How to Start a Security ID Card Program

A security ID card program will revolutionize your organization’s ability to protect itself. With such a system, authorized personnel can be verified in seconds, and intruders will be turned away. That being said, starting a security ID card program requires more than a decision to have one. Here is how to get yours started:

Determine what you need your ID security program to accomplish

What technology your security ID card system uses to protect your organization will depend upon your unique needs. Here is how what you will be using your security ID cards for will affect its use:

Door Access

You want every door in your facility, from the front entrance to the last door in the building to be secured. To this end, smart chip and RFID technology are the best options. Both secure the data within your card and allow for quick and easy door access for authorized personnel, while still keeping intruders out.

Vehicle Access

Your security ID card program is an effective tool for managing what vehicles can access your facilities. RFID ID technology, which can be added directly to a vehicle, will send a signal to security checkpoints allowing the vehicle to enter; at the same time, it will not allow anyone who doesn’t have a verified security ID in. This is especially useful for businesses that have a high volume of employees entering or leaving at the same time. Instead of them having to wait for a person or manual terminal to verify their authorization for access, their vehicles can pass through security checkpoints unhindered.

Secure Internal Transactions

A security ID card can be a great tool for completing secured transactions within your organization. For example, if you run a university, your security ID cards can be used by students to make purchases at the school bookstore. In this case, the optimal security feature that you will need is smart chip technology, because this protects the data stored on the card through data encryption, while allowing you to efficiently complete transactions.

Terminal Access

Passwords can be hacked or copied. Once this happens, a data thief with the right resources will have unfettered access to the data on your computer terminals. You can enhance your computer terminals by requiring the use of a security ID card in order to access it. These security ID cards should use encrypted smart chips, which scramble your data so that it is unreadable to anybody until the card is used for access.

Meet Your Needs for Capability

Some ID card systems are incapable of printing smart chip or RFID security ID cards; others are incapable of printing on both sides of a card. You want to make sure that you won’t have any problem addressing all of your needs for your security ID cards, so make sure that your ID card system is capable of doing everything that you need it to. Many ID card system manufacturers offer custom solutions that you can tailor to match your needs.

Meet Your Needs for Volume

If you run a university with 20,000 students, then a security ID card system that only produces 500 cards per day just won’t work. Make sure that the ID card system that you invest in is capable of exceeding your need for ID card volume — especially if you will be printing a new batch of cards regularly, as in the case of a university.

Now you’re ready to protect your organization with a security ID card system. Contact us today at Avon Security for more information!

Preventing Staff From Losing Their Employee ID Badges

Whether you want to upgrade your company’s security capabilities, streamline the management of employee accounts, or just make your employees more readily identifiable to customers, employee ID badges are outstanding tools for upgrading your business operations. In addition to being useful, ID badges are also very small; at only a couple of grams in weight and a few square centimeters in size, they are easy for anyone to carry around.

However, their small size also makes them easy to lose. An employee’s ID badge can fall right out of their pocket without any notice. This creates security issues and the hassle of having to create a new employee ID badge. Fortunately, no matter how careless an employee may be, you can prevent them from losing their employee ID badge by taking the following three steps:

Make Your Employee ID Badges Difficult to Drop

An employee ID badge cannot be lost via a careless drop if it is attached to their body. To this end, you should invest in one or both of the following accessories:

ID Badge Reels

An ID Badge reel is a thin, retractable string attached to a small clip. This allows your employee ID badges to be clipped to any part of your employees’ clothing that has an edge. These clips are sufficiently strong so as to prevent almost any action other than an intentional removal from causing an ID badge to be misplaced. The retractable string makes it easy for employees to quickly swipe their badges without any wasted time.

Custom Lanyards

A custom ID badge lanyard is a string that hangs around an employee’s neck and holds the ID badge in a clasp or transparent pocket. As they hang around the neck, these ID badge accessories make it almost impossible for an ID badge to be dropped without a noticeable breaking of the lanyard string. The central placement that custom ID badge lanyards have makes them great solutions for not only preventing the loss of employee ID badges, but also for making your employees more readily identifiable for customers or security personnel.

