A Printer For All Tasks

Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM

           

Unalaska, the 11th largest city in Alaska, is a bustling community of just more than 4,000 residents located along the Aleutian Chain approximately 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. Dutch Harbor, the official name of the city's port and a location often featured on the Discovery Channel television show “Deadliest Catch,” is often applied to the portion of the City of Unalaska located on Amaknak Island, which is connected by bridge to the rest of the city on Unalaska Island.

Due to seasonal work, the city has a transient population that uses its facilities. Therefore, passes to the city's community and aquatic centers must carry differing authorization lengths, from one month to one year. When Frank Ambrose wanted his department to undergo an upgrade of their RecTrac software, created by Vermont Systems specifically for Parks and Recreation departments and used to manage payments, schedule, register and document images, the purchase of a card printer was a part of the improvement.

“We wanted to print our own passes,” Ambrose says. “We simply wanted a more efficient way to track patrons of our community and aquatic centers.”

ID Edge, Louisville, Colo., maintains and supplies the software and the P330i card printer from Zebra Card Printer Solutions, Camarillo, Calif. The P330i is a single-sided, full-color plastic card printer/encoder that prints sharp, readable barcodes, ID photos, graphics and text edge-to-edge in seconds. It features Zebra's i-Series functionality, which simplifies card printing via automatic driver configuration, intelligent color optimization and a special RFID system for ribbon image counter and ribbon low notification.

With the printer, Ambrose's department prints a barcode on the bottom of each card, which is read by a dual-purpose credit card reader. Cards are printed at the entrance to the community center by any one of the four employees located there or by two employees who work upstairs. The department uses a Logitech camera to photograph patrons.

“The printer has accomplished everything we've wanted,” Ambrose says. “Everything is tied into the card with a picture of the patron. The printer expedites our processes and is is easy to use, speedy, user-friendly and compact.”

“Currently, we are only printing on one side of the card, but we have the capability to print on both sides,” Ambrose adds. “We're considering producing a Youth ID for after-school programs. By printing on both sides, we could include more information, such as a photo ID, birth date and contact information. We are also looking at networking the printer so that people in other departments could also print cards directly from their own desks.”

The department is also considering using the cards for employee IDs and access control.

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

SUBSCRIBE

Select an Issue April 1, 2008 March 1, 2008 February 1, 2008 January 1, 2008 December 1, 2007 November 1, 2007 October 1, 2007 September 1, 2007 August 1, 2007 July 1, 2007 June 1, 2007 IP Security Supplement May 1, 2007 April 1, 2007 March 1, 2007 February 1, 2007 January 1, 2007 School Security December 1, 2006 November 1, 2006 October 1, 2006 September 1, 2006 August 1, 2006 July 1, 2006 June 1, 2006 May 1, 2006 April 1, 2006 March 1, 2006 February 1, 2006 January 1, 2006 December 1, 2005 November 1, 2005 October 1, 2005 September 1, 2005 August 1, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 1, 2005 May 1, 2005 April 1, 2005 March 1, 2005 February 1, 2005 January 1, 2005 December 1, 2004 November 1, 2004 October 1, 2004 September 1, 2004 August 1, 2004 July 1, 2004 July 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 May 1, 2004 April 1, 2004 March 1, 2004 February 1, 2004 January 1, 2004 December 1, 2003 November 1, 2003 October 1, 2003 September 1, 2003 August 1, 2003 July 1, 2003 June 1, 2003 May 1, 2003 April 1, 2003 March 1, 2003 February 1, 2003 January 1, 2003 December 1, 2002 November 1, 2002 October 1, 2002 September 1, 2002 August 1, 2002 July 1, 2002 June 1, 2002 May 1, 2002 April 1, 2002 March 1, 2002 February 1, 2002 January 1, 2002 December 1, 2001 November 1, 2001 October 1, 2001 September 1, 2001 August 1, 2001 July 1, 2001 June 1, 2001 May 1, 2001 April 1, 2001 March 1, 2001 February 1, 2001 January 1, 2001 December 1, 2000 November 1, 2000 October 1, 2000 September 1, 2000 August 1, 2000 July 1, 2000 June 1, 2000 May 1, 2000 April 1, 2000 March 1, 2000 February 1, 2000 January 1, 2000 December 1, 1999 November 1, 1999 October 1, 1999 September 1, 1999 August 1, 1999 July 1, 1999 June 1, 1999 May 1, 1999 April 1, 1999 March 1, 1999 February 1, 1999 January 1, 1999 December 1, 1998 November 1, 1998 October 1, 1998 September 1, 1998 August 1, 1998 July 1, 1998 June 1, 1998 May 1, 1998 April 1, 1998 March 1, 1998 February 1, 1998 January 1, 1998 December 1, 1997 November 1, 1997 October 1, 1997 September 1, 1997 August 1, 1997 July 1, 1997 June 1, 1997 May 1, 1997 April 1, 1997 March 1, 1997 February 1, 1997 January 1, 1997

This month in Access Control

• Opening Up About Door Closers
• An Enterprise Approach
• The Framework For Open Systems
• On A Higher Plane
• More from April's issue