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If you’re involved in any capacity with taking ID photos of your colleagues at work, chances are you’ve had people who were… well, a little disappointed. After all, this isn’t just any picture. This is a picture that you’ll carry around with you for quite a while, one that you’ll wear out in front of your workmates and perhaps even in public. It’s bad enough having an unflattering passport photo, and you only show that every once and a while! You owe it to your colleagues to put a little time and effort into your photo setup, that way they can wear their photo proudly.

First up, you’ll want a stable photo, adjusted to just the right angle for both consistency and framing. The best (read: only) way to do this well is by setting up a tripod; Avon Security Products has years of experience learning how to create the best ID card, which is why we offer both a miniature tripod, for use on a desk or stool, and the Optex Pro OPT155 tripod, which is durable and widely adjustable. The former is great if your business is portable, and you move locations a lot, as the mini tripod can be easily packed, carried and reset as needed. The latter is your all-around amazing tripod, with precise height adjustments and three-way pan capability, so you can track down the perfect angle for each colleague without sacrificing consistency.

Of course, the other thing you’ll see in an ID photo – other than your colleague’s lovely face, that is – is the background. You want something that won’t cast distracting shadows, something simple, complimentary and matte. At Avon Security Products, we offer a portable photo backdrop stand that comes in a number of different colours. Ask yourself, what colour are the printed cards going to be, and what colour are the badge reels going be? You want to choose a complimentary colour for your backdrop, or go with a simple white/off white – what you’re looking to avoid would be, for example, a purple backdrop, red card and yellow badge reel, which would look too busy. We also sell cloth backdrop cloth that you can drape behind the subject, if you’re looking for something even more portable than the stand. 

Next, you’ll turn your attention to lighting. This photographer’s guide to a DIY passport photo contains a good section on lighting. If possible, use natural light that’s been softened by a drape or curtain. What you’re looking to avoid is “hard lighting”, that kind of direct, bright light you get from overhead bulbs that casts unsightly shadows over a face.  If you have access to lighting equipment, you can use the classic three-point lighting, with a backlight, key light and fill light. 

Now, you’re ready to snap the shot and print the card. Make sure you have a good quality web camera, like our Credential Camera Pro, or Credential Camera AutoPro, with Auto Focus, both of which take superior, high-resolution photos. When you print the card, choose a printer, like the smart id card printer we offer, that prints a high amount of dots per inch (dpi); the Smart 50D, for example, boasts an impressive 300dpi with edge-to-edge printing. You’ve gone through the trouble of taking a beautiful photo – don’t that hard work get washed out by a grainy printing job.

You’d be surprised the kinds of small things that can boost morale in the workplace. Having a good-looking ID card photo can make a person more confident and happy to be a part of the team. With these simple tips and tools, you can make your ID card less of a mug shot and more of a beauty shot.

Safety in schools is incredibly important, especially in the wake of terrible tragedies, but Canadian parents understandably want to balance safety with atmosphere, meaning that perhaps having an armed guard and metal detector greeting a student each day isn’t the most inviting learning environment. Most agree, however, that something needs to be done, some precautionary measure needs to be in place to prevent violence and encourage a safer space.

ID badges fill that requirement handily, and as an added bonus they offer a school the opportunity to streamline a few of its processes and services. Whether it’s a small high school of a couple hundred, or a middle school stretching its students into the thousands, ID card systems like the ones we offer at Avon Security Products can be easy to use and implement, with some training on our part, and some simple printing on yours.

Let’s talk about the million-dollar feature first: security. Being able to identify students at a glance, as well as identify intruders, is a subtle yet effective way to enact a school security policy – it doesn’t have the militaristic undertones of a security guard, but it makes sure everyone is accounted for. No stranger, really, needs to be in the school without first reporting to the office, and the badge system ensures that someone can’t just walk off the street and cause a student harm or distress. To avoid lost or misplaced badges, encourage students to use badge holders or cases, which a student may decorate (because, let’s face it, you give a student a blank slate, like a locker or binder, and they will draw on it!).