Add Readily Identifiable Imagery to Your Employee ID Badges

Your employees own a lot of cards. Some of these cards they may wish to leave at home or discard. To make sure that your ID badges don’t accidentally get mixed in with such cards, add the following imagery to the badges:

Employee Photos

Outside of personal ID cards, few of your employees’ cards will have their faces on them. By adding an employee photo to an ID badge, you give it an easily recognizable distinction from everything else.

Company Logo

To ensure that an employee’s ID badge is not mixed up with any other personal photo-bearing cards that they may have, include a company logo on every employee ID badge.

Put Company Contact Information on Your Employee ID Badges

Despite your best efforts, an ID badge still be misplaced. You can prepare for this as well. Simply include your company’s physical address, mailing address general email and phone number on each employee ID badge. Next to this information, include instructions telling people what to do if they find a badge. This way, if a casual passerby comes across a lost employee ID badge, they will immediately know what to do with it.

Protect Your Employee ID Badges From Unnecessary Loss

The loss of your employee ID badges creates security, monetary and operational issues that you shouldn’t have to deal with. Make sure this doesn’t happen by contacting us at Avon Security and learning about our ID badge products.

Should You Have Workplace ID Cards if There’s Already Security Personnel?

When securing your property there are several different approaches to keeping it safe. A well-managed building and security personnel can help a lot, however by using ID cards you not only increase safety but also gain flexibility. Now you may be questioning why ID cards are useful when you already have security personnel, so here are three reasons why.

It Supports Your Security Personnel

Without an ID system your security personnel have to keep track of everyone that enters your property; this takes a great deal of time and expense. For example without an ID system in place your security has to talk with everyone who enters the building, check their identification, and sign them into some type of record system every time they show up. With ID cards it’s easy to identify who should be there and grant access to those who should have it.

ID Systems Are Versatile

>With a well implemented ID system you give your visitors and employees greater freedom to move about your property and do what they are paid to do. ID cards can range from the simple to the very complex allowing you to easily implement a system that fits your needs. Permanent ID cards can have a picture of the holder and special security measures, such as holograms, to identify the card as authentic. While simpler ID systems use paper IDs that allow access for short term visitors and then expire after a set period of time. Plus you can combine your ID card system with computer software to keep detailed records of who visited and when. No matter what system you use it allows you to keep track of visitors without overworking your existing security measures.

It Lets You Control Access

ID cards can do a lot more than just identify who should be in a building, as they can control who gets in at all. ID badges can easily be combined with security features to allow greater usability and add features. Proximity cards can be handed out with ID cards allowing you to not only identify who should be in your building but also controlling what parts of the building they can access. Proximity cards function much like key fobs allowing employees to open locked doors via a scanner system. This also cuts down on security work as they no longer have to guard such locked doors or control who can access them. This saves both time and money, and makes day to day operations easier to manage.

While security personnel are an essential part of having a safe property ID badges offer further safety and increased flexibility as well for your existing security systems. When selecting an ID card system to make use of you have several different choices available to fit a variety of businesses and properties. This variety of choices allows you to pick an ID card system that fits your needs and uses. When looking to buy ID card equipment you want to buy from an industry professional. Avon Security has been providing ID solutions to businesses and government properties for 10 years. Contact us today or feel free to browse our top of the line products.

What RFID Technology Means for Security Measures

RFID technology has existed for decades. It has proven to be a valuable tool for everything from opening doors to inventory management. Like every asset, you need to keep in mind how RFID technology affects your business’ ability to secure itself. That being said, here is what RFID tag technology means for your company’s security measures:

What is RFID technology?

RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification, uses short wave radio sources to send and receive data. Most RFID resources are designed to either send or receive data. An RFID ID card, for example, will send a signal, whereas an RFID-capable entryway will receive signals.

How does RFID technology affect my company’s security?

RFID technology enhances your ability to protect your assets in many ways, including the following:

Upgraded ID cards

An RFID tag can be embedded right into an ID card. This increases the security of an ID card, because a person cannot simply copy the graphics and add a picture to counterfeit one of your ID cards.

