently we will stage a joint exhibition with Seven Seas, our partner in Dubai at the Intersec, Dubai. FingerTec has made progress in Bangladesh and Pakistan with appointments of new exclusive resellers comprising of Mushko and General Automation that are experienced in the field. FingerTec in Jordan is thriving with assistance from Euro Jordan and we are doing good Kuwait with the push from ITDelta. Rebuilding of Iraq spells good business for FingerTec and requests keep coming from the Middle East for FingerTec due to our localization strategy. Our marketing materials pay attention to the sensitivity of Middle Eastern people; we introduce the picture of a covered Muslim woman instead of the sleeveless FingerTec girl. Mr Benacer Douadi (ben@fingertec.com) is making contact with the Arabs using Arabic language and he speaks French with people from North Africa. Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa have done a great job in making FingerTec popular in their respective countries, and with the support from FingerTec, we could do so much more in 2009 in terms of showcasing the products to a larger audience through exhibitions, advertisements and strategic position of FingerTec products in Africa.

All is Not Lost with Extra Efforts and Plenty of Hope

FingerTec is still finding its way to capture the market of the USA, Europe and Russia. All of them are badly hit by the economic downturn. America & Russia are having no money to spend and everything in Europe is getting pricier; still our hopes are not dampened. In March, our team will fly to Moscow for MIPS 2009 hoping to get some business from this Putin country, in May we will participate in IFSEC UK and in July we will head to Miami to attend America’s Fire and Security Show. Mr Batyr Komurzoev (batyr@fingertec.com), FingerTec in charge person of the CIS countries realizes that his tasks are not a walk in the park. Extra efforts are required to connect with the right partner while strategizing on the brand presence over the Internet, in Russian.

Ha sido un buen año, gracias a Dios

FingerTec had salsa and samba in Latin America in 2008 and the music gets saucier in 2009. Mexico and El Salvador maintain positions as two of our largest players in Latin American continent. Sales in Ecuador, Venezuela, Angola, Nicaragua, Peru, Argentina is picking up and requests from other countries are being closely monitored. Spanish language localization has been proven effective and Ms Regielou Rolloque (regie@fingertec.com) is busy building rapport between FingerTec and the clients from the continent. GM Robotic of Mexico will participate in Expo Seguridad México 2009, which will showcase FingerTec in April. Our team will head to Brasil for Exposec 2009 in Sao Paulo, looking for opportunity in the largest country in South America.

And, me and the team are all geared up for the challenge of 2009.

TA100 DIY Launch in Jakarta Next Month!

2008-12-12T05:56:00.000-08:00

Located at the Hotel Peninsula, Jakarta, FingerTec in collaboration with Retailindo Tech will be launching the much awaited time attendance products, TA100 DIY in Indonesia on the 15 of January 2009. Sincerely yours and her humble assistant, Tamy will be there to witness the grand introduction of this true standalone fingerprint time attendance product.

We hope Retailindo rocks the show because we will not be assisting in anyway on that day, on the stage. Our mission is to witness Retailindo, Mr Eviek and Ms Sui Ping make history. Don't get us wrong, we do help before the show though. We want the event to be as local as possible with no interruptions from outsiders, international people like us. :-) And once TA100 DIY takes off in Indonesia, we want to promote this product aggressively in South Africa and Mexico.

Anybody thinks their market love this product, email me at ana@fingertec.com and let's discuss on plan to conquer.

What's the fuss about TA100 DIY anyways? It's TA100 series but WITHOUT any software. All settings are done at the terminal itself and the reports can be saved in USB Flash Disk for printing. It's easy as ABC. TA100 DIY is suitable for offices with employees with less than 50 staff and those who are not interested in software (obviously!).

So, how many you want to order?

10 Things Uniquely India – At least from my observation

2008-10-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

Last week I was in New Delhi for the second time, attended IFSEC India 2008 with our partner, Compax. Here are 10 things I observed which are uniquely India!

10. Auto is the king of transportation
The auto can get you almost anywhere at the cheapest price and the fastest way. Hop on any of those and enjoy the traffic of Delhi!

9. There’s something about Indian guys hair
Even the cartoon characters have Indian hair and the sideburns. Not a single strand is out of place and it stays neat throughout the day. They must have received some kind of training during childhood on hair maintenance.

8. Healthy snack is everywhere
Nuts, peas, dhal, rice with onions, green chilies and tomatoes combined is heavenly. Sweet potatoes, refrigerated water everywhere. What’s not to like?