Since the ID card system has other functions, it doesn’t seem to students like it’s purely a security measure. For instance, the ID card can be used to minimize absenteeism. With Canadian provinces rolling out tougher attendance policies in order to counteract the rise of absenteeism in schools, the debate forges on about how best to effect that change, and ID cards are becoming increasingly popular. Being able to account for the students present through their cards streamlines the attendance process, making it easier for teachers and administrators to pinpoint those Ferris Bueller types. 

Another useful function of the ID card is restricted access. Lab equipment and musical instruments, for example, are both quite expensive (and sometimes in short supply), so it’s important to restrict access to them. Theft of property is an unfortunate aspect of school life, but that doesn’t mean those students who earnestly want to practice music or learn science need to be shut out as well; an ID card allows administrators to give only certain students (or only faculty) access to those kinds of rooms.

And those are just the capabilities that benefit staff. ID cards can also be used as payment, for school lunches, field trips, etc., and as a library card. For students, having one handy card that can get them books, food and access means they don’t have to juggle cash, library cards and keys. It also brings them closer to the school, gives them a little physical of the community of which they’re a part. Some of our younger staff still have their high school IDs as keepsakes, a memento of their old stomping grounds!

If your school is looking to enforce a less transparent form of a security, or if you just want an efficient way to track attendance, control room access, dispense library books and offer school lunches, contact us anytime here at Avon Security Products and we’ll be happy to discuss options. As Canada’s #1 distributor of ID printers, we’ll make the process easy, quick and effortlessly understandable.

It’s a competitive world out there, to say the least – businesses vie for consumers’ attention in every which way they possibly can, looking to create a foundation of positive experience and, eventually, brand loyalty. It’s not enough to get a customer in the door anymore. You have to cultivate an atmosphere of mutual respect and benefit, the end goal being that, when it comes time for them to once again choose a door, they choose yours.

Any retail business knows this; from grocery stores to clothing stores, those businesses that make their bread and butter selling goods understand that they have to set themselves apart, and the best way to do that is by implementing a brand loyalty program, complete with a physical card that the customer can carry with them. At Avon Security Products we’ve seen businesses in the retail sector boom, seemingly overnight, upon putting to use customer loyalty cards, and we do our part to help facilitate the process, making it easy, reliable and understandable.

But before we get ahead of ourselves: what is it about customer loyalty cards that make them so adept at increasing profits? According to the Harvard Business Review, it costs between five and 25 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one, meaning that if you rely on unique customers for most of your sales you’re going to be spending an excessive amount on advertising, marketing and outreach. It’s sort of a silly though experiment, but think about it in personal terms: how much more difficult is it making a new friendship than maintaining an existing one? Not that you shouldn’t be making new friends, but you should reserve a healthy amount of energy ensuring mutual loyalty with existing friends. This is where customer loyalty cards come in so handy.

Customer loyalty cards are all about rewarding the customer for their continued loyalty, in the form of deals, sales and loyalty points, to be used as tender against further purchases. And the cards themselves act as little reminders, nestled in the customer’s wallet or purse, of your business. Aside from being the leading distributer of ID card printers in Canada, we at Avon Security can also offer supplementary software that can help you manage your customer loyalty system, as we as free training on how to use both the software and printer. If you wanted the system tomorrow, we’d find a way to make that happen. 

You might be wondering, however, whether the promotions you offer will be rewarded with higher sales and a good return on investment, and the answer, at least for most businesses studied, is a resounding “yes”. Existing customers spend 67% more than returning customers, meaning that it’s definitely in your best interest to incentivize their repeat business. If you run a grocery store, you want your customers to treat your business like a one-stop shop, not like a one-off shop where they pick up a few small things missing from their pantry. If they know that, for instance, they can have a card handy that rewards them monetarily for shopping at your store, of course they’ll choose you over the competition.

With a printer, some training, and maybe some pvc id card printing software (in case you’re a Mac user!), you’re all set to start reaping the benefits of a customer loyalty card. We at Avon Security Products are more than happy to field any questions you might have about customer loyalty card systems. There are precious few win-win situations in the world of retail, but customer loyalty cars are most certainly one of them!

Whether you’re managing a gym, country club, golf course, spa or any other business that offers services through membership, you want to show members that they belong, and there’s no better way of accomplishing that than by giving them membership ID cards.

