Many organizations require custom ID Card security but do not have the ability to allot a large budget for their badge making process. Fortunately, there are now alternatives to expensive custom security features that previously had to be created off-site. Let’s take a quick look at some different options for custom ID card security that can be used in conjunction with existing ID printers and PVC cards.

Zebra DuraSecure YMCKOO Ribbon – Features a  unique design which includes two full overlay panels, which allows organizations with advanced security requirements to easily create identification cards with an extra overlay on top of the security image for additional protection. This allows you to create highly secure and durable identification cards in one printing cycle without the added cost associated with lamination or overlay varnish. Some key features include improved security, increased durability, unparalleled flexibility, lower costs, and improved efficiency. It is designed for use with Zebra ZXP3 Series Printers.

Magicard Holokote Ribbon – Allows you to print a watermark on your cards with your Magicard Enduro or Rio Pro printer without any added costs. The watermark is printed during the normal card printing cycle using the O panel of a standard color ribbon; there is no need to purchase expensive holographic lamination! The HoloKote watermark becomes visible when the card is viewed at an angle and can be easily enabled or disabled in your printer driver.

One martial arts school in California has been quite successful as of late, and is experiencing a growing customer base. Over the years the school has opened new locations and has hired new staff. Because of this growth, the school was seeking out the idea of purchasing an ID printer. After speaking with the AdvantIDge sales team, they purchased the Zebra ZXP Series 3 Printer, along with some compatible ribbons.

By purchasing these products from AdvantIDge, the school is now able to print out ID cards for their staff, as well as their students. Providing these ID cards to members of their team and students makes it much easier to figure out who is at each martial arts class. It also expedites the attendance process. With a growing number of students per class, the easiest solution is to provide each individual with an ID card. Each student then scans their card before/after class, and staff use software to keep a database of the records.

Another great benefit of ID cards for students is that it makes it much harder for people to cheat their way into free classes. Every new sign-up is important to a small-business. Ensuring everyone has taken the necessary steps to become a paying customer is crucial. With ID cards given to all students and teachers, it is much easier to see people who should not be there, as they would not have an ID card.

AdvantIDge offers a wide variety of card printer systems, and other visitor management devices, to fill any of your asset tracking, visitor management, or identification card needs. From card printers and supplies for issuance, through to badge clips and other peripherals, we strive to put them into your users hands. With more than 40 years of combined industry experience, we’re ready to help you achieve your identification goals. For specific information please contact our sales department at [email protected] or call 800-965-5932 for more information on this update– we provide excellent customer service!

AdvantIDge, in partnership with Zebra Printer Technologies, is pleased to announce another option to their already fantastic lineup of options to help with any of your identification needs. Along with keeping on the cutting edge of card quality and printing technology, extra features for security can be paramount to a client’s ID card printer needs. Custom hologram printing can be a great way to get that extra level you require to set your organization apart.

Zebra offers a range of high-security card solutions to meet customer needs for reliable, secure ID cards. All printed plastic cards containing personal information are subject to counterfeiting, alteration, duplication and forgery. As a security feature, a protective film—commonly referred to as a laminate—can be applied to cards during the printing process. The protective film will also protect the printed image against physical wear and helps to extend the life of the card. Zebra laminates can also be embedded with security elements for added protection, including visual holograms, optically variable inks, micro-text, UV fluorescent images, guilloche patterns and metallic inks. As an AdvantIDge customer, you can customize your laminate order to include your company logo and name or other unique images or text. Contact our sales representative for further information.

AdvantIDge offers a wide variety of all of the card printer systems, or other visitor management devices, to fill any of your asset tracking, visitor management, or identification card needs. From card printers and supplies for issuance, through to badge clips and other peripherals to put them into your users hands. With more than 40 years of combined industry experience, we’re ready to help you achieve your identification goals. For specific information please contact our Sales department at [email protected] or call 800-965-5932 for more information on this update, we provide excellent customer service!

Everyone loves a product that they can just use and then forget about when they don’t need; whether it’s a mechanical device like a car, an electronic device such as a computer, or the family pet, like Bubbles the fish. But the truth is that everything needs a little bit of maintenance, be it an oil change, a firmware update, or to be taken for a walk. There just aren’t a lot of products out there that run without a little bit of regular maintenance, and badge printers certainly aren’t one of them.

