What to do when it's time to replenish card stock
CR80News & ColorID article series continues... Every university has to manage its card stock supply, and though it's not the most exciting task for a card office to undertake, being left without a sufficient supply of cards can bring a university's card issuance to a grinding halt. Depending on the size of the institution, the type of credential, and even the time of year, replenishing card stock is more of a process than you may think. ColorID's corporate marketing manager, Mark Degan, offers his insights to better explain the factors that a university should consider when it comes time to restock. Keeping stock When it comes to card stock supplies, the first consideration for any university card office should be the amount of card stock needed to keep the operation running smoothly. "Depending on the university's orientation sizes, as well as the functions that they are using their ID cards for will help determine the amount of card stock it should keep handy," explains Degan. "I would suggest having at least six months worth of card stock in house at any given time." Housing six months worth of card stock should provide a significant cushion for a university to accomplish its average operations, but it is also important to account for potential abnormalities in card stock consumption. "A number of issues can come up that could increase your card consumption," says Degan. "The most common are large orientation classes, re-carding, card stock failure, bad batches or even an ID printer malfunctioning and requiring reprints." Degan explains that the size of the institution may also play a role in the restocking process, as larger universities do usually have a larger replenish size. Alternatively, larger universities can order more frequently rather than placing a single, larger-quantity order. Know your lead time In addition to the many operational challenges that a card office may face, another key consideration for replenishing card stock is lead time. As Degan explains, a card office must take lead time into account because delivery time frames will vary depending on the type of card stock. "Non-custom, non-technology, or blank, card stock is usually available in sleeves of 500 in a number of options and varieties," explains Degan. "For blank card stock, the standard lead time is one week, and if for some reason it isn't in stock, a new order could take up to four weeks." Next on the list is custom, non-technology card stock. "These card stock orders usually take between 2-4 weeks, but in the summer months, universities should assume 6-8 weeks," says Degan. According to Degan, non-custom, technology card stock typically comes in sleeves of 250-500 and offers a number of options and varieties. "Standard lead time for this card stock is 1-2 weeks, but if it's out of stock a university should expect 4-6 weeks for manufacturing throughout the year and 6-8 weeks during the summer months," he adds. The lengthiest lead time can typically be found with custom, technology card stock. As Degan explains, these orders routinely take around 4-6 weeks, but in the summer months can balloon up to 6-10 weeks. Despite their varying lead times, Degan does explain that the type of card stock does not affect the overall order quantity, provided the university can afford to wait for the shipment to arrive. It's for this reason that planning ahead is crucial. Time is of the essence As previously mentioned, the time of year can factor into the amount of time it takes to process an order. With this in mind, Degan offers some advice for planning ahead. "The best time of the year to order card stock is from October to April," Degan explains. "After spring comes around, and throughout the summer months, lead times always increase because some universities forget to place their orders earlier, or have just realized they opened their last box of cards." Degan places a hard deadline on a restocking order. "The absolute latest that a university card office should wait to reorder card stock is six months worth of card supply," he says. "Waiting any longer than that will result in longer lead times and could make life a little more stressful." "We send our customers emails throughout the year with accurate lead times so they can plan ahead," says Degan. "Lead times can change very rapidly so be sure to ask at the time of your order what the current lead time is and if you need cards by a certain date to relay that to your provider." Ace up your sleeve Running out of card stock will bring any card office to its knees, halting all card issuance in its tracks. Knowing the lead time for your university's type of card stock is vital. While replenishing card stock likely isn't a daily thought for card office administrators, it's nonetheless a task worth considering. With just a little bit of planning in advance and an understanding of your university's needs, a card office can steer clear of catastrophe and avoid the bottom of the deck.
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How universities are using biometrics in the dining hall.
