When investing in ID cards for a developing business, the first thing you should consider is whether or not to purchase a professional ID card printer to be used in-house. Acquiring an ID card printer for your business is a good idea because it allows you to take control of your company’s security needs.
When employees and visitors are numerous, maintaining a high level of security depends on your ability to produce top quality ID cards on-the-spot to keep track of anyone new who will have access to your workplace. There’s no point trying to get ID cards outsourced when new personnel are arriving daily – especially when ID cards with secure options can be made as quickly as printing off a company memo.
If you’re already in agreement that it’s time to buy an ID card printer, your next step is to decide what printer is right for your business. This step may seem difficult to navigate for the uninitiated, given the wide variety of hardware available to choose from. Luckily, Avon Security Products can provide all the information and training you need find an ID card printer to best suit your needs.
Deciding Factors
Choosing a new photo ID card printer isn’t all that different from buying a standard consumer printer for your home. Security ID card printers may contain a few new components, but the factors motivating your decision won’t be all that different. You’ve probably already had the experience of considering how frequently a printer will be used, how fast you’d like it to perform and the quality of imaging it can produce. The biggest difference for your ID card printer will regard security technology.
Considering Brands
While there are a number of different brands that produce ID card printers, each one offers a range of machines that vary in price depending on factors like quality, speed and security features. We recommend that you start by determining what class of printer you require, keeping your budget in mind, rather than making the decision according to the brand name alone. Once you’ve narrowed down the calibre of printer your require, browse through our selection of the latest ID card systems from the wide variety of brands available on our website to get a sense of what’s available.
Volume And Speed
It should come as no surprise that the most expensive printers are able to produce the largest amount of ID cards in the shortest period of time – and, of course, good business sense dictates that you should avoid spending money on anything you don’t need! The most important role you’ll play regarding your purchase is to work out an estimate of how many ID cards you expect to print in one year. If you’re sure that you’ll be in the high volume range of 5000 or more cards in a single year, then we recommend you consider the Zebra ZXP Series 7, which are able to produce up to 300 full-colour ID cards per hour.
Security Features
Better quality printers offer better security capabilities. At the basic level, ID card printers can be equipped with holographic varnish ribbons to create hologram patterns on PVC cards. While holograms do not contain readable digital content, they make a card virtually impossible to counterfeit. Printers that are able to add a magnetic stripe to an ID card, enable it to communicate a unique ID to card reading devices.
With higher security demands, the technology becomes more complicated – perhaps requiring smart chips or radio frequency identification. If your business belongs to a high-risk bracket industry (perhaps involving expensive goods), the higher price of premium technology services will be worth the extra cost.
Now that you know the basic features of ID card printing, why not preview our inventory and see what’s available? Whether or not you’d still like help to decide, you can call us anytime for more information about particular models or questions about your purchase.