By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Ireland-based smart card solutions provider SmartCentric Technologies has chosen the partnership route to add more functions to the services it offers clients. Its recent agreement with Texas-based QI Systems is intended to provide SmartCentric’s university and corporate campuses with new unattended card readers capable of handling both contact and contactless smart cards. 

Thanks to its partnership with Equitrac, CBORD can now offer its university customers centralized management of network printing and copying. The agreement also allows students, faculty and staff to pay for these services with their campus cards. 

Campus smart card solutions provider CBORD has released a handheld terminal designed for its CS Gold card system that will handle debit, meal, and privilege verification transactions in both online, via a wireless network, and offline with a database downloaded to the reader. 

West Virginia University is controlling access to its recreation center with biometric hand readers supplied by Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies. The readers mean students don’t need to bring their ID cards to the rec center where, according to the university, at least five ID cards were lost daily. 

The University of Colorado at Boulder, already utilizing The CBORD Group for housing management, online ordering, foodservice management and student discount memberships has now switched its campus ID card debit system to CBORD’s Odyssey PCS System. 

Datacard’s line of card printers comply with the European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, the company recently announced. The RoHS directive deadline is July 1 and affects all EU member nations. 

Evolis, which manufactures printer solutions for plastic card customizations, has opened up its line of printers to the Linux operating system, making the printers available to more users. The Linux driver is available as a free download from the Evolis Web site.