ID cards for healthcare environments must be able to provide several features, such as:
The design of the card will allow you to include the name, position, photo and more – like expiry date, logos, and other branding – and can help your patients to feel safe whilst being treated.
Security features help to reduce the risk of forgery or cloning by using a certain technique that is difficult to replicate. There are different techniques that can be used, but the most common and affordable option is by using a holographic overlay. This can be achieved by using an overlay ribbon that is applied to your cards after the print.
You can also increase durability with a transparent overlay ribbon. This protects the dye that makes up each element of the ID card and stops it from wearing or scratching away during daily use of the card.
Outsourcing health care and care home ID card printing
To ensure your staff and patients remain safe, you must provide adequate ID cards and accessories.
If you don’t have the time or resources to print your own ID cards, our expert in-house printing team can produce them to your requirements. With full-colour printing available, we can work with you to create a design, or you can provide us with ready-to-print artwork. All you need to do is send us the data you need printing!
With our easy-to-use online card builder, you can input your requirements, including whether you want single or double-sided printing, any encoding, and card thickness. Once you’ve filled everything out, you can get an instant quote and place your order immediately if you’re ready.
Our team will start working on your cards straight away and deliver them right to your doorstep.
If you don’t need to order your cards in bulk, we also offer a call-off service. This allows you to place a bulk order of cards and then call them off in any quantity as and when you need them. You won’t need to pay any extra for shipping, as that is included in the original payment.
This is ideal for those who only need cards on an ad-hoc basis – for example, for new starters.
ID card printers for healthcare
When printing your ID cards, you must be able to use a printer that is cost-effective, suitable for your printing volume, and can provide any security features you require. There are several different printers that can help you achieve the ideal printed cards.
The IDP Smart 21S is an ideal printer for those who have small print volume requirements for single-sided cards.
It’s low-cost and simple to use, so all you need to do is plug your printer in and start printing. The IDP Smart 21s doesn’t compromise on quality, and with a frame size of smaller than an A4 sheet of paper, it’s perfect for use on a desktop in an office environment.
Featuring print speeds of up to 150 full-colour cards per hour, the IPD Smart 21S comes with EasyBadge Lite software for free, normally worth £145.
If you have mid-range printing requirements, the Matica MC310 ID card printer is perfect. Featuring an advanced print engine, this printer is capable of producing up to 180 full-colour cards per hour and 850 cards that only feature monochrome colours.
With an optional upgrade to dual-sided printing, you can print whatever artwork you require, along with any encoding (such as a magnetic stripe or contactless smart technology) with optional upgradable units. Encoding units can be added at the time of purchase or further down the line if you need the functionality in the future.
For more complex card printing requirements, the Entrust Sigma DS2 ID card printer is designed for cloud-based use. With the printer’s dashboard app, you can easily see the status of the printer, whether it needs cleaning or any firmware updates pending, and get assistance whenever you need it.
The DS2 offers a print resolution of up to 300 x 1200 dpi so that it can produce up to 225 single-sided full-colour cards per hour. It also offers extensive security features, ensuring any data sent between the card production software and the printer is fully encrypted and is not stored in the printing after the card has been fully printed. It also offers physical security features for the card, such as lustre printing, which protects from any potential counterfeiting.
All of these recommended ID card printers offer durable ID cards that are suitable for use within the NHS, private hospitals, care homes, dentistry, and more.
Chapter 7: ID Card Printers for Education
One of the most crucial things for any organisation establishment to perfect is an ID card system.
No matter the level of education you provide and the age of your students, you must ensure that they are kept safe. Having an appropriate ID card solution in place can help achieve that, and it can even double up as an access control system with school ID card scanners.
There are some important factors that need to be considered when choosing an ID card system.
Card printing volume
When choosing an ID card printer for your school, you must estimate the volume of cards you are likely to print each year. Some printers are only meant for small, ad-hoc batches of printing, while others are built with robustness in mind for high printing volumes.
If you only require ID cards for your staff, like teachers, assistants, and admin staff, a printer with a smaller print volume may be more suited to your needs. The IDP Smart 31 offers single- or double-sided card printing so that you can produce photo ID cards for your school’s requirements.
With a 5-year warranty, the IDP Smart 31 offers many features ideal for ID badges for schools, including UV printing for secure cards, full-colour printed cards in under 30 seconds, low running costs, and a range of upgradeable options.
It prints up to 1,000 cards per year so you can easily produce your staff ID cards and any replacements.
If you’re looking to print ID cards for your entire school – both staff and students – you may benefit from a printer that can produce a higher volume of cards. The Zebra ZC350 prints up to 5,000 cards per year, so you can meet your enrolment requirements and any other ad-hoc printing that may be required throughout the school year.
The Zebra ZC350 offers both single- and double-sided edge-to-edge printing, with an output of up to 150 double-sided, full-colour cards per hour. There is also a range of optional upgrades for card encoding, so they can be used alongside your school ID scanners.
Access control requirements
If you already have an access control system in place, we stock a range of cards that are compatible with different technologies. These can be printed with photo ID cards for your school, so your staff and students can only get into certain areas.
For example, any offices or staff rooms can be limited to access by a group, including all your staff, and students can only access the classrooms required. This is also useful for different year groups or key stage groups, as you can limit access to classrooms at break times for lower key stages while older students can visit their classrooms to study.
Many ID card printer machines have encoding features so you can ensure your cards are compatible with your scanners and readers.
Enrolment period requirements
You may find it difficult to keep up with your enrolment requirements whilst remaining within your budget. It’s likely that you need more workforce from your printer, but buying another one isn’t cost-effective due to the lack of use it gets throughout the rest of the year.
