Your potential customer, the overworked office manager or facilities manager knows the one thing that can make their job easier is a good system. And, if that system can integrate several different functions in one solution, then all the better. In the modern corporate environment, anything that can simplify admin tasks and routines has got to be a big plus.
It’s hardly surprising that corporations are beginning to warm to a number of solutions that can simplify the day-to-day routine.
A powerful argument states that the route to reducing costs while still providing the same – or better – service is to streamline procedures as much as possible.
What’s the point in having two separate systems or procedures that overlap, if a single solution can be found to process several different requirements seamlessly?
This idea continues to gain momentum as finance departments and procurement managers look at ways of streamlining costs, improving office efficiency and the quality of life of the staff.
There is little point in choosing a system that will happily issue ID cards day in, day out, if this needs to be augmented by another solution for access control. And where’s the justification in implementing an effective photo ID, visitor management and access control system,only to run a completely separate solution for car park or staff canteen payments?
Card confusion
Until recently, there was little choice but to use different cards – and very probably different suppliers – for each of these purposes. There wasn’t the technology available to integrate multiple applications on a single card.
Office staff needed to carry an ID card, usually issued by the personnel department, which provided them with proof of identity and, potentially, access rights. The same staff needed to carry an entirely separate cashless vending or catering card, allowing them to use canteen facilities and drinks or snack dispensers. To add even further to the confusion, staff car park barriers would often be operated by another system, requiring yet another card.
But, if you think that’s confusing, you only need imagine the sheer pandemonium that can be caused when the time comes to update any one of these systems. Because most of the solutions on the market are stand-alone software and hardware systems, there is little possibility of upgrading them as and when further innovations are developed.
The worst news is that this can often mean scrapping the whole system, and starting again from scratch.
Choose precisely
When funds are tight, this is the last thing that any office manager wants to do. Surely, it makes sense to invest in a single system that is a solution to ID card production, visitor management, access control, cashless payment and staff car parking.
Does such a solution exist and, if so, what are its relative merits?
Thanks to the latest developments in software engineering, systems are now appearing on the market that comprise a single program, embracing a modular suite of functions. This allows office and facilities managers to choose precisely the functions they need. Managers no longer need to pay for facilities that they have no intention of using. Equally, there is no need to replace the complete system, just so that additional facilities can be added.
However, one of the biggest selling points of this new breed of system is that, once the basic software is installed, it represents the foundation for a complete enterprise-wide single card solution.
Start with Photo ID
Imagine photo ID as a starting point. When a new member of staff joins an organisation, one of the first administrative tasks undertaken is for that person to be issued with an ID card. This makes very good sense, as it provides an easily administered visual check for security purposes.
The latest modular systems sit on a single PC and can be operated from that individual workstation, or across a network. They use a proprietary image capture device that records a picture of the new staff member. This is then printed onto a badge, containing full details of that individual’s name, department and position. Equally, access cards can also be issued using similar technology, operating via a choice of magstripe or contactless smart card hardware.
Real control of access
This is where a single card solution starts to get seriously useful. Because modular technology allows access control to be added simply by bolting on another module, facilities managers and office managers then gain the ability to grant and revoke access rights depending on the particular category that each individual member of staff belongs to.
As the corporate office environment becomes more security conscious, many managers take the view that sensitive areas such as IT and accounts should be zoned.
But to implement a single card solution with any success, the personnel database must be accessed in real time. If not, the whole system runs the risk of operating using out of date or inaccurate information.
What’s the point in commissioning a state of the art access control system, if it fails to recognise that Miss X from accounts was dismissed two days ago for pilfering, and should not be allowed access into the building under any circumstances? One of the pre-requisites of any access control system has to be an effective real-time dynamic link between the personnel database and the access control software. Once configured, this will automatically bar access to former members of staff.
The latest systems are fully smart card compatible, allowing them to operate in conjunction with cashless payment technology that many office and facility managers are now considering.
The benefits are that members of staff no longer have to remember to carry any number of different cards and administrators and office managers benefit from a huge simplification of their operations and systems.
Payment stations
Cashless payment stations can be located at various convenient points, allowing members of staff to add value to their cards easily. These recently introduced devices add credit to each person’s smart card, which can then be spent at the canteen or restaurant, vending machines or for car parking. Some users have reported an unexpected yet positive side effect. Because the cards hold an intrinsic value, the number of ID cards that are reported lost often reduces, because staff generally take better care of them.
Further advantages are had in the canteen or restaurant. Because many multi-application cards now on the market can support a variety of platforms, they can integrate with point of sale solutions.
This enables the canteen till to be automated, so that staff need simply offer their smart card to the appropriate card reader, which will automatically deduct the correct value from the remaining credits in their electronic purse.
Streamlined catering
This innovative technology allows a streamlining of the complete catering process. Point of sale staff can be redeployed in other roles and the canteen is more efficient. Because there is no longer any need to handle cash payments, auditing is automated, and stock control is more streamlined..
Multi-application cards can bring big benefits to the corporate office – from ID cards to canteen automation, access control and car parking. A single smart card solution can radically increase efficiency and help trim costs. And that’s just what your customer wants to hear.
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