When considering a new time and attendance system, you should also consider other systems that can also be incorporated. Perhaps employees now have one card for door access, another for employee identification and another punch or swipe card for recording time and attendance.

All of these can be combined on one card to save the time and money associated with issuing and keeping track of a multitude of cards. Bar Codes and magnetic striping can both be added to identification cards, to record time and attendance as well as to allow or deny access to a building when the card is passed by a reader near the door. Proximity and smart cards can also be used for this purpose and can be combined with Photo ID.

The advantages and disadvantages of each are outlined below.

Magnetic Striping
The most popular type of access card uses magnetic striping, similar to your debit or credit cards. These require physical contact with a reader, just like your credit or debit card must be swiped to be read. Encoding the magnetic strip is not difficult but requires special equipment, or cards can be purchased already encoded. In order to read the pass code to copy it, you also need special equipment, making it difficult to duplicate. At a cost of $1.00 to $2.00, this type of card offers the best security for the price.

Proximity Card
A step up from the mag stripe is the proximity card. The proximity card offers the advantage of allowing access by just passing the card close to a reader. It is also much more difficult to duplicate than the mag stripe, requiring even more sophisticated equipment.

The proximity card contains a wire and a small memory chip. The electronic field around the reader always emits an energy field. When the card is passed close to the reader, the wire absorbs some of the energy and activates the card. The memory chip sends an activation number or code back to the reader for verification and access. Since power is obtained from the reader, the card does not need a battery. The main advantages of the proximity card are that it’s more difficult to duplicate and it can be held close to the reader without actual physical contact or swiping. However, this comes with a price tag of about $5.00 to $6.00 per card.

Bar Codes
The bar code is the least expensive method, but is also the least secure. They can easily be added to the card design by many card design software programs. Primarily developed for inventory control and fast checkouts at retail counters, bar codes originally had to be swiped like magnetic stripe cards. Now, of course, just like the supermarket, ultraviolet readers allow reading if the bar code is passed close to the reader. Bar coding is far easier to duplicate than magnetic stripe encoding.

Smart Cards
Smart Cards provide greater memory capability and as a result, greater security. Because of the greater memory capacity, it can also be used as an e-cash card. It is used in many universities and colleges, to provide dorm, library, athletic, photocopy and meal privileges. However, for most business purposes smart cards are not used because of the cost of implementation and e-cash capabilities are not often required.

Customizing the System
Proximity, bar coding and magnetic striping basically provide an Identification number or code when a card is swiped or activated. Codes or numbers can be customized to identify the office site, facility, department and ID number of the employee.

For time and attendance, the time and employee information is recorded. For door access, access information is kept on the central processor for access to specified areas. This allows you to change access parameters for a particular person at any time. Or, if a disgruntled employee leaves with a card, all access can be denied.

Which to Use?
Which system you use depends a lot on what you might currently have. Photo ID can be added to a proximity card by printing on a thinner plastic card with an adhesive back that can be applied to the proximity card. If you already have a time and attendance system that uses mag stripes, magnetically-striped cards can be purchased to print on a digital ID printer. Or, bar codes can be added by card design software that works with digital ID printers.

If your current time and attendance system is working well, think of combining it with Photo ID. Or, if you wish to add door access, find a security system dealer who can help you with your building security.

While reviewing your time and attendance system, it will save time and money down the road to examine your security and ID systems as well.