How to Choose the Right Card for Your Security Needs
There are as many options for choosing the right ID security card for your business as there are reasons for needing a way to keep employees, visitors, and tenants safe and secure. So how do you determine what’s the right choice for your security needs? We have a quick and easy guide to help you figure out exactly what you need.
Where to Start
Before you choose a card or badge design, you need to decide a few important issues first:
Your unique security needs. If you have a security policy in place, refer to it to decide what features need to be on your badges or cards to minimize the possibility of someone copying, forging, or tampering with them. If you don’t have a security policy, this might be an opportune time to define exactly what security needs you have. This will help govern your choices going forward on how much and what type of information you need on badges and cards.
Compliance requirements. Do you need to comply with government regulations? If so, these requirements may mean you need to consider more high-end solutions. If you don’t have compliance requirements, you might be able to use a more generic security solution, depending on your security needs.
Levels of security clearance. If you have different areas of business that require a more secure level of access or clearance than others, you’ll need to define a way to authenticate the identity of each cardholder. Things to consider are various security levels for employees, contractors, and visitors. Will you need separate cards or badges for each level?
Other Considerations
Do you need to add data to your cards? There are a couple of different card options for accessing data. You can add a barcode to your cards to quickly and easily scan for data by simply swiping your card. Barcodes are easily copied though and are the least secure method of data encoding. If you need something more robust, a magnetic stripe offers a more secure data feature, but also requires a special addition to your printer. Magnetic stripe cards are great for access control or badges that track time and attendance.
On the other hand, if you need secure badges, you might want to consider a smart card. The major advantage of a smart card is that it can store multiple strings of information, including encrypted data, for the greatest security possible. There are smart contact cards that need to be inserted into a reader or contactless cards that need to come within the range of a reader. If crowd control is an issue for access to your building and facilities, you may want to consider a contactless card.
Visual features can add a layer of security that makes it easy to identify who belongs and who doesn’t. For instance, adding a hologram to your card isn’t complicated or too expensive and adds a highly secure visual identifier that makes it easy for your security staff to scan cards quickly. You may want to add signatures or photos as additional layers. Another visual feature that’s effective and efficient is a watermark;
Still Confused?
So many options–how do you choose? If you’re still confused about the right card for your security needs, contact one of our experts, and we’ll help you sort out the best choice to fit your requirements. Our specialists have decades of experience and expertise in guiding our customers to the right fit for their needs and their budgets.
