Gloucester Public Schools learn the value of systems integration

Feb 1, 2006 12:00 PM

Today's id card printers are generally easy to use. Many are meant to be plug-and-play devices and can be put into service quickly and easily. Some security officials, however, either do not want or cannot use off-the-shelf solutions and rely on the consultation of a systems integrator to optimize their ID credentialing system.

For Gloucester County Public Schools, a relationship with systems integrator ColorID provided the needed results. Gloucester County Public Schools, which includes six elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school in Gloucester, Va., had been making ID badges for its teachers, staff and bus drivers for years, but the process was cumbersome. Administrators wanted to upgrade their visual security system with a cost-efficient, easy-to-operate alternative.

An eye on costs

“Like other county school systems, Gloucester was under a tight budget,” says Mark Degan, systems integrator of ColorID. “We needed to design a reliable, low-volume, mobile solution for them that could be upgraded easily down the road. The most important features for schools to keep in mind while searching for a security solution are cost of running the system and ease of operation,” he adds. “After assessing the needs of Gloucester, we suggested a Fargo DTC400 Direct-to-Card Printer/Encoder for them. They wanted to start with the basic full-color, front printing only and may want the option of upgrading down the road. The printer can eventually be upgraded to dual-sided printing, magnetic encoding and other custom features.”

Toward a simpler system

In addition to a cost-efficient system, Gloucester needed a simplified process. “You would not believe what we went through to make ID cards before we switched to the Fargo printer,” says Libby Adams, human resources specialist. “It was a 10-step process.” She started by hanging a blue drape for background because the photos had to be taken in the hallway outside of employee workstations. Photos were taken with a digital camera and stored on a disk, which then had to be taken to a computer in another area. The photo was then inserted into a template set up specifically for the process, and the staff had to type in all pertinent information, save the photo and send it to a separate database for storage. Then the template was sent to a color printer on the third floor of the school. Someone physically had to retrieve the printed page from the third floor office, cut out the badge, insert it into a special sheet for lamination and later cut it from the laminated card. The final step was to call the employee to pick up the badge or arrange to have it sent.

This was a tedious, time-consuming process to produce the system's 1,200 cards. “The process could take two or three days,” says Craig Smith, assistant human resources director. “If there were mistakes, we had to start over. Our system was antiquated. We have nine different schools with approximately 15 different departments. There were multiple ID templates floating around.”

The DTC400 is a time-saver, Degan says. “Taking so long to finish and send out a new ID card wasted a lot of valuable time for the operator,” he says. “By using the DTC400, the time was reduced to less than a minute. Also, with the new ID software, all pictures could be stored directly to a database, which saves the picture files and card information as a compressed file, thus minimizing storage space. Picture files can be quite large, so this feature was an added bonus.”

Later, the company may integrate this information into the human resources information database, Smith says. Just upgrading from a paper card to a plastic card was a plus. “We wanted something that would be durable in case the card accidentally went through the laundry while attached to a teacher's clothing,” he adds.

He also likes the fact that the system is expandable. “Later, we may add a barcode to track time and attendance, as well as improve security,” he said. “It would be nice to have a record of when employees are in the building or in a particular room. Now we have the capability to add that feature.”

Adams has only one regret. “I wish we could have done this years ago,” she says.

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