Introduction

Facial recognition attendance has become one of the most reliable and contactless methods for recording employee attendance. Instead of relying on biometric fingerprints, RFID cards, or manual attendance registers, employees simply authenticate themselves using facial recognition. The attendance machine captures their check-in and check-out records, ensuring faster attendance marking while reducing the chances of proxy attendance and manual errors.

However, setting up a facial recognition attendance system involves more than just installing the device. The attendance machine must communicate with a database, and the attendance data stored in the database must then be synchronized with your uKnowva HRMS instance. This integration ensures that attendance records captured by the device automatically appear in the HRMS portal without requiring manual imports.

In this article, you will learn how to connect the facial recognition device to your network, register employees, configure the SQL Server database, set up the Sync Tool, and automatically synchronize attendance records with uKnowva HRMS.

Overview

The uKnowva HRMS Attendance Sync solution automatically transfers attendance records from your attendance device to your uKnowva HRMS instance. The deployment consists of three main components that must be configured in sequence:

• Attendance Device – Captures employee attendance records.

• SQL Server Database – Stores attendance logs and prepares them for synchronization.

• Attendance Sync Tool – Retrieves attendance data from the database and sends it to uKnowva HRMS using the Attendance API.

Note: Complete these configurations in the same order. The Sync Tool depends on the database setup to read attendance records correctly.

Before You Begin

Before starting the deployment, make sure you have:

• A facial recognition attendance device connected to your Wi-Fi network.

• A Windows computer with SQL Server (or SQL Server Express) installed.

• SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and database login credentials.

• The uKnowva HRMS Attendance Sync Tool installed.

• Your uKnowva HRMS API Base URL and Bearer Token.

Prerequisite: Attendance Software Setup

Before proceeding with the uKnowva Attendance Sync integration, the attendance machine must first be connected to the attendance software provided by the respective machine vendor. The vendor will install the required software on the designated system and complete its initial configuration, including the necessary credentials and settings. This is a one-time prerequisite that the vendor will complete before the uKnowva integration begins.

Once this prerequisite is completed, you can proceed with the steps covered in this guide to configure the database connection, Attendance Sync Tool, API configuration, and synchronization with uKnowva HRMS. The remaining steps in this document explain how to complete and configure the uKnowva Attendance Sync integration using the attendance data provided by the vendor's system.

The uKnowva team will take responsibility for establishing the connection between the vendor’s attendance system and uKnowva HRMS and completing the required integration setup.

The exact attendance software and its initial setup may vary depending on the attendance machine and vendor. Therefore, the vendor is responsible only for making the attendance system ready, while this guide covers the subsequent integration process with uKnowva HRMS.

Step 1: Connect the Facial Recognition Device to Wi-Fi

Before configuring the software components, begin by connecting the facial recognition attendance machine to the organisation’s network. This allows the device to communicate with the computer where the attendance database is stored.

Power on the attendance device and open its Network or Wi-Fi Settings menu. Search for the Wi-Fi network you want the device to connect to, enter the appropriate password, and connect the device.

After connecting, verify that the device has a stable network connection and can communicate with the Windows computer that hosts the SQL Server database.

It is important to keep the attendance device connected to the network at all times. Although the device can temporarily store attendance punches while offline, those records cannot be synchronized with the uKnowva HRMS portal until network connectivity is restored.

Note: Whenever the organisation’s router, Wi-Fi password, or network configuration changes, verify that the device reconnects successfully before proceeding.

Step 2: Register Employees on the Attendance Device

Once the device is connected to the network, the next step is to enroll employees so they can start marking attendance using facial recognition.

Open the User Registration or Enroll User menu available on the attendance device.

Create a new employee by entering the Username and Employee Code (Empcode). The Employee Code entered here must exactly match the Employee Code available in uKnowva HRMS. This mapping ensures that attendance records are posted against the correct employee profile during synchronization.

Next, follow the on-screen instructions to capture the employee's facial data using the device camera. Ask the employee to stand in a well-lit environment while looking directly at the camera.

Once the face scan is completed successfully, save the employee record.

The employee can now use facial recognition to mark attendance, and every punch will automatically be stored by the device.

Best Practice: Register employees in a well-lit environment and ask them to remove masks, sunglasses, caps, or any accessories that may obstruct facial recognition for better matching accuracy.

Step 3: Verify Attendance Records in the SQL Server Database

After the attendance device begins recording punches, verify that the attendance records are reaching the SQL Server database before configuring synchronization.

Open SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to the CTIME database used by the attendance machine.

The attendance device stores every attendance punch inside the TextfileData table. Run the verification query provided in the implementation guide to ensure that attendance records are being inserted correctly into this table.