7. Natural mouth freshener
As natural as you can get…

6. Crowded redefined
Nearing Diwali, the Indians started to shop and in places near the Jama’ Mosque, India gives me new definition of crowded. And it was C.R.O.W.D.E.D!!!!

5. Honking is a culture
You honk to avoid people banging you, you honk to avoid being banged, you honk to say you are there, you honk for fun, and you honk just because you are alive.

4. Cricket is life
I went to India Gate and saw every guy in Delhi trained and played cricket. Soccer is just netball for Indian guys. :-)

3. Negotiation is in their blood
When people said INR 1000, I said INR 5000, and I thought I was good. This is how you SHOULD do it.
You: How much?
Seller: INR1000.
You: What? This thing for 1000 rupees? INR250!
* If they didn’t budge, just walk away. You will get seal the deal in 5 seconds.

2. Vegetables are in huge demand!
Even the ice cream experts is a pure vegetarian. My friend from Chennai told me about this new development, “Chicken is a vegetarian”. And we argued the whole night about this new development and we plan to continue this argument next year.

1. Hospitality is No. 1
Indian hospitality is No. 1, the first time I went and the second time around. Thank you guys for the warm welcome and the lovely stay. India rocks! That's me in Indian traditional attire. Happy Diwali to all my Indian friends and clients.

I want less.

2008-10-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Humans are pretty weird if you haven’t noticed yet. We evolve and we adapt to our environments. Whose theory was right? Jean-Baptiste Lamarck theorized that giraffe had long neck because of its constant effort to reach the higher leaves. Darwin kicked Lamarck’s arse by introducing the theory of evolution where giraffe that reached the better leaves (higher leaves) survived and multiplied. Darwin went a bit further with his theory, saying that men originated from apes, which I refuse to be a part of; I stay with my human descendants. The fact is, humans adapt. We (humans) always go one way and then reverse, and then we start again following the pattern, to adapt to our surroundings. Take for example, mobile phones. Back in the 80s, the hugest the better. After a while those who hadn’t changed their phones pretended that the ringing phone in the handbag was not hers. Everybody rooted for the smallest Nokia where humans with thumbs exceeding 1 inch in diameter would not be able to use. When PDA phone was introduced, we went big again. The bigger the better and those with PDA phones had smirk in their faces when looking at those having mere talking phones.

Talking about FingerTec, I was with the company since the AC600 model (For the uninitiated (mostly all of you), it’s the-futuristic-protruding weird-looking fingerprint machine which we thought cool at that time and some judges thought the same things as we won several awards for AC600). Now, occasionally we use it to crack a joke. “Whoever gets the highest sales will receive a one-kind award-winning phone.” It’s pretty lame but we rolled on the floor laughing when the AC600 was introduced.

Then we got slimmer with AC900. So slim that many were envious and produced the same thing. One thing they didn’t notice, our AC900 has two strips of silver on the sides. It’s just an illusion to make us look slimmer like most women do. After the introduction of AC900, we shifted our focus to give more; more features, more capacity, more memory, more this, more that which in the end means more money for us and for our clients. While many welcomed our enthusiasm in producing more, one thing we failed to realize at that time was there were people who prefer less. Minimalists do exist, people!

As humans, we adapt and we produce the machines for the minimalist. The simpler, the better they say. And we obliged. Thus, soon we will be introducing TA100 DIY. No software, easy-to-use time attendance reader, easy on your mind and easy on your wallet. My question is, do you think the TA100 DIY will stay small? By now, you get the drift already that we always go one-way and reverse to start again. Check out the latest TA100 DIY to go back to simplicity.

Eid Mubarak to All!

2008-10-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

Eid Fitr is such a wonderful and meaningful celebration to me and my family and I'm taking this opportunity to wish all my Muslim customers, Eid Mubarak. I'm taking a long break for Eid and please accept my sincerest apology if I couldn't be reached during this time of the year. I'll be back by Wednesday next week, a couple of pounds heavier. :-)