The most important thing you can do for your printer is just a simple regular cleaning. “How regular?” you ask? Well, there are various numbers and requirements that you can find, depending on the manufacturer and the model of printer you’ve decided to invest in, but a good rule of thumb across the board is to clean the printer every time before you load in a new ribbon. This should be lower than the manufacturer required amount, and will ensure that your new ribbon is giving you the best quality possible. Going longer than that, especially if it means ignoring the manufacturer’s reminders and pop-ups that every printer does for you automatically, can mean poor print quality, damage to the printer, or maybe even void your warranty!

Now every printer cleans a little differently, so presenting a universal set of instructions isn’t really practical. What we can do for you, though, is provide a (hopefully) helpful list of links to take you directly to the steps the manufacturer provides to help you get the job done.

Evolis: http://us.evolis.com/drivers-support
Fargo/HID Global: http://www.hidglobal.com/support/knowledge-base
Magicard/UltraID: https://support.ultramagicard.com/
Zebra: https://www.zebra.com/us/en/support-downloads.html

These links will get you close. You’ll still need to narrow it down to the exact version you own. And what about the supplies? Every one of these instruction sets mention cleaning cards and swabs that you might not have. making sure you have a cleaning kit on hand to do the job is as important as any other step in this process.

Of course, if the steps provided don’t go well, or don’t seem to make sense, reach out to us so we can help! We here at AdvantIDge have years of experience with all of the major manufacturers and models, and might be able to give you a few specific tips for your model to help you out. With one of the best technical support teams in the industry’s and a relationship with the most respected ID card product manufacturers, Advantidge is committed to ensuring that every client receives the right ID products for their specific needs and guarantees them for the life of the product. For specific information or any guidance on this post please contact our Sales department at [email protected] or call 800-965-5932. We provide excellent customer service!

Recently Butler University took a long look at their badge issuance solution. When they learned that they had an opportunity to both streamline the time and save money in the process they were ready to explore the possibilities. The results were dramatic, as the case study below demonstrates.

The Challenge

On the Butler University campus, your student ID is your all-access pass into the library, athletic center, and usually your next meal. When incoming students register, they receive the laminated photo cards and carry them with them at all times. Loaded with “Dawg Bucks,” their student ID cards act like debit cards for purchases at campus dining spots, some select off-campus restaurants and the campus bookstore.

During high-volume new student registration – when hundreds of students need cards in a short timeframe – fast ID card creation is critical. When cumbersome printing slowed the process, Butler began looking for a better way. Previously, card creation required a two-step process to print and then laminate, adding up to considerable time for each card.

“A separate laminate step added about 45 seconds to creating each ID card, which was unacceptable when we were trying to process 200 students in a couple of hours,” said Eddie Marsh, systems analyst. “When you’ve got mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, brother and sister waiting with the student, it’s high-stress for us if printing is slow.”

Cards also didn’t last as long as the typical student’s college career. Less than halfway through their four years on campus, the cards would begin fading under normal use and printed dye bled onto wallets.

The Solution

In a trial, Zebra’s ZXP Series 7 card printers performed with the speed that Butler needs for high-volume printing. “When I first saw the Zebra printers, I was really impressed with the speed,” said Theresa Hilliard, who handles ID cards and vehicle registration at Butler.

Beyond faster printing, the ZXP Series 7 card printer provides photo-like printing and ease of use. It automatically adjusts to the thickness of the card, and ribbon loading takes just a few seconds. Critically, the ZXP Series 7 integrates printing and lamination in one step, reducing the overall time to print the barcoded, magnetic stripe cards.

Butler deployed the printers well before new student registration. While two printers reside normally in the campus police department, the university brings them to a more central location for registration, requiring wireless network printing. When Butler needed help connecting printers to a sub-network for registration, Zebra’s tech support team quickly rewrote the print drivers to get the printers to communicate with the network.

Results

For new student registration, integrated printing and lamination gives Butler University back approximately 45 seconds on every card. Across 200 students, that saves 2.5 hours, allowing staff handling registration to complete the process sooner. By increasing the ribbon per roll capacity from 250 to 750, the staff spends significantly less time replacing ribbons and more time helping students.

Marsh also says that the ZXP Series 7 printers are ready to go when turned on, without the warm-up time required of previous printers. All-in-one printing and lamination likewise saves the university on supply costs.

With a magnetic stripe and barcoding, Butler University’s ID cards work hard for students. The cards printed on the ZXP Series 7 printers are proving to be more durable over time – a critical requirement for the high usage students put them through. With digital printing, color photos don’t fade and printed dye doesn’t wear off or transfer to wallets, creating longer lasting identification cards for students and campus staff.

