The statewide rollout of the SMILE (TAMS) -Smart Attendance Management and Informative Leave- application for the Department of School Education commenced on February 1, 2025, covering approximately 18,000 teaching staff and 4,000 non-teaching staff. While the transition has faced challenges, the initiative represents a significant step toward modernizing attendance management and improving overall workplace accountability.
In an exclusive interview with Nagaland Tribune the project team has highlighted their implementation experience.
Implementation Challenges & Key Issues
Since its launch, attendance records indicate an average of 7,500 employees marking their attendance daily, constituting roughly 34% of the total workforce. While this is still short of full adoption, it marks a major shift from traditional attendance methods, providing real-time tracking and transparency.
The application integrates facial recognition and geofencing to ensure attendance is recorded only within designated school and office premises. However, several technical and operational challenges have been observed, including:
-Inconsistent network connectivity in remote areas, causing difficulties in marking attendance.
-Performance issues such as long loading times and frequent error prompts disrupting the user experience.
-Limited user awareness and outdated application versions, with many employees still using older, unoptimized versions.
These challenges have impacted compliance rates and led to frustration among employees, prompting continuous efforts from the department to resolve these issues.
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Ongoing Improvements & Future Plans
To address these concerns, the department has initiated several corrective measures, including:
-Server Optimization – Upgrading and optimizing the department’s servers at the Nagaland State Data Centre to handle increased traffic and improve response times.
-Continuous Monitoring – Actively tracking system performance and network bottlenecks to address slowdowns proactively.
-Application Updates – Encouraging employees to update their app versions and sensitizing users to enhance user adoption and reduce technical difficulties.
-Exploring Offline Attendance – Introducing an offline attendance feature to allow employees to mark their attendance without an internet connection, with automatic synchronization once connectivity is restored.
-Dedicated Support for User Grievances – Support helplines have been made available for employees to report technical issues and receive assistance, ensuring quicker resolution of complaints.
Positive Impact & Benefits of the Initiative
Despite these hurdles, the implementation of SMILE (TAMS) has already demonstrated several benefits:
-Increased Transparency & Accountability – The digital system reduces manual errors, proxy attendance, and fraudulent reporting, ensuring accurate records of employee attendance.
-Improved Data Tracking – Real-time attendance tracking allows the department to analyze trends, identify absenteeism issues, and improve workforce management.
-More Efficient Administration – Automated attendance records eliminate paper-based tracking, saving time and administrative effort for school and office staff
-Potential for Higher Compliance – As issues are resolved and more employees adapt to the system, attendance compliance is expected to increase, ensuring better work discipline and efficiency.
