ID
& Entry CardsID
& Entry Cards
Today, almost every employee at any reasonably large company has an ID card. In metro Detroit, for example, employees at every hospital, auto plant, casino, bank, auto supplier, department store and most other major concerns wear or carry ID cards. I think it’s important to know just what ID cards can do and the different types of cards.
Magnetic Stripe Cards. These are still the
most common cards in use in most areas. Look at any credit card in your wallet.
It is a magnetic stripe card. That dark brown strip on the back of the card
contains the information on who you are. If you fill up your car with gas and
pay outside at the pump by just swiping the card through the reader, it
automatically generates a receipt and eventually a bill. If you use a credit
card in a grocery store or drugstore and swipe it through their card reader, the
same thing happens. Those are the simple cards. The same technology can get much
more complex. First, employee ID cards are precisely the same as your credit
card, except that the strip on the back contains different information, such as
your name, employee number, where you are allowed access to, etc. On the front,
instead of “Visa” and some fancy design, you have a photo ID with your name,
title, department and other information printed on the front. Those cards are
used in card readers to grant you entry into the building and, in some cases,
entry into other areas of the building. For example, hospitals require everyone
to wear such an ID card. If there is an employee entrance, the card will be used
to gain entrance into the building. [It also can, if the system is set up for
it, track your time and attendance automatically, which then generates your
paycheck.] Now, if you happen to be a hospital pharmacist, that same card will
allow you entry to the pharmacy, whereas non-pharmacy employees will not be
granted such access. It’s the same with various other departments, such as the
cashier. Such systems are surprisingly easy to establish, and can be as
sophisticated as you want them to be.
Proximity Cards. These are used in many companies, but often the circumstances of each facility determine the right type of card that is best for that location. The proximity card can be exactly the same ID card on the front, with photo and other such information. When you want entry into a facility or part of that facility, you simply hold the card up to a card reader installed by the door you are accessing. The reader actually reads the information stored on a computer chip inside your card and allows entry (or doesn’t). Without going into great detail, there are two types of proximity cards. In one instance, the card contains the “activating” device, and in the other the reader contains that device. It’s immaterial. The important thing to know is that the computer chip inside your card can contain an enormous amount of information and be used for multiple purposes, which we will note below.
There are several other types of access cards, but these are really the most common today, so we’ll just leave the others for now. What is becoming very popular is the multiple-purpose card. Perhaps the most common place where such a card is used is on college campuses, so let’s look at that situation. When a student enrolls, for instance, a photo is taken—probably at the public safety department or the registration office. That photo is turned into an ID card similar to that worn by hospital personnel, and they are usually magnetic stripe cards with bar codes added. The magnetic stripe is programmed with the student’s name, ID number and whatever other information is necessary. Now the student has a multi-purpose card.
This card is used for physical ID (from the photo). It’s used to gain access to their locked dormitory, which more campuses are going to these days. It is used when you eat in the dining room at your dorm to track the number of meals your paid program allows you. It is used (with the bar code) to check books out of the library. It can be used to access the intramural center for sports and recreation. And many institutions also allow it to be used as a debit card. You can purchase, say, $20 worth of “credit” from on-campus machines similar to ATMs, and the card can be used as a debit card in vending machines, at the campus bookstore and other such venues. All this is controlled by one computer system. The world of access cards is growing rapidly.
Blackdog
