The CBORD Group has entered into an arrangement with South Carolina to enable the state’s agencies and public colleges and universities to purchase CBORD’s campus card systems without having to issue a request for proposal as is traditionally required by the state. 

Keeping track of the bad cards–those that were printed but never issued–is just as important as tracking the good cards when managing your ID card system.

For John Ekers, Fargo Electronics’ director of product marketing for software and services, it has become something of an evangelization issue. 

AccessID, a subsidiary of HID Global, has named mid-Atlantic regional manager Dani Brunner to a new position as AccessID’s Western regional manager, signaling the company’s commitment to the identification systems channel. Her responsibilities will include ID Systems channel sales in all states west of the Mississippi. 

Part of the AVISIAN Publishing Expert Panel series to be published throughout December 2006

Rory Hersch President Off-Campus Advantage

The coming year will be an exciting one in the campus card industry. With more and more schools realizing the myriad values in creating true ‘one card’ systems, innovation is the new order of the day. No subset of the one card is better positioned for expansion than off-campus payment.

Like most aspects of technology, off-campus payment processing using the campus ID as a declining balance, stored value account will get faster, with high-speed terminals and DSL lines confirming funds availability in under five seconds. In this same vein, we will continue to see the elimination of modem banks verifying each transaction via a slow dial-up connection to the school. This antiquated method of funds verification will be increasingly replaced with central server technology- all transactions going through a single, high speed and secure point-of-entry. 

Part of the AVISIAN Publishing Expert Panel series to be published throughout December 2006

Kieran J. Timmins, Chief Executive Officer, SmartCentric Technologies International Ltd.

Although the advantages of a highly secure card for multiple applications on a single platform were obvious, for many the perceived costs of implementing a smart card system outweighed such advantages. In 2006 there was still a lot of misinformation and misperceptions about smart card systems versus magnetic stripe and even proximity. We still see two basic arguments being put forward against smart cards:

• Online magnetic stripe systems provide sufficient security; and
• Cost, complexity, 100% offline operation and support of systems into the future are common misconceptions.

In 2007 we will finally see these arguments addressed with increasing deployment of contactless card technologies: technologies that allow you to have smart cards without the cost. 

French printer manufacturer Evolis has released a machine designed specifically for rewriteable cards. The company’s Tattoo Rewrite printer can erase and print the same card 500 times. 

The Anaheim, California-based Tiger Woods Learning Center uses ID cards provided by Fargo Electronics’ encoders/printers. The contact smart card, which tracks students as well as ID them, comes with an added benefit: It contains the name of one of the world’s most famous golfers.