The Badge Reel Is Popular

With increased security being the most important consideration for large organizations the need for ID cards and advanced technology is a necessity to protect against unauthorized entry and possible attacks on such companies. With the threat of terrorism and sabotage unwanted but real threats to any large organization it is essential that all employees and management are easily recognized and that the technology exists for high security entry into different parts of the establishments.

A large organization should also consider investing in their own printer that will incorporate all the usual security measures but can also be customized thereby increasing security even more. Apart from the consideration of economy their own printer would mean quicker production for new employees and visitors who may be on the premises. It would be much more secure to have a secure ID badge for a visitor than to just have a badge that says "Visitor" as these can easily be duplicated whereas with a visitors list the card can be prepared prior to the visit and destroyed after the visit.

With the advances in technology the old lapel badges are now becoming obsolete in organizations where secure entry is required or where departments are necessarily isolated for security or health reasons. A badge reel is a much better idea as it remains secure on the person at all times being retractable. It can be extended to afford entry to a department by swipe card reader or held up to a reader without ever leaving the person and thus there are no lost cards for the security department to worry about. If a retractable reel was not used the person concerned would have to take off his badge to hold it to the reader thus increasing the chances of it being lost. With the best will in the world people are prone to mislay cards because they are distracted by other issues and lost cards mean a lot of extra work for the security department and it has been known for a whole new set of cards to be produced because one card was lost and not recovered.

The swipe card is slowly being replaced by the proximity card which is a card that radiates an electric field which can be adapted to read from about 1" to !8" so that it can be held up to the card reader. Although this is the latest technology it does not seem to be in consideration of security more for speed and convenience. Credit and debit cards are in the process of changing to this technology but though it is obviously quicker there do not seem to be any security advantages. These cards have a facility code that applies to one organization and cards numbered according to how many cards are required. Although each organization has its own facility code there is no control over the card issue so it is possible that two companies can have the same facility code and thus duplicates exist.