Employee monitoring

You should be protecting your company from security threats from both inside and outside of the organization. By requiring the use of RFID tags to access certain resources, you can verify individual activities, which can be invaluable for resolving an internal investigation.

Less security-related expenses

Instead of having a security team at each door, an RFID card allows you to oversee access at every entry point in your facilities. This saves a great deal of money, as having security personnel posted at each door is costly.

More efficient security

Extensive security checks take a great deal of time to complete; this ultimately hurts your company’s ability to do its job. With the use of RFID tags, you can streamline your company’s security, because instead of having to do long security checks, you can grant authorized personnel access with a passive swipe.

New security considerations

Every new technology has its own set of security considerations. Here are the security considerations that you need to keep in mind for RFID technology, and how you can protect your company from them:

Data theft

RFID tags constantly emit a signal; data thieves can use devices that illegally capture this signal and clone the data. Some thieves will also use devices that intercept a communication between two RFID capable devices.

What can I do to secure my RFID-capable assets?

Encryption: by encrypting the data on an RFID tag, you scramble it so that it is only readable by devices that have been given access.

Password protection:

A simple pin or password will prevent people from being able to arbitrarily use a fake RFID tag, even if they do manage to hack their way past the encryption.

RFID-blocking technology

Investing in tools that block an RFID tag’s signal from getting out while it is not in use will prevent a data thief from obtaining any information from a close pass with a data capturing device.

Get Ready for Seasonal Staff with a Temporary ID Card System

With the holiday season approaching, many companies are preparing to bring in seasonal workers to cover the busy period. If your organization is looking to bring in temporary staff, you need to make sure that all preparations have been made for their arrival. This includes setting up a temporary ID card system, so you can make sure that every temporary employee is easy to identify. Follow these tips to get your temporary ID card system in place in time for the holiday season.

Design Your Temporary ID Cards

There is no reason why a temporary ID card can’t look as good as the ID cards that your regular employees use. Design temporary ID cards that include your company logo, as well as spaces to write in the temporary worker’s name and position. It is also a good idea to include a space to write in the dates of the temporary worker’s employment, so that it is immediately obvious if an employee tries to use their ID card after their employment period has ended.

Some temporary ID cards include technology that automatically changes the appearance or function of the card after a certain period of time. For example, some cards feature expiry tabs, which change colour overnight to show that the card has expired. This is very useful for workers who are brought in to cover a single day during the busy holiday season.

Ensure Security

Expiring temporary ID cards protect the security of your organization by preventing previous employees from entering your business premises or posing as members of staff. If you bring in a lot of seasonal workers during the busy holiday period, it can be difficult for managers and shop floor employees to keep track of them; this means that it is essential to be able to use a temporary ID card system to show immediately which people are supposed to be in the building.

Get Ready for Seasonal Staff

Prepare your temporary ID card system well in advance of the period when you will need to bring in seasonal workers. Being prepared means that you can issue each temporary employee with a personal ID card as soon as they arrive on site, reducing any potential security risks. Your seasonal staff can then immediately start working at their full potential, rather than having to wait for ID cards to arrive before they can gain access to certain parts of the workplace.

Preparing your temporary ID card system in advance prevents downtime and confusion. Start exploring the various short term ID card options now, so that you are ready to receive your seasonal staff when they show up for work. For more information or to learn about our temporary ID card systems, contact us today! 

Future Office ID Security Systems

The rapid evolution of technology this millennium has affected everything, including the ways in which you are able to secure your business. The future of ID security systems for example, includes some amazing technologies that seem to come out of a science fiction movie. Let’s take a look at how the ID security system of the future will look.

No Active Swiping Needed

Doors, computer terminals, and more can already be secured by an ID security system. The technology that protects these points of access though is evolving fast. Instead of having to stop and swipe an ID card, then wait for verification before accessing an area, future ID security systems will emit a signal that communicates a person’s approach well before they reach their destination. This will allow them to gain access without having to search for their ID card.