For universities nationwide, getting students through the dining hall doors and to their daily meals is a constant struggle that requires a delicate balance of student convenience and throughput. Biometric applications have garnered demand in a number of locations across the contemporary college campus, particularly those locations where students don't want to carry their cards. But biometrics has extended beyond rec centers, athletic facilities and team locker rooms, as more universities are deploying the technology at campus dining halls. While a vast majority of universities use the campus card to facilitate dining hall entry, some institutions have decided to leverage biometrics at the dining hall door, enabling the students to be their own meal ticket. Today's Special "The dining hall application continues to be a hot topic for universities," says David Stallsmith, director of product management at ColorID. " Attendees at NACCU, NACAS, UBTech and several other higher education conferences have expressed great interest in biometrics technology this past year." As the technology continues to evolve, with both scanner hardware and matching algorithms becoming more robust, biometrics seems a viable alternative to the traditional campus card. According to Stallsmith, there are a few primary factors that contribute to the performance of a biometric dining system. "There's the quality of the sensors, the security of the matching algorithms built into the supporting software and the location of the stored templates - on card, in database or on device," says Stallsmith. "Moreover, you can also designate the the number of factors required - biometric alone, biometric and card or biometric and PIN." As Smallsmith makes clear however, there will always be a place for the student ID card. "We don't believe campuses are ready to ditch ID cards, but there are certain applications where biometrics seem to work better and faster than mag stripe or contactless cards," Stallsmith explains. A Menu of Modalities In addition to its hardware and software evolution, biometrics as a medium has grown as well. Biometric modalities now range from the standard fingerprint to advanced vascular biometrics, keystroke recognition and even gait. Modality is just one of the many factors that contribute to the success of a biometric implementation, but it's an important consideration, nonetheless. What modality, then, is best suited to the university dining hall? ColorID offers fingerprint and palm vein sensors, as well as an iris recognition solution. Stallsmith believes it's the latter that holds the most promise in dining applications. "Of the current biometric modalities, iris recognition is usually the fastest and most accurate, especially for populations over 10,000," explains Stallsmith. "Iris is a one-to-many method of recognition, as opposed to palm vein or fingerprint that typically still require a one-to-one match." "The algorithms for fingerprint and palm vein aren't fast enough to match against a larger database, and thus requires a PIN or card to match against a template," adds Stallsmith. For dining hall applications where convenience is key, carrying an additional factor of authentication in the form of an ID card or a memorized PIN doesn't enhance the experience. One-to-many matching means that the iris systems can yield a match much quicker, making it an ideal modality for populations of 2,000 or more.Iris authentication is achieved by taking pictures of the eye and using the iris patterns to create unique numbers, called templates. These are then matched against all the templates in a database. Stallsmith explains that a typical iris identification transaction is completed in just two seconds, from approach to approval. "Across the board, we have found that iris recognition performs better than other modalities, though iris systems tend to be slightly more expensive," Stallsmith adds. An ever-present consideration, cost will likely be a sticking point for most institutions considering a biometric deployment at the dining hall. "High-quality biometric readers range anywhere from $800 to $3000, depending on the type of scanner," estimates Stallsmith. "There can also be software and integration costs." Stallsmith goes on to explain, however, that when used in high-throughput applications, sensor costs can be quickly distributed across the larger number of users.In practice, iris seems to be gaining momentum in the campus dining space.George Mason University has installed iris systems in all campus dining halls, and Stallsmith estimates that another six universities are in the planning and pilot phases for similar projects. At Georgia Southern University, more than 10,000 students have enrolled in an iris-based transaction system. To date, the university has logged some 1.2 million iris-based transactions since the biometric dining solution's implementation in the fall of 2013. Blending Flavors Selecting an affordable biometric solution is still only part of the concern for