In offices that put a premium on security and change employee passwords every few weeks, such devices could pay for themselves in two or three years, said John Gustafson, chief executive of National Registry Inc., a Florida company that's selling the low-cost scanners. Using the New Devices Many people who use biometric devices give the technology generally positive reviews, industry analysts and executives say. At the Commerce Department's computer center in Springfield, though, endorsements came only alter an initial round of skepticism. The center uses 15 hand-scanning devices to restrict access to sensitive areas and to punch employees in and out. After using the devices a few times and learning the right way to slide one's hand in for the scan, people warmed up to the idea, said Smith, who uses one of the devices to enter his office.
Most people feel pretty comfortable with it.
In larger environments, however, the technology is still experiencing growing pains. At Newark Airport, breakdowns are regular occurrences for the INS scanning system, which handles hundreds of passengers every day. Industry experts expect the same thing to happen when the technology is added to ATMs, but they remain sanguine that such bugs eventually will be worked out. When it comes to fingerprint and hand-scanning devices, privacy and reliability aren't the only worries for consumers and businesses, industry watchers say. The trickier problems will be dealing with people who are reluctant to touch the fingerprint reader for fear of picking up germs, accommodating disabled people and dealing with manual workers, such as plasterers, who might produce poor scans.