Using badges or cards with your workforce time and attendance management system make tracking employee time fast and easy.
With many types of badges available to choose from, there is a good-fit solution available for every employer. Do you know your badges? Let us look at some of these many options.
Know your type of badge reader:
Proximity readers require employees to wave their badge in front of the timeclock device. The badge emits a radio signal that the timeclock uses to identify the employee and record the punch. Proximity badges do not require inserting the badge into a device and can be a component of a contactless time and attendance solution. Proximity badges can come in the form of a card, a key fob, or tags, offering lots of options.
Magnetic Swipe badge readers work like swiping a credit card. The magnetic strip on the card stores data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card. The magnetic stripe card, sometimes called swipe card or magstripe, is read when it is swiped past a magnetic reading head. Employees swipe their badge card through a magnetic stripe card reader to record their time punch. Swipe badge readers can be ideal for businesses that use employee badge cards already.
Barcode readers use an optical scanner to decode a font that transforms a numeric or alpha-numeric code into a lined or pixelated image. Bar codes are easily copied which is a security risk on their own, but they can add an extra element of security to ID badges when used in combination with other badge technologies.
MIFARE technologies are built into contactless smart cards and proximity cards and offer a higher level of data security than more common badges. The brand name covers proprietary solutions based upon various levels of the ISO/IEC 14443 Type A 13.56 MHz contactless smart card standard. MIFARE cards can store data, such as employee data in a highly secure manner.
Know your cards and credentials:
HID is a vendor that provides the industry's broadest range of card-based credentials for all types of readers. HID offers credential cards, tags, and key fobs providing useful options. HID offers a credential solution that can fit almost any use case.
Know your swipe options:
ZKTeco’s Ultima timeclock device is equipped with UltiCard which enables the device to read most card and badges*. Ultima devices include a proximity reader which supports 125/134.2 kHz and 13.56 MHz credentials. If your organization requires different types of badges or if you decide to switch badge types at a future time, UltiCard will allow you to use the same timeclock device regardless of the type of card you choose. Supports card types & protocols low frequency (includes 134.2KHz) supports card types & protocols high frequency. The UltiCard Plus Module can be purchased already upgraded to the Enhanced Feature Set 1 and Enhanced Feature Set 2 ZKTeco partners also have the option to purchase the UltiCard Plus Module at the time of their order, but then use their trained technical team to upgrade to either Enhanced Feature Set option prior to shipping to their end users – providing flexibility to meet last minute or unanticipated requirements
Know what is right for your organization:
ZKTeco has unmatched expertise in helping customer identify the best-fit badge solutions for their organization. With so many options and considerations, you don’t need to know all the badge options before you decide on an option. Call on the experts at ZKTeco before implementing a badge or card-based time and attendance solution.
* If your organization has a card you would like to use with the clocks you must send us examples to decode and test before guaranteeing it will work with the clock selection.