university administrators, as the integration process can be complicated without the proper preparation. "Biometric devices are typically built for access control and are designed to output a previously stored card number upon identification of each person," explains Stallsmith. "For implementation, you have to understand how to convert these card numbers into data that can be read by your university's POS terminals and other online devices." "Essentially, if the device has an input, we can get the right kind of data into it," says Stallsmith. "Once the POS terminal or card system receives the card number, the validation process is the same as it would be for a mag stripe or contactless card." "Each user's card number is entered in the biometric system during enrollment, which can normally be done while the ID card is being printed," he adds. Soup's On So long as there are hungry students on campus, there will be lines at the dining hall. Being able to get students through the door and to the dinner table as quickly and efficiently as possible, then, will be a vital concern. Meanwhile, the use of biometrics on the contemporary college campus continues to grow in both adoption and variety of use. As iris, fingerprint and other modalities continue to evolve, dining hall applications could be the latest to benefit from the technology. CR80News Article :http://www.cr80news.com/2014/11/05/be-your-own-meal-ticket?issue=cr80news_20141105 Are you looking for an affordable solution to reduce season pass fraud? If so, ColorID's RFID Ski Solution may be your answer! Our solution allows resorts to add RFID identification to any current system without significantly altering current processes. How it works is a season pass ID card is personalized in a desktop printer after which the UHF (Ultra high frequency) chip embedded inside the card is programmed using a desktop programmer. Out on the slopes, handheld scanners with UHF readers are used to read the programmed number from the card. Some advantages include:
About ColorID, LLC Every year, ColorID assists more than 1000 colleges and universities and their project managers personally oversee 700 custom projects each year, including many small and large recarding projects. ColorID offers best-in-class products and solutions, including: contactless, smart and financial cards from every major manufacturer, multiple ID printer platforms; transaction and point-of-sale software and hardware, a variety of handheld devices for identification and tracking applications and biometrics solutions, including fingerprint and iris readers. The company’s manufacturing partners include: Iris ID, HID, Fargo, Datacard, CardSmith, Gemalto, Zebra, NiSCA, Evolis, Allegion, Aptiq, Magicard, Brady People ID, Integrated Biometrics, Oberthur, NBS, Vision Database Systems and many others. Contact ColorID at 704-987-2238 or toll free in Canada and the US at 888-682-6567. Visit ColorID on the web at: www.colorid.com or email ColorID at support@colorid.com. Check out the following article by CR80News & ColorID regarding mag stripes and the University market CR80News Article link (click on picture or text) About ColorID, LLC Every year, ColorID assists more than 1000 colleges and universities and their project managers personally oversee 700 custom projects each year, including many small and large recarding projects. ColorID offers best-in-class products and solutions, including: contactless, smart and financial cards from every major manufacturer, multiple ID printer platforms; transaction and point-of-sale software and hardware, a variety of handheld devices for identification and tracking applications and biometrics solutions, including fingerprint and iris readers. The company’s manufacturing partners include: Iris ID, HID, Fargo, Datacard, CardSmith, Gemalto, Zebra, NiSCA, Evolis, Allegion, Aptiq, Magicard, Brady People ID, Integrated Biometrics, Oberthur, NBS, Vision Database Systems and many others. Contact ColorID at 704-987-2238 or toll free in Canada and the US at 888-682-6567. Visit ColorID on the web at: www.colorid.com or email ColorID at support@colorid.com. ColorID recently joined the National Association of College & University Food Services organization as a business partner. The recent implementation of the Biometric Dining Solution has been a highly successful and popular product within the Dining & Food services industry seen in action here at Georgia Southern University.
ColorID plans to introduce this quick and highly effective solution to the NACUFS organization members this summer and offering a webinar presentation that will be sent out shortly regarding the solution. HID Global, a worldwide leader in secure identity solutions visited ColorID headquarters this week for training on their latest revision of iClass credentials and physical access wall readers tabbed as iClass SE. Nathan Cummings, Director of Sales Engineering headed the training at ColorID and spoke about the improvements made for both the credentials and readers.