Automated Points of Access

For authorized personnel, future ID card systems will break down the perceived barriers that older security systems create. Instead of being operated manually, they will be a part of a larger automated security system. This will allow employees to walk through a secured door hands-free, or open up a secured computer terminal without any extra time consuming steps — or locking themselves out due to too many typographical errors when inputting a password.

More Versatile ID Security Solutions

IDs That Cannot Be Manipulated 

For decades, a staple of high-tech spy and thief movies has been the manipulation of IDs to gain access to restricted areas. The tactics used in these movies range from changing the photo on the ID to making a fake copy of the ID. Future ID security systems will prevent these types of things from happening to your company thanks to technologies like the following:

Holographic IDs

A holographic ID system makes it impossible to alter an ID in any way once it is created. This is because if anyone tries to manipulate the holographic film, the entire ID will be damaged, which means nobody can change the face or words on an ID to suit any nefarious purpose.

Advanced ID Information Storage

Newer ID card technologies, such as smart chips and RFID chips, encrypt the data that they store, so that even if someone tries to clone the ID, they won’t be able to gain access to anything without providing authentication that will unscramble the encrypted data.

More Adaptable ID Options

Future ID security systems will not be limited to handheld cards. Instead, there will be a range of technologies to enhance the efficiency of an ID security system’s use, including the following:

RFID Wristbands

With an RFID wristband, authorized personnel can be readily identified and swipe at access points with nothing more than a flick of the wrist.

RFID Vehicle Passes

RFID vehicle passes are attached onto a vehicle and allow authorized personnel to access entry points without backing up traffic while trying to awkwardly swipe an ID card.

RFID Stickers and Tags

These appear as tiny stickers or emblems that can be placed on almost anything. Because of this, RFID stickers allow a great deal of ID versatility.

You Don’t Have to Wait Until To Take Advantage of the Future of ID Security

The futuristic ID security system capabilities discussed above are not theoretical, they all exist right now. In order to optimize your company’s ability to efficiently secure itself, you should be taking advantage of some of these technologies right now. To learn more about these technologies and more, contact us today at Avon Security.

Features and Properties to Look for When Choosing a Magicard Printer

A Magicard printer is a printer used specifically to print IDs, not paperwork, legal documentation or otherwise. There are three types of Magicard printers based on their capabilities: essential card printers, HD card printers, and specialty card printers; essential cards are subcategorized as professional, standard or hand fed. Professional Magicard printers print in high volumes in high speeds and have a customizable visual security watermark. Standard printers are batch fed, are for mid-volume card printing, and come with Ethernet connectivity.

Specialty models come with different properties. Some are fully secure and lockable, and come with a lockable input-output hopper. Moreover, there are 140mm / 110mm cards that are suitable for large format cards and ideal for labeling. There are a few factors you should consider when buying a Magicard printer.

How the ID Cards Will Be Used

Before you begin searching for the perfect ID Magicard printer, know how the ID cards will be used. The purpose of the card will determine the information and features you require in the printer you need. For instance, ID cards used only for visual identification and building access require less information and design time than cards displayed to customers. Moreover, ID card printers are often used for other purposes other than creating ID cards. You may use your Magicard printer for an event, creating labels or for other uses.

Number of Sides You Want To Print On

Printers which are dual-sided are made to print the card on the front side flipping the card over after which it prints the back of the card. However, single-sided printers do not have this function. If you’re not sure whether you need dual-sided cards, then choose a printer that can be later converted from a one-sided to a two-sided Magicard printer.

Number of Cards You Print at a Time

Consider the quantity and frequency of cards you produce. Select a printer that can withstand your printing frequency. Different ID card printers are made to handle different printing frequencies, and components vary with the expected output.

Possibility of Encoding Data in the Card

Different ID Magicard printers have different data capabilities. Determine what type of data encoding to use on your ID cards. For instance, barcodes and magnetic stripes can both be added to ID cards to coordinate with any system that involves swiping a card.

