Messages are sent to email or cell phone when wash and dry cycles are complete

by Ryan Kline, Contributing Editor

The campus card has helped to alleviate the frantic search for quarters that characterizes the student laundry experience. Card-based payment solves that problem, but what will solve the problem the ever so busy college student faces now – waiting … and waiting for open washers and dryers?

Students use the Internet for almost everything … but laundry? Yes, the online revolution has reached the laundry room. At least four companies are offering solutions to monitor the laundry facilities and allow students to view machine availability in real-time. At least one other company, CBORD, is beta testing a new laundry monitoring solution. 

The future of campus cards goes mobile

Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

As wireless connectivity becomes the norm rather than the exception, colleges are finding greater uses for handheld PDA-type devices that can simplify everything from taking food orders to checking students in during an event, such as a football game.

Meal vending, picnics, field trips, photo or event verification, even shuttle buses all lend themselves to handheld usage. One thing’s for sure: colleges certainly have a variety of wireless devices from which to choose. 

Jolly Technologies, a California company which produces secure identity solutions, recently released new products to help in tracking visitors to your company or campus. The solutions provide ID badging and tracking and access control which are integrated with Jolly’s ID Flow software. 

Duke University in North Carolina and the University of Alabama have received recognition from Blackboard for their campus service offerings that have led to more student conveniences while saving the institutions time and money. The Greenhouse Awards were presented during Blackboard’s BbWorld Commerce 2007 conference. 

Datacard Group has launched a new card issuance platform that offers affordability while meeting the needs of financial, gift, loyalty, membership and other card issuers. It also delivers many of the same card personalization capabilities and operational advantages of higher-volume card issuance systems. 

With every government agency in the U.S. issuing a standardized secure ID, will your campus card feel the pressure to follow their lead?