The latest revision of readers has the ability to read a multitude of contactless card technologies as well as magnetic stripes. The iClass SE readers have the ability to:
The following is an updated video from Georgia Southern University. Content shows students entering their cafeteria through turnstiles with biometric verification via iris technology. Video shows students allowed access as well as stopping student from entering due to user error.
Charlotte, NC - April 10, 2014 - With the increasing popularity of unlimited university meal plans, the need to accurately identify students at dining halls has become an economic reality. Additionally, hungry diners are not happy with having to wait in line as those ahead of them fumble in their wallets and purses for their ID cards.
The ColorID Biometric Dining Solution is now in operation on the campus of Georgia Southern University, using hardware and software from Iris ID. Each student looks into an Iris ID camera for about one second and when they are positively identified, their card number is instantaneously transmitted to the meal plan system. "We are thrilled by the response from many prominent universities to the news of this system at Georgia Southern," said Danny Smith, owner and Executive Vice President of ColorID. "It seems that biometric identification has become accepted by today's students as a comfortable and convenient means of identification." Richard Wynn, Director of the Eagle Card program added, "We had a conference of NACAS delegates on campus who applauded as they watched students walk up to the iris cameras, be identified and proceed into the dining hall without interruption." Tim Stahl, Associate Director of Infrastructure at GSU said that the integration with their meal plan system went smoothly, with assistance from ColorID and Iris ID. Tim Ortscheid of ColorID added, "The high security benefits that have led many international data centers to install iris identification for access are now available for high-throughput applications. The cost per user has also come down to a very attractive level." With the experience of installing hundreds of Iris ID systems in high security applications, ColorID has now worked with several universities and integrators to implement these in dining hall applications for both meal plans and cash POS transactions. Significant interest has also been expressed in other campus applications, such as athletic team locker rooms, rec centers and daycare centers. For more information about the ColorID Biometric Dining Solution, including brochures, videos or to request a demonstration, contact ColorID at 888-682-6567 or email:sales@colorid.com. Iris Identification: Known to be the most accurate form of real-time biometric identification, the Iris ID system takes a picture of the subject's eyes with several special cameras within the Iris ID device. Since it is only a camera, there is no harm to the user. Operating at a distance of 12"-16", there is also no contact with the device. Enrollments are performed during the time it takes for an ID card to print during orientation. Unlike other forms of biometrics, iris identification has a very small number of outliers and the highest possible degree of accuracy. The iris is the most complex and randomly chaotic biometric feature of the human body, so the chance of two persons having the same iris pattern is 1 out of 10-78. Even identical twins do not have the same iris patterns.
ColorID is presenting at the 2014 NACAS South Annual Conference this April 15th, 9-10am. ColorID will present on their implementation of the ColorID Biometric Dining Solution at Georgia Southern University (GSU).
Description of Presentation: After decades of promises, biometric identification systems have finally arrived. Long used for high security applications, iris identification has developed into the fastest, most accurate and affordable biometric identification system, followed by improving fingerprint and palm vein systems. Learn more about biometric technology and how your school can move people through lines more quickly and with more accuracy at dining halls, rec centers and team locker rooms.
We will present a detailed description and videos of the full scale iris identification system that GSU is using for meal plans, in their Dining Halls. The presentation is designed for new and experienced attendees and will include live demonstrations of the technology. HID recently introduced the latest version of their very successful multiCLASS/magstripe readers. These hybrid readers were introduced originally to ease the transition from mag stripe cards to HID iCLASS and Prox cards for physical access. Since the introduction of iCLASS SE, HID has now incorporated their latest multiCLASS SE module into these combination mag stripe readers. Probably the most versatile and secure readers on the market today, they can be configured to read HID credentials from iCLASS SE, standard iCLASS, MIFARE and MIFARE DESFire EV1 cards, as well as HID, AWID, CASI RUSCO and Prox cards. With experience in helping over twelve hundred universities, ColorID is uniquely positioned to help campuses navigate away from mag stripes to contactless card technology. These new readers are an important part of that migration strategy.
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