ID Card Centre offers a printer rental service where you can select your requirements and build a package that suits you. Available for as little as 7 days, you can boost your workforce without the need for any expensive outlay and then return the printer when you no longer need it.
To find out more about our printer rental service, please visit here.
ID card accessories
To easily display your school’s ID badges, we offer a range of accessories that are ideal.
Plain lanyards are a cost-effective option and come in several different colours so you can match your organisation’s branding. These lanyards are made from RPET material, meaning the fabric is made up of recycled plastic bottles.
Pre-printed lanyards can help to differentiate between groups of people, such as staff, students, and volunteers. They are easy to see at a glance and therefore benefit your school in an emergency.
If you’d like a bespoke option, you can print your logo on lanyards, so your organisation is always represented by staff and students.
We recommend using plastic cardholders to display your ID badges on the end of your lanyards and protect the plastic cards from wear and tear. With a range of colours on offer, they can match your lanyards and your branding and easily clip onto your lanyards. Once they’re no longer needed, they can be recycled with your normal recycling collection.
Chapter 8: ID Card Printers for Government
Government facilities, whether central or local, need to ensure that they have strict security controls in place to mitigate any risks.
With such a wide range of departments inside the offices of a local government or council, ensuring access is limited to only those who need it is crucial. Most departments have databases of confidential information, so implementing an identity and access control system can improve security.
Photo ID cards for staff and visitors
Firstly, to ensure your premises are secured, you must have an ID card system in place for all staff and visitors to secure areas. Photo ID is the most secure form of ID card printing and offers an easy way to check that each person is who they say they are.
There are different ways to print ID cards.
If you only have a small number of cards that need printing, you can outsource to a plastic card printing service. ID Card Centre’s expert team has years of experience printing ID cards for a range of industries and can include a range of security features depending on your requirements.
We can also provide pre-printed cards that feature spaces for personalisation, including name, photo, and job role. This is ideal for new starters or visitors to your offices.
To print personalised information or create your own ID cards in-house, ID Card Centre offers a range of ID card printers to suit a range of requirements and budgets.
Most ID card printers come with optional add-ons for encoding, so you can create smart cards for access control systems as you print your ID cards.
Door access control systems for government facilities
Implementing an access control system is key if you’re looking to improve security within your government or council office.
Access control systems allow you to permit and deny access to certain areas by placing readers at entry and exit points. By handing out technology cards to your staff and visitors, you can group users based on their credentials and grant access to any number of door readers.
This is useful when grouping by department, hierarchy, or contracts – such as permanent and temporary staff members.
You can simplify the ID and access control process by creating an all-in-one system that suits your requirements.
If your requirements mean you would benefit from outsourcing your plastic card printing to a service like ID Card Centre, we can encode your cards to suit any access control system technology. This means all you need to do is provide us with the information you want to be printed, and we’ll deliver the final encoded cards to your doorstep.
ID Card Centre also stocks a range of ID card printers from all major manufacturers, including Evolis, Magicard, Zebra, and more. Our printers are suitable for all budgets across a range of requirements, so you don’t need to break the bank to get what you need. Most of our printers also come with optional upgrades for a smart card or magnetic stripe encoding, which is ideal for use with access control systems.
As an industry leader for over 20 years, we understand that all government and council requirements are different. That’s why our team of experts can help you choose an ID and access control system that is flexible and scalable while you futureproof and expand your organisation.
Chapter 9: Technical Support for ID Card Printers
For some businesses, an ID card printer is a crucial piece of equipment, and if you learn the correct installation, maintenance, and management method, it will be a reliable and vital part of your office equipment.
Our IDAssist technical support plan is designed to get you printing again quickly if you experience any technical difficulties with your direct-to-card printers. Technical support will be provided over the phone, email, or webchat – whatever suits you best.
Set up, installation and training for ID card printers
IDAssist offers bespoke staff training in setting up, running, and maintaining your printer. This will extend your printer’s lifespan. This training is vital in demanding, intensive usage environments.
We will help you install and set up your new printer and software, so you don’t need to become a technical expert yourself. After you’re up and running, we’ll check in with you to see how you’re getting on and if we can make further suggestions.
Same-day dispatch
It’s essential that you use genuine printer ribbons, clean your printer after every 1,000 prints, and use high-quality badges or passes. Failure to do so can invalidate your printer’s warranty. With IDAssist Pro, you can purchase all these with FREE shipping – saving you time and money while extending your printer’s lifespan.
All printers require consumables, and even the best of us can run out from time to time, especially if there is an unexpected busy spell. With IDAssist Pro’s FREE same-day dispatch from our central UK warehouse, you don’t need to worry. All orders for stock items placed before 3pm will be dispatched same day with no shipping costs and sent for next-day delivery with our courier.
Technical support and repairs
Don’t forget to prepare for the worst-case scenario. All technology can fail from time to time, and IDAssist is on hand to support you should your ID card printer have an issue. There is never a good time for your printer to fail!
If something doesn’t look or sound right, you can simply contact IDAssist for priority access to expert technical support with a same-day response on working weekdays (9am-5pm).
Every unforeseen problem needs a solution or backup plan in a live working environment. If your printer develops a fault, IDAssist Pro subscribers will receive a printer on loan while we inspect and repair your printer.
IDAssist costs only £150 a year – which is £12.50 a month or just 41p per day and provides you with the peace of mind that your printers will be working effectively and efficiently for the duration of their lifespan.
Pay upfront with a lump sum or spread the cost with a monthly direct debit payment, and ensure you never have to worry about your plastic card printing again.
IDAssist is designed for your peace of mind and to help you get the best out of your ID card printer, ensuring that your business and customers are not affected.
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