If you got it right, it sticks in your mind

2008-09-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

This reminiscence is rather local thus my apology to my international readers. But you can always connect this story to your own experience. Anybody can recall this jingle? "Kiki, rasa buah-buahan baru, kunyah dan tiup oh seronoknya, kiki bubble gum". It's in my mind since I was about 5 years old, I think. The kiki cartoon character with red overall and yellow t-shirt floating in the sky after he made a balloon out of his Kiki chewing gum. That was awesome! The word "kunyah" (chew) was very vivid in my memory because it's pronounced "kuniyah" by a Chinese singer. What about recent Perkeso very jubilant song about how you should get protected in the workplace? I couldn't recall the exact tune but I remember that I rolled on the floor laughing to the lyrics. How clever, NOT! But it reminded me of Perkeso and I check my payroll slip monthly to make sure I am protected. There was another one that never leaves me. "Amanah Saham Nasional sedia menjaga pelaburan, setiap ketika... melaburlah segera...segera labur segera!", anybody remember this one? I love this jingle. It's almost like a pop song. We danced to it, we sang it in the bathroom, we even hope that Amanah Saham Nasional would do one more round of this jingle for its A&P.

The thing about jingle, if you got it right, it sticks in your mind like nobody's business. And, it's good for business! Literally!

This reminiscence does not come randomly. FingerTec is on its way to having our own jingle! By November, this (jingle) will be our in our iPod, in our jukebox, in our list of the most favorite song of all times. I have my confidence in the team that's producing the track. We will not stop at that, this song/jingle would be localized to other languages as well. So, watch out world! We are going to hypnotize you to get more stock of FingerTec.

I have never thought that this is possible

2008-09-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

The outside world is changing rapidly, yet I remain fixated in my office accessing the world from my laptop. Who would have thought that it is possible to do international business sitting down? When people heard about my job, the usual respond would be, you must be busy traveling the world. While the comment might not be totally untrue, I handle international deals mostly from the comfort of my own room, and most of my clients have never seen me face-to-face. I was indeed approached by a few local companies with stories about their success in handling overseas markets and that they have the good “cable” size which could connect us to the right “power”. We don’t deny their success but at the end of the day, FingerTec is much more comfortable dealing with local people who have Internet connection and know how to connect to their local buyers effectively.

Once my boss entered the sales department and made a good observation, “You are the leader of the United Nation,” he said. I couldn’t agree more looking at the team of sales personnel we have. To connect to the world, the importance of language can’t be overlooked. English could have done half of the job I supposed but how about Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, Russian, Iraq, Iran to say the least? I said hello, and they say hola and started speaking Spanish. I ended up Googling what they said and they laughed at my reply, which obviously I cut and pasted from the Google free translation service. I took no offense because I shouldn’t be talking gibberish to the potential customers.

There’s when Regielou would come to the rescue and hola them back. Customers from the Middle East are not as hard but once in while I would receive an email, which I couldn’t figure out the meaning. They thought they had written in English like I thought I had spoken in Spanish. Months ago I would stare at the email trying to make sense of it but now we have Benacer who would reply in Arabic, writing from right to left to find out what they want. Do I understand what Ben wrote? Couldn’t understand a word but for as long as he’s bringing sales and the customer is happy, I know that he’s doing a good job. Because if not, we would definitely get an email with a subject COMPLAINT, regardless of the language they use in the emails. We are planning to hire a couple more different language experts to complete our mini UN office.

I learn from my years of “sitting down” with customers that their priority are fast services and having choices. Who would have wanted to pay and wait for long to get the orders? And it’s human to prefer choices and FingerTec provides choices. I stress to my team to not deny clients choices. If the clients need the goods fast, do it for them but make sure the payment is in first. J How do you want to ship your goods? We have choices of ready packages, loose items, bubble wrapping, no boxes, fold the boxes and put them under the carton, etc. You want us to source for accessories for you; we try. You prefer to use your brother to pick up your goods; we have no problem. You want us to quote for the lowest shipping; we find that info for you. The only choice we aren’t providing at this moment is payment term. And we are sorry about that but we are not going against the company’s no. 1 policy.

5 years back, I have never thought that I would have a client in Sudan who orders a few times per month, demand their choices to be taken care of in a matter of hours, venting their anger when we disappoint them once in a while and at the same time we maintain a very respectful and fruitful relationship with each other through emails. Our distributor in South Africa was screaming with joy in the email when we told them that we have the goods they wish for; a lot of exclamation marks were used, I can tell you that. All that happened virtually but very real. FingerTec will continue to serve our clients all over the world with all our humility we could offer. We believe that relationship is built based on trust and commitment. No matter that we have never met most of our clients, what matter is our clients taken care of FingerTec® brand name in places where we would never thought we could reach by ourselves.