Student Identification: Choosing the Right Identification Solution for Your School
By: Shane Cunningham
When a private school reaches that moment when the need for a student and staff identification system requires serious consideration, there are a host of topics that should be addressed to determine exactly what is needed. Too often, a school board can understand clearly the need, but settle too quickly on a solution that is found in a five-minute Web search. As with any step in the education process, proper “homework” should be done first.
What would be the purpose of your identification system? Is it simply to provide “peace of mind” to the student’s parents? Is it to allow for instant recognition of those who belong to your institution? Is it to help you supervise your school effectively, both as a tool for student safety and for facility management?
How many people would you need to identify, including students, staff, faculty, visitors, and even parents? Do you have other systems—such as library, cafeteria, or attendance—where automation could improve your department management? Are there areas that require special access, such as science labs or medicine rooms where chemicals are stored? Do you have after-school programs where membership cards or identity tags would be helpful to know who is still on the premises and why?
Would an identification system that tells you who is in the building and where help to lower your insurance costs? What about a system that manages background checks for employees and volunteers, or storing student disciplinary records? Would you like to have a registry for quick contact lookups in case of an emergency, or a list of family members authorized to pick up students after school?
All of these questions and more should be considered to determine your need. If you decide that such a solution would be beneficial to your school, the second phase is determining which system, of the many that exist on the market, will effectively meet your needs. Many security system integrators and resellers can offer complete packaged solutions or individual modules that can complement each other to create your own custom solution. Components to be considered include printers, cameras, software, readers, and computers.
As most security software and hardware components are Windows-compliant, any standard PC can work for most of your identity system needs. Individual desktop computers could be needed to manage your library check-outs, your cafeteria purchases, your ID card printing, and your access control records. Most integrators can tie these systems together for you, by sharing a single database that can be accessed during card personalization to provide the necessary information for printers and encoders to create cards that will function in the appropriate campus systems for each student or staff member.
Next, you need to consider the many software packages that exist today for identification and database management, and determine which one can provide you with the tools you need. You might only require the ability to create basic photo IDs for everyone, with no encoding or integration to other systems. Or, you may require something much more complex that provides reporting features for auditing, entry codes for separate facilities or functions, and unique security layers to prevent unauthorized access or counterfeit card production. Others still may want software that can grow with their needs, as they add new facilities or expand student resources within their organization. For each set of issues, different levels of software exist, many of which include customizable menus, screens, and databases, as well as add-on modules and upgrade paths from one stage of functionality to another. Your integrator or reseller can work with you to find the solution that meets your current needs and future goals.
Once you have decided the purpose of your system, how it should work for you, and what other systems should be connected to it, it is time to choose your “accessories,” such as cameras, readers, and printers.
Unlike security monitoring systems where CCD cameras are used to watch over your facilities and detect trespassing, theft, or elemental danger, simple off-the-shelf digital cameras can be used to capture personnel photos for your identification system. Most integrators or security product resellers can recommend cameras to you, especially if they have embedded features in their software that might improve a camera’s performance. For smaller schools, regular pocket-sized digital cameras or even high-resolution Web cameras, with proper room lighting, can work quite well. For larger institutions, that may be managing thousands of students and staff members, industrial-quality digital cameras, similar to those in a state motor vehicle office, might be the better choice, to maintain durability and consistency of image quality.
If you are linking additional systems to your identification solution, you need to choose the proper encoding technologies and readers to manage the data needed to purchase food, check-out books, and enter secure areas. Most of these systems may already come with their own requirements for barcodes, magnetic stripes, and contact or RFID chips, and, therefore, determine for you the readers needed to properly send and receive data. If not, you will need to be careful that you do not install systems that may require identical technology that can conflict with one another, such as library and attendance systems that both use different information on the same track of the magnetic stripe to determine the user. Simple mistakes made through individual systems purchased in succession from competing vendors can wind up costing you significant funds that could be better spent improving the quality of your curriculum.
The last component to consider is often the one most people choose first: the printer. Once all needs, wants, and expectations are decided, you need a means to put them together into a single card for each student, parent, and staff member to manage, protect, and ultimately use every day. Finding the right solution to print, encode and/or laminate your cards may seem like an easy thing to do. Consider first that there are multiple card printer manufacturers with dozens of hardware options divided into three basic printing technologies: paper ink printing, direct card printing, and retransfer printing. There are advantages to each type.
Paper ink printing consists of thick paper sheets that are printed in desktop inkjet or laser printers, then kiss cut or punched, and hand laminated in separate pouches. This is typically how identification cards were created until the early 1990s, and it is still available as a low-cost solution for ID cards today. A key problem with paper ink printing is that nearly anyone can easily make counterfeits or forge originals by using a scissors, glue, and a little ingenuity.
Direct card printing is achieved by the sublimation of color dyes from a ribbon directly into the PVC surface of a plastic card. This provides for a significant number of options for digital images, covert data, electronic encoding, and layered security features, making it much more difficult to counterfeit or forge, as well as increasing the lifespan of the card. This is the most common method for card personalization worldwide today. One major downside of direct card printing is the lifetime of the print head, which requires consistent cleaning and eventual replacement.
Retransfer printing, though similar in method to direct card printing, offers extended hardware lifetime and functionality. Like direct card, retransfer uses the dye sublimation process to print images and data onto the surface of plastic cards. However, unlike direct card printers, the print head never touches the card, but rather a retransfer film that is then applied directly to a wider range of plastic cards, many of which can withstand extreme temperatures, survive longer usage, and include unique security features. Though the initial cost may be higher than direct card printers, maintenance costs are typically much lower, and the lifetime of the printer is significantly longer. Retransfer printers are rapidly expanding their use in all identification markets and are beginning to replace direct card printers as the primary technology for durable, multi-function cards.
This may seem like a lot of information to swallow in one helping, but careful planning, diligent research, and insightful advice from security system professionals can provide you with everything needed to create the right identification solution that is as individual as your school.
Shane Cunningham is marketing manager for Digital Identification Solutions, www.dis-usa.com/csp.