Not only does it have the potential to cement loyalty, but it also serves a few other important functions – namely, that it acts as free advertising, it offers helpful data, and it allows you to implement tiered membership easier by restricting certain areas. And for all it offers, it’s fairly straightforward and simple to put into effect – a quick perusal of Avonsecurityproducts.com can lead you to a professional ID card system in the time it takes for you to sign yet another customer in manually. But a little more about what they do:

Given the plethora of options available, customer loyalty is of paramount importance to a business. Giving customers a physical indication of their membership reminds them of your business every time they open up their purse or wallet, and helps them feel a sense of belonging. The “Exclusivity Principle”, referred to sometimes as “Velvet Rope Marketing” is the principle that making customers feel as though they’re “on the inside”, or “part of an exclusive club” is an enticing incentive to continue patronage. Plus – in the interest of total honesty – people probably like to scan cards and enter buildings because it makes you feel like you’re a government agent in a movie!

Membership cards also allow you to restrict certain areas. By customizing the cards, you can allow different access to different people. For instance, if you run a gym that has a basic membership and a premium membership, and say that the premium membership offers entrance to more amenities, like a spa, you’ll want membership ID cards to manage access. In the long run, it’s way cheaper than having someone physically man each door.

A lovely by-product of the ID Card system is that you now have your hands on a lot of useful data. What time of day, what day of the week do your customers come most often? When do they come the least? Add to that the fact that you can access their membership information as well, and you start to get a very good picture of the way your business functions. From there you can try to persuade people to come at less busy times by offering certain incentives, to manage the flow of people. It also helps immensely with staffing and scheduling, knowing when peak hours are in a week.

 Finally, yes, membership ID cards are pretty good advertisements. Every time one of your members opens their wallet or purse in public, like for instance when grabbing a credit card to pay for a meal, they inadvertently flash your business’ card – name, logo and all – for anyone to see. It’s not the most effective marketing strategy out there, and it certainly shouldn’t be your only marketing strategy, but it’s effective enough to bear mentioning. Whether you’re looking to modernize your business, or you just want to wow your customers, look into getting membership ID cards.

Maybe you’ve seen them jangling on the hip of a morning commuter, or attached to a lanyard around the neck of someone walking down the street – ID cards are becoming more and more ubiquitous in businesses, and for good reason. There are businesses out there that get along fine without using ID cards, but they really are necessary in this day and age if you want a thriving, safe and profitable enterprise. They’re versatile, easy and provide a good return on investment.

Beyond the obvious benefit of managing who can and can’t enter your place of business, ID cards can also be used to promote employee accountability, boost productivity, reinforce your brand and help your customers identify with your employees. It’s strange to think that something as small as a plastic card can greatly benefit a business, but it’s true. This post will expand on a few of the benefits of employee ID cards.

First, the most obvious: ID cards allow you to restrict and manage access, preventing unauthorized people from either entering your place of business, or entering certain areas of the business. Even within a business, not everyone has access to everything, and ID cards are crucial if you want certain areas or information cordoned off to a select few. For this kind of sophistication, make sure you get your printer from an accredited seller of security products, and don’t be afraid to ask questions – you can find info at https://www.avonsecurityproducts.com or ask them questions about what kind of setup you might need. 

Another benefit of ID cards, and this one’s a byproduct of the above benefit, is that since you’ve taken measures to ensure that no unauthorized people are allowed in your place of business, you’ve created a safer space for your employees. When people feel safe at work, the morale is just better; and when the morale is better, the output is better. ID cards that track location also keep employees safe in case of an emergency, like a fire. Employee whereabouts are so crucial in these cases, and can help firefighters or other first responders immensely.

But beyond safety benefits, they promote accountability and productivity at work. Recording entry and exit times using an ID badge ensures that employees don’t leave before they’re supposed to, which in turn creates an environment of better work standards. It also gives employees more of a sense of belonging when they see a card with their name, their face and the company’s name on it – it connects them with the business. And when they head home at the end of a workday, swinging their ID on their lanyard or their belt, they become brand ambassadors, promoting your business to everyone that sees it.

 Finally, if you own a business that deals with the public, like retail or hospitality, an ID card can really help customers connect with employees, putting a face and name to the business. This advances   customer service, which creates return customers and boosts ROI. That’s a lot of good you can fit in a little card. If your business isn’t using ID cards yet, it’s never too late to start!