This verification step confirms that the attendance device is communicating correctly with the database. If no records are returned, troubleshoot the network connectivity or device configuration before continuing.

Step 4: Create the Facial Recognition Database View

After verifying that attendance records are available in the database, create a database view named facial_recognition.

A database view provides a clean and structured representation of the attendance records stored in the TextfileData table. Instead of reading raw database tables directly, the Sync Tool reads data from this view, making synchronization more consistent and easier to manage.

Run the CREATE VIEW statement provided in the implementation guide to create the facial_recognition view.

Once created, verify the view by executing:

If the query returns attendance records successfully, the database configuration is complete.

Note: This view only needs to be created once for each organization database. If modifications are required later, use ALTER VIEW instead of creating it again.

Step 5: Configure the Sync Tool Database Connection

After the database is ready, open the Attendance Sync Tool and configure its database connection.

Navigate to the Database tab and enter the SQL Server connection details, including the database type, SQL Server host, port number, SQL login credentials, database name, and SQL Server ODBC driver.

Once all details have been entered, click Test Connection to verify that the Sync Tool can successfully communicate with the SQL Server database.

If the connection is successful, click Save Database Config to save the configuration.

This step establishes communication between the Sync Tool and the database containing attendance records.

If you need detailed instructions for configuring the database connection, refer to the Complete Deployment System Guide for uKnowva HRMS Attendance Sync Application.

Step 6: Configure the API Integration

The next step is to configure the Sync Tool so that it can transfer attendance data from the SQL Server database to uKnowva HRMS.

Open the API Configuration section.

If an API configuration already exists, click on it to select it and then click the Edit Selected button to modify the existing configuration. If no configuration is available, click the Add New API Config button to create a new API configuration.

Under DB Configuration, leave Use Dynamic Table disabled because the integration uses the fixed database view named facial_recognition.

Specify facial_recognition as the fixed table name and leave the Custom SQL field empty, allowing the Sync Tool to automatically retrieve attendance data from the database view.

Configure the synchronization limit according to your organization's requirements. You can specify a maximum number of records to synchronize in each execution or leave it as zero to synchronize all available records.

Step 7: Configure Body Mapping

Body Mapping determines how the database fields are mapped to the fields expected by the uKnowva HRMS attendance API.

Map the employee code field to Empcardno, the attendance date field to Date, and configure the punch type using the facial_recognition literal as specified in the implementation guide.

After configuring each mapping, click Add/Update to save it.

Correct body mapping is essential because the HRMS API uses these mappings to identify employees, attendance dates, and the attendance source.

Step 8: Configure Incremental Synchronization

To prevent duplicate attendance records from being sent repeatedly, configure the Last Run Filter.

Select the Date column as the tracking field.

The Sync Tool automatically stores the last synchronized value after every successful execution. During future synchronizations, it only processes records that were created after the previously synchronized date.

This significantly improves synchronization efficiency while preventing duplicate attendance entries.

Step 9: Configure the HRMS API Details

Next, configure the HRMS API endpoint.

Enter the organisation’s Base URL, specify the attendance synchronization API path, choose the POST request method, and enter the Bearer Token provided for the organisation’s HRMS instance.

Finally, enable the Published option by setting it to Yes.

 

These settings allow the Sync Tool to securely authenticate with the HRMS portal and upload attendance records automatically.

After completing the configuration, click Apply & Close to save the API settings.

Step 10: Start Automatic Attendance Synchronization

The final step is to start automatic synchronization between the attendance database and uKnowva HRMS.

Return to the main screen of the Sync Tool and configure the synchronization interval according to your organization's requirements. For example, setting an interval of 5 minutes instructs the tool to check for new attendance records every five minutes.

If required, enable Auto-start with Windows so the synchronization service automatically starts whenever the computer restarts.

Before enabling continuous synchronization, click Run Once Now to verify that attendance records are transferred successfully.

If the manual synchronization completes successfully, click Start Auto Sync to begin continuous attendance synchronization.

From this point onward, every new attendance punch captured by the facial recognition device will automatically be synchronized with the uKnowva HRMS portal without requiring manual intervention.

Quick Checklist

Before completing the setup, verify the following:

• Attendance device is connected to Wi-Fi.

• Employees are enrolled on the device.

• TextfileData table is recording attendance logs.

• facial_recognition view is created.

• Database connection is configured and tested.

• API configuration is saved and Published is set to Yes.

• Auto Sync is running, and Run Once Now test is successful.

Conclusion

That's it!

You've now successfully configured the attendance device, Attendance Sync Tool, and uKnowva HRMS for automatic attendance synchronization.

By following this process, you ensure accurate and automatic attendance synchronization with uKnowva HRMS.

If you have any questions or need additional support, feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.