Need for Added Security Features on Your Cards

Choose a Magicard printer that adds security features to your cards if need be. Enhanced security features help make your ID cards fraud-proof. More security features can be added to an ID card software program, such as logos, signatures, and employee pictures to make ID the cards unique.

The Possibility of Having a Detailed Logo or Card Design

Most ID card printers have great color accuracy. However, lower models may not have crisp colors, and this could lead to colors bleeding. In case, you have a detailed card design or logo, or probably your organization is known for its attention to design, you should not settle for less than the best in print quality and color.

Possibility of Regularly Transporting Your Printer

ID card printers vary in their ease of transportation. If you want to use your ID Magicard printer at multiple locations, a portable printer will be the most convenient.

For more information on how to choose a Magicard printer, contact us at Avon Security today!

Benefits of Visitor Pass Solutions

When looking for visitor pass solutions there are a multitude of different options available for you to make use of for your business. At Avon Security Products, we are experts in ID systems for a wide variety of industries and carry several visitor pass solutions.

Choose from a variety of our visitor pass solutions:

EasyLobby

EasyLobby offers hardware that lets you enhance your visitor records and lets you collect detailed information from your guests. Hardware you may consider useful as visitor pass solutions include signature tablets to record signatures as visitors sign in and scanners that take photo records of various forms of personal identification including driver’s licenses, business cards, passports, and other forms of official identification. Depending on the security level of your business you may find keeping such records useful before allowing access to your visitors.

Jolly Software

Jolly Software offers several different software platforms to track and record access information and create temporary visitor IDs. There are many product options, including two that stand out as particularly useful as visitor pass solutions. Lobby Track offers features that you’ll find useful no matter what your company does its size. It allows you to enter visitor information and print temporary IDs, keep visitor records, print out reports concerning visitor information, and register visitors in advance via online features. If your visitor tracking is related to events then Event Track Premier may be more suitable. It allows you to record visitors, print IDs, check people in, track visitor stats, and handle registration both in person and online.

Label & Wristband Printers

When using ID tracking and creation software you’re going to need the printing materials and hardware to create IDs as needed. Avon Security Products offers a wide range of the equipment you need to take full advantage of the above software. We carry wristband and label printers and the needed paper refills for both.

Non-Digital Solutions

TEMPbadge

TEMPbadge offers sturdy and basic visitor passes designed to be clipped to a shirt of collar and available with a wide variety of options. One of our most popular products is a clip on badge with ‘Visitor’ printed on it that you can also write on. More advanced options add your company information, time stamps, and dates. TEMPbadge also offers expiring badges that can last either 24 hours, an entire week, or an entire month. This allows you to make long term visitor badges viable and safe.

Visitor Pass Solutions

Visitor Pass offers stick on name badges that also keep careful records. These badges are stored in a visitor pass book that not only allows visitors to fill out their badge information as needed but also records it. After filling in their information your visitor then peels off their badge and an imprint of what they wrote down is recorded in the pass book. These badges are available in non-expiring and expiring badges that show void after 24 hours adding an extra layer of protection.

There are several different visitor pass solutions ranging from the technologically advanced to simple hand written IDs and records. No matter what your business needs, Avon Security has the solution. Contact us for more information, or browse visitor pass solutions today.

Features and benefits of ID card holograms

When thinking about how to maximize the usefulness of your ID cards, integrating holograms is a great solution. A hologram is one of our favourite things to add to an ID card, because they provide a unique array of features and benefits that will allow you to get the most out of your company’s ID cards. Here are a few of them:

Enhanced ID card security features

Colour coded security

ID card holograms can be made either to be chromatic or any hue on the colour prism. This gives you an unlimited number of options for your ID cards. It also makes it easier for you to discreetly add different levels of security to your ID cards.

Motion security

The colour coding of your ID card holograms will shift as they move around in the light. This serves as an extra level of protection, because nobody can simply mimic the colour of your ID card.

Different overlay sizes

You can arrange to have your ID card holograms to cover the entire ID card. This will secure every inch of the card. If, on the other hand, you only want to have a small portion of your ID card covered by a hologram, then you can do this as well.