“We’ve been really happy with Zebra,” Hilliard said. “When someone comes into our office for a replacement card, the printer is ready to go and we have their cards right away. They comment, ‘That was fast!’”

If a solution as simple as that can make such a dramatic difference in the results, as well as save money in the long run, imagine what that could mean for you!

With over 40 years of combined industry experience, Advantidge has been helping institutions around the world create secure, cost-effective identity management solutions featuring easy-to-use ID card printers. As one of the top distributors for the industry’s most respected ID card product manufacturers, Advantidge is committed to ensuring that every client receives the right ID products for their specific needs.

Today, businesses of all sizes choose Advantidge because our ID card systems deliver guaranteed reliability with personal attention from qualified account managers. We take pride in our 360 degree approach to complete customer satisfaction while our end-to-end ID card solutions help clients protect physical and intellectual assets in today’s digital age. Whether you issue hundreds or millions of ID badges each year, count on Advantidge to help you conduct business productively and efficiently. Contact us today at [email protected] or call 800-965-5932, we provide excellent customer service!

The National Football League (NFL) is taking advantage of RFID technology, with its installation of Zebra Technologies’ real-time location system (RTLS) movement tracking and motion capture application, to be used live in 17 U.S. stadiums during the 2014 NFL season, including the stadiums that host Thursday Night Football games. The new system works to within 6 feet, both indoors and out, to track the real-time movements of NFL players and officials from all 32 teams.

The “Next Gen Stats” produced by this technology are a result of communications between RFID readers located throughout a stadium, and the radio-frequency identification (RFID) transmitters in players’ shoulder pads, which compile precise location-based data about players’ positions, acceleration rates and total distances run during games. The collected info will be available to fans, allowing them closer than ever to the action of the game, and to NFL management and team members as valuable real-time data which can enhance strategizing and improve the game.

Take advantage of these types of smart card technologies for your ID tracking needs! They are not exclusive, and can be used by any organization or professional sports league! Contact AdvantIDge today at [email protected] or call 800-965-5932 to learn how we can provide you with improved identity solutions, we provide excellent customer service!

Security lapses on school campuses are a real threat and a growing problem in today’s world. Improve security at your school by updating the visitor sign-in process, which often fails to provide sufficient visitor identity information, and replace it with an automated ID card scanning solution. Ensure that along with the visitor’s name, date and time of entry, you also have their address, drivers license number and basic physical description in your system. With a drivers license scanner added to your school security system software you can do just that. Additionally, watch list integration can check each visitor against a national or internal database to make it less likely that known high-risk and dangerous persons gain entry to your facilities.

Is your university using antiquated paper attendance tracking and manual visitor log books? In addition to increasing safety, modern attendance tracking softwares can save time and money for teachers and schools alike. Using the existing staff and college ID cards on use on your campus, upgrade your school tracking system by incorporating magnetic stripe, barcode reader or proximity smart card technologies. Attendance tracking softwares increase accuracy with immediate transmission to a central location, offering the ability to quickly compile attendance data from which you can learn if certain classes routinely struggle with attendance problems, and which students if any, are frequently tardy to class or absent. The data can be as individualized or campus-wide as you’d like, so you can learn about developing or potential problems before it’s too late!

More and more colleges and universities are streamlining to using a single student ID card across a multitude of applications. Today’s technology allows your university student photo identification cards to be multi-purpose cards.

A single university student identification card can be used for applications such as food service and university bookstore account management, access to computers and other technology, access control to athletic facilities, tracking library ID card check-out, health center ID badges, as well as at-a-glance photo ID.

Across the country, the push for efficient automated payment programs is creating demand for university student ID cards which can store cash value and track account balances. Using a magnetic name badge or smart chip allows schools to use university student identification cards as stored-value debit cards for campus food service, the university bookstore, parking, campus laundry facilities and other on-campus venues which utilize retail ID card technology. This automation makes the purchasing process fast and efficient by reducing lines and wait times, can cut back on labor needed to staff cafeterias and bookstores, and reduces the losses and risks involved with cash transactions.

Stored-value debit cards are simply college ID cards that are funded by traditional means such as checking accounts, funds transfers, credit cards or cash and are used to deduct money from a non-bank account. Stored-value cards use a smart chip or magnetic stripe to store information about the funds that have been prepaid to the card.

One of the keys to creating a safe campus is controlling who’s in your campus buildings. Using magnetic stripe, proximity ID card technology, your university college ID cards can control access to your campus buildings, such as dorms, or even specific areas in your campus buildings, such as labs. A secure access control system will allow you to control who enters controlled areas–and a multi-purpose ID card is the means to do all of this.

