Category Archives: Current News

Scan Station Mobile Now Available from Jolly Technologies

 

Scan Station Mobile is Jolly’s new mobile tracking solution for performing actions typically performed using Jolly’s desktop software on a handheld device. The primary features are:

  • View Record Information
  • Check In
  • Check Out
  • Evacuation Report

This creates a new level of convenience and flexibility for user of Jolly products during events. Scan Station Mobile will work with any Jolly tracking product that is configured to use the full version of Jolly Server.

Scan Station Mobile supports most identification technologies including 1D barcodes, 2D barcodes, RFID HF and magnetic stripe. A CompactFlash card supporting the technology is required.

For more information on how to incorporate a mobile scan station into you event tracking give the experts at safe-Card ID Services a call.

Proper Access/HID Card Slotting

Access or proximity cards will have slot punch indicators, small dots visible on the card back
which show the only allowable slot locations for the card. While it is perfectly acceptable to slot punch your access cards, we strongly suggest using badge grippers or clamps instead. These attachment devices work the same as slot clips, and better maintain the structural integrity of your technology card.

If you must slot punch the card, carefully center the indicator marks to the punch, and punch only where the indicator marks appear. Any other position may damage the interior circuitry and thus cause the card not to work.

Always test the first card after printing and slotting. Once you are satisfied with the results you can go ahead and print the rest of the batch. For more information contact an expert at Safe-Card ID Services today.

 

ID Card PVC Sizes

ID Card and Badge printers come in all shapes and sizes but are limited in ability in terms of the card sizes they can print. Todays’ card printers are made to print on standard CR80 size cards, with a number of them also capable of printing on CR79 and only a very few that can print CR100 size cards.

– CR79 cards measure 3.303″ x 2.051″ and are slightly smaller than a standard CR80 size card. CR79 cards typically have an adhesive back and are commonly used for printing and adhering to a clamshell HID Proximity card.

• CR80 cards are 3.375″ x 2.125″ (exactly the same size as a credit card) and are the standard, most commonly used size of PVC card. They are great for almost every ID card application.

• CR100 cards are much larger measuring  3.88″ x 2.63″ – that’s 42% larger than a standard CR80 card, making them easier to see from a distance but too big to hide in a wallet. CR100 size cards are often referred to as “oversize” or “military-size” cards. These are great for event passes. Printers that can handle these cards such as the Fargo HDP600 are usually manufactured to order and are very expensive.

Before ordering any type/size of PVC cards it is very wise ensure your printers specifictions to ensure it can handle them or call a specialist at Safe-Card ID Services.

 

Keep Your PVC Card Stock Clean

pvc cardsKeeping your blank pvc card stock clean is vital for ensuring that you get the best quality prints each and every time you use your ID card printer. That is because any abnormalities contained on the card stock can be transferred to your print job, giving you less than desireable results and wasting pvc with costly reprints.

To maintain cards for optimal printing make sure to keep your blank cards free from debris and dust. Any stray particles on the surface of a card can and will cause imperfections and flaws when you print. Dust and debris can also damage the print head and other printing mechanisms inside your ID card printer. Safe-Card ID Services offers pvc cards wrapped in batches of 100 making it easier to help keep them clean if you ordered more for future use.

It is also wise to keep your cards in the case they came in, or in an airtight and watertight container. Look the cards over before printing and keep a dust cloth handy to wipe the cards off if you notice any dust or debris. Make every effort to only touch the sides of the cards and not the surfaces that will be printed on. Oils from your hands will also decrease the quality of the printed card.

While most cards are stored in an office enviroment it is also improtant to take note of the card storage temperature. Extreme heat or cold can damage PVC cards, making them more brittle and susceptible to snapping. Be sure to store your cards in a temperature controlled area and make sure not to put them through drastic temperature changes.

To learn more about proper card handling give an expert at Safe-Card ID Services a call today.

 

A Few Common ID Card Applications

There are a number of ways to utilize the PVC cards printed on an ID card printer. From identification cards for business to membership cards for a health club, ID cards are easily adaptable to various industries and applications. Why spend the extra money and time to have them outsourced when you can do it yourself? Common applications include:

Employee Identification

Accurately track time and attendance
Control location access
Store employee information

Student Identification Badges

Accurately track time and attendance
Cafeteria debit card
Library or equipment checkout
Control student, staff, and faculty access

Membership Cards

Offer membership perks
Allow access to the facility during set hours

Loyalty/Reward Cards

Offer discounts and savings to all or segmented customers
Encourage customers to visit frequently
Track valuable data to monitor inventory, item popularity, seasonal trends

Gift Cards

Issue store credit, debit, and gift cards on the spot
Access individual customer shopping history, such as items purchased and prices

Figuring out which ID Card Printer and software works best for your ID card project or projects give an expert at Safe-Card ID Services a call today.

The Evolis Dualys and the Cruise Ship Industry

Passengers use one single card for identification, access control and payment.

With over 2 million passenger travelling on their cruise ships in 2010, the Costa Crociere group, relies on smooth organization at every stage to ensure the customer experience is top notch. To make certian that guests are welcomed in the most hospitable way and everything exceeds expectations is the goal and it is one reason all guests are issues a Costa Card upon boarding. The Costa Card serves as an identification badge but it alsocontains personal details of its holder, text and photo. This card is also used to access passengers’ cabins and as a payment card thanks to a barcode and a magnetic stripe.

