Employee Badge Options for Your Company

Company ID badges can identify employees and students, of course, but they can also be used to enhance your company’s security protocols, health and safety measures, time-clocking procedures and more. Because they can be used for so many purposes, there are a lot of decisions to be made when you decide to implement a badge policy. What type of badge will work best for your company’s needs? We can help you decide.

Benefits of an ID Badge Program

Let’s begin by looking at the different ways that badges can be incorporated into your company:

• Security: If your company depends on robust security processes, employee badges can help those processes run smoothly. Building and area access can be incorporated into the badges, ensuring that people in specific locations are allowed to be there and easily identifying those who are not.
  
• Health and safety: Touchless technology is an important part of keeping staff and clients safe in a world where COVID-19 and other illnesses can be spread via surfaces. Badges that only need to be read by a scanner reduce the number of hands that come into contact with keypads and door handles, helping to prevent viral outbreaks. During an emergency or after an evacuation, the tracing technology available in some badge types can help security determine whether anyone is left in a building.
  
• Time Clocking: “Buddy punching,” when employees clock in and out for friends/employees who aren’t actually on site, costs companies tens of thousands of dollars a year. Badges can help keep the system honest and save you money over time.
  
• Branding: Badges are endlessly customizable. Include your company logo, colors or tagline on the badges themselves, then coordinate with lanyards to create a cohesive look for your staff.
  
• Parking Passes: If you want a secure facility, the best place to start is with a secure parking area. You’ll be able to track who is entering and leaving, as well as identify who may be in the area.

How to Determine the Right Badge Style

When deciding on the right badge style for your company, there are two main considerations:

1. What is the main function of your badges?
Your badges’ function will dictate the type of badge you’ll need. Review the benefits listed above and decide which ones are most important to you and how you want the badges to be used on a day-to-day basis. Security? Health and safety? Branding? Each need can be addressed by a specific type of badge.
2. How will employees use and wear badges?
The other aspect to consider is how you want your employees to interact with their badges during their shifts. Will they be wearing the badges so clients can identify them on the sales floor? Will the badges be kept in wallets and only taken out as they enter or leave the building? Or will the badges need to be easily accessible because they are needed throughout the day? 

Three Types of Badges

1. RFID Badges: RFID (radio frequency identification) technology sends data to card readers, eliminating the need for a physical key or PIN-pad touch to open a door or clock in/out. These cards allow businesses to track the comings and goings of employees and to ensure that only authorized staff are admitted to protected areas. Closely monitoring the movement of staff members and students can help ensure that security protocols are being followed. RFID cards are a smart choice for touchless badge programs.
2. ID Cards: Standard ID cards are a great choice for schools, hospitals, facilities and client-facing companies. About the size of a credit card, these badges can be carried in a wallet or worn on a lanyard or reel. When printed with magnetic stripes or overlays, they can serve a wide range of uses. Blank plastic cards for use with desktop card printers are typically made from either 100% PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or a composite mixture of PVC and PET (polyethylene terephthalate), depending on your needs.
3. Fobs and Wristbands: If your staff members are working in sterile environments or need to be completely hands-free, RFID fobs and wristbands are the right choice for your company. These wearable items are ideal for environments — such as healthcare settings, clean rooms or refrigerated facilities — where wearing a card or ID badge could be inconvenient or inappropriate. These items also eliminate the need to physically touch a PIN pad or biometric reader or to swipe a barcode or mag stripe for time-clock logging.

The ID Shop Promise

No matter what type of badge is right for your company, ID Shop can help. From the first steps of implementation through design and ordering, your cards are in expert hands with the ID Shop team. If you want to create an in-house badge-printing system, we carry everything you need, from card printers to laminates and lanyards. Call us at  844-443-7467 for expert assistance.