A university ID card that includes a magnetic stripe, proximity technology, or a smart chip can control access to technology as well as to physical areas through-out your campus. For example, a student needing to use your university’s computer lab can scan hisID card through a magnetic stripe reader to gain access to the IT building after regular class hours, scan it again to enter the lab, and then insert it into the computer in order to log on. When the student completes his work he scans his card to enter his dorm building, and finally, to enter his dorm room. Similarly, stored value cards can be used by university faculty and staff for parking, food service, and other retail opportunities, as well as gaining access to areas authorized only for them.

Using university college ID cards for library membership ID cards in library book check out is one of the most common ways a university ID card is put to use. Barcodes or magnetic stripes are typically used to track library assets. The same process can also be used with other university check-outs such as audio/visual equipment or athletic equipment.

Advantidge recommends the following ID card printers for University ID Card Mag Stripe Encoding:

• HID Global Fargo DTC4500e Built-in security features and high volume printing to make simple loyalty cards & sophisticated access cards with embedded electronics and magstripe encoding.
• Zebra ZXP Series 3 High speed printing, brilliant image quality, enterprise networking features and full encoding capabilities including magstripe.
• Magicard Enduro + Single or dual-sided card printing with ISO magnetic encoding.
• Magicard Rio Pro Delivers security & performance printing edge-to-edge high-resolution color college ID cards in superior print quality, with custom Holokote & magstripe encoding.
• Evolis Primacy High-end solution for easy, flexible and fast ID card printing.
• Nisca PR5350 For high speed, low cost dual-sided printing with magnetic encoding.

To learn more about our custom bundled solutions for colleges and universities please click on the following link:

» ID Card Systems

See school & university customer testimonials with Advantidge.

When using the Zebra ZXP Series 3 ID card printer, loading your ID cards into the printer’s card feeder can seem very easy to do, but there is one tip that can make the difference between getting off to a great start printing your ID cards, or the printer not working at all!

When you load a stack of fresh ID cards into the Zebra ZXP Series 3 ID card printer, it’s pretty easy to get the ID cards placed in between the feeder and the blue slide, which holds them in place, but what isn’t obvious is that it’s a good idea to also push the first ID card to be printed a little ways down into the feeder, in order to make sure that the printer will actually grab it when operations begin. Simply take your thumb, or a narrow object (another ID card works well!) and slide the card evenly down into the machine until it stops. The round indentation next to the feeder is there for that very purpose, but there are no written instructions telling you that that is what it’s for! This simple trick will make a world of difference in simplifying your ID card printing operation!

From the team at Advantidge we wish you good luck! Contact us today with any further questions at 800-965-5932 or email us at [email protected]. We provide excellent customer service!

On April 8th, 2014 Microsoft will be ending support for Windows XP. For organizations that have already upgraded to Windows 7 and 8 and confirmed their badging equipment works on the newer operating systems this is a non-issue. However many small to medium sized businesses have continued to rely on Windows XP and may be surprised to find that their existing badge printer does not have drivers for the latest version of Windows.

Now is the time to plan ahead for this change by talking to your IT department and making sure you have budgeted for this upgrade. Regardless as to whether you purchased your badging system from us, you can contact AdvantIDge to verify if your system is compatible with the new Windows OS. This will ensure that your card issuance process won’t be interrupted and your ID card system provides years of continued support.

This update affects ALL customers with older model ID card printers and photo ID software that rely on the soon to be outdated Windows XP operating system. Moving forward, the manufacturers of ID card printers including HID Global, Fargo, Zebra, Evolis, Magicard, Datacard and Nisca will only be developing products to be compatible with Windows 7 and 8 64 bits and the new devices will not work with Windows XP.

The team at AdvantIDge is here to support you through this transition, and can help you in deciding which technology will be the best choice for supporting your future ID card issuance. Just call us at 800-965-5932 to speak with an expert account manager today, or email us at [email protected]!

Advantidge announces the discontinuation of Zebra’s P330i and P430i Performance Class ID card printers at the end of the month.

The last day to order P330i and P430i Zebra ID card printers is September 30, 2013 and the last ship date will be December 31, 2013.

Zebra’s ZXP Series 7 ID card printers will replace the discontinued P330i and P430i ID card printers.

Contact Advantidge today at [email protected] or call 800-965-5932 to learn more about this update and to add the ZXP Series 7 ID card printer to your ID card system. We provide excellent customer service!