Embedded images

An ID card hologram does not simply have to reflect an obscure pattern of light if you do not want it to. You can have any variation of stock or custom photos integrated into an ID card hologram, so that the appearance of the hologram itself will be exclusive to your company; this means that someone who happens to have access to ID hologram technology cannot simply embed an ID card with a random hologram to breach your security.

Embedded text

ID card hologram text adds a unique layer of security to your ID cards. Instead of being a set of words that anybody can print out, the words in an ID card hologram are fleeting, shifting based on how the light hits it. This not only makes your ID cards even more difficult to fake, but it also reduces the likelihood that a counterfeiter who doesn’t already know that the holographic words are there is likely to overlook them altogether.

Tamper protection

One of the most common ways that counterfeiters create fake ID cards is to use real ones as their template. For instance, a counterfeiter will often remove a photo from an ID card and replace it with someone else’s. They can do the same thing with numerical data. ID card holograms prevent this from happening with its unique tamper protection technology, but if the hologram appears inconsistent, it may have been tampered with.

Aesthetic benefits

In addition to exponentially enhancing the security capabilities of your ID card, an ID card hologram also looks great. Both you and your employees will absolutely love the sleek aesthetic appeal that a holographic depiction adds to your ID card.

We always recommend using ID card holograms for better ID cards

Make sure that your company’s ID cards deliver all of the security and aesthetic capabilities that you need by including ID card holograms in them. Also, make sure that you take the right approach to adding holographic depictions to your ID cards. An ID card hologram must be added to your ID cards after the card has already printed. Doing otherwise is likely to cause interference with the print.

To learn more about the best ID card solutions, contact our team of experts at Avon Security Products.

How ID Card Makers Work

ID cards have become critical for organizational security and productivity. There are many different types of ID cards, and in order to make sure that you get the perfect ID cards for your organization produced, you need to understand how ID card makers work. We’re going to help you with this by breaking down the critical capabilities that you need to know about for ID card makers.

Single-sided maker vs dual-sided ID card maker

For some organizations, a single-sided ID card is all that is needed. In this case, you can save on your ID card maker investment by going with a single-sided maker.

If, on the other hand, you would like to expand the security and detail included in your ID cards, then a dual-sided card maker is a must. This is because for those with intentions of owning dual-sided ID cards, attempting to print a card twice on a single-sided maker will waste time and cause manual printing errors.

Color vs black and white ID card makers

Not all ID card makers are able to print in full color. In order to make sure that your ID cards are printed in the way that you intended, you must double check to make sure that it is a color ID card maker.

ID card maker speed

The number of ID cards that you need will drastically affect the type of ID card maker that you should be investing in. For example, if you only need a few dozen ID card printed for your small business’ employees, then you can obtain a card printer with a normal printing speed. If, on the other hand, you are an organization like a university that needs thousands of brand new ID cards each year, then you absolutely need one that can make hundreds of cards in less than a day.

Computer compatibility of the ID card maker

This is often an afterthought, but the type of computer that you use will affect the type of ID card maker that you are able to use. This is due to the fact that some card makers are only compatible with Windows PCs; in this case, MAC users won’t be able to properly link the card maker to read the proper information. Always double check this, especially if you intend on using a MAC or Linux device for ID card printing.

Encoding capability

A great way to enhance ID card security is with encoding. A magnetic stripe, smart chip, and more will exponentially enhance your ID card’s efficiency and security capabilities. You cannot, however, simply have an encoded card printed by any printer. You need to ensure that the card printer you are using is specifically designed to print on an encoded card. In most cases, you can add this to any ID card maker when you make the initial purchase of the device.

Lamination capability

For extended ID card durability and security, it can be laminated. There are many ID card printers that only print; this requires you to obtain a separate lamination device. However, there are ID card makers that can laminate during the printing process. If you plan on laminating your ID cards, this is the preferable option, because it will save you a great deal of time and money during the ID card printing process.

Now that you know how ID card makers work, you can make the smartest investment

The ID card maker that you choose will become an invaluable part of your organization’s operational fluidity and security. Buy the right one for your business today!