To read the complete story and learn how Costa Cruises uses 120 Evolis Dualys printers to issue over 3.5 million cards a year and exceed customer expectations  click here.

To learn more about how an Evolis Card Printer can help exceed the expections of your card project call Safe-card ID Services today.

 

 

Perfect Color Fidelity for Magicard Rio Pro Users

You can now reproduce color images better than ever before thanks to a new embedded ICC profile for the Magicard Rio Pro. Brian Meyrick, Magicard Senior Software Engineer, explains: “Images can originate from many sources such as digital or mobile phone cameras, scans, image libraries or other online resources and as such can exist in many different color formats. Our challenge was to ensure that whatever the image source, format or software used along the workflow, the Rio Pro would produce an accurate result, faithful to the original image when printing on to a PVC card. The new ICC embedded profile provides an excellent solution.”

The profile is available in the newly-released Rio Pro driver – version 1.6.1, which can be downloaded from here. Note that the driver default setting is Gamma 1 – to select the ICC profile you will need to click on the advanced tab and change ‘color correction’ to ‘color management (built in to driver)’

For more information about the Magicard Rio Pro or any of Magicard’s other fine card printers contact an expert at Safe-Card ID Services TODAY.

 

Add Flexibilty and Volume to Your Card Presonalization Process

The Evolis Quantum is a flexible and scalable solution, ideal for personalizing plastic cards in large volumes. Quantum brings to the market the ease of use of a desktop printer matching the power of industrial machines, to support any card-based application: loyalty cards, transit passes, payment cards, membership cards, SIM and phone cards, and more. Quantum provides optimized value to any organization that needs to personalize cards in large quantities, from card manufacturers to service bureaus, or even banks and universities.

Reversible encoding module and fast production

Quantum stands on the market by its innovative design. This machine is shipped, standard, with a distinct detachable encoding unit that supports magnetic, contact smart card and contactless card encoding. This module is independent from the printing module, and operates autonomously to speed up the production process: a card is encoded while, simultaneously, another one is being printed.
Quantum offers top-notch performance as it prints more than 1000 cards per hour in monochrome and 150 cards in color. With such an impressive capacity, Quantum proves itself to be an affordable substitute for the conventional industrial machines.

New technical equipments for enhanced flexibility

Quantum can operate autonomously, thanks to its two dual-purpose hoppers holding 500 cards each, which can be used either as a feeding device or for collecting personalized cards.

In its revamped version, Quantum provides several new technical benefits, improved usability and efficiency:

A new card stacking and removal system that does not require the hoppers to be detached.
Optimized and user-friendlier card hoppers that benefit from an extended lifespan (use of a more robust actuator to unlock and detach the hoppers).

A metal-based body for enhanced durability and reliability over time.

A centralized locking system, provided as an option, to prevent tampering with the stack of cards, or while production is in progress.

To learm more about the Evolis Quantum or any other Evolis Card Printer, contact and expert at Safe-Card ID today.

 

International Dragon Boat Federation uses Zebra card printers for competitor IDs

Central to a sport spanning over 6000 years, the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) promotes dragon boat racing worldwide. A software and printer solution has now been developed specifically for processing Dragon Boat regatta participants, using Zebra’s ZXP series 3 printers to print personalised race ID cards and streamline the competitor accreditation process.

Check out the IDBF/Zebra video at the following link;

Zebra Card Printers

 For more information on how to create a custom ID solution to meet your needs call an expert at Safe-Card ID Services today.

HID Global Acquires EasyLobby For Secure Visitor Management Solutions

IRVINE, Calif., – January 3, 2012 – HID Global, a trusted leader in solutions for the delivery of secure identity, today announced the company has acquired EasyLobby, the industry leader in secure visitor management solutions. The acquisition delivers a number of potential synergies with HID Global’s portfolio across its identity and access management business.

EasyLobby is the pioneer and market-leading provider of comprehensive visitor management solutions. The company’s product suite provides enterprise-class visitor registration, tracking, reporting, badge printing, asset and package management, web-based pre-registration, and employee/contractor time and attendance functionality, and is tightly integrated with a wide variety of access control, human resources and other systems. EasyLobby products complement and extend HID Global’s portfolio, and have been deployed across a large and diverse base that is well-aligned with HID Global’s physical access control customer base.

EasyLobby is a strategic acquisition that delivers strong potential synergies across multiple high-value market segments,” said HID Global president and CEO Denis Hébert. “The addition of EasyLobby’s product suite, large installed base and strong customer engagements will enable us to broaden our offering to include trusted solutions for a wide range of visitor management applications. Additionally, this acquisition brings us a talented team with a highly complementary skillset.”

“We are very excited to become part of HID Global, a global company at the very heart of the security industry. This combination adds industry-leading secure visitor management solutions to the world’s most comprehensive offering of physical access control and secure card issuance systems,” said Howard Marson, EasyLobby CEO. “Together, our extended range of products creates a highly differentiated portfolio that will drive new opportunities for our mutual customers and partners, across all geographic regions of the world.”

For more information about Visitor Management give an expert at Safe-Card ID Services a call at 888-485-4696.