When planning to buy ID card printers, you need to take into account your current and future ID card requirements. For instance, while you might only need to print on the front of the ID badge right now, you may have to print on the back side of the card in the future. Therefore, it is important to have an ID card printer that is field upgradable.
By understanding your current requirements and projecting your future needs, you will be able to reach a smarter decision that can offer you considerable cost savings in the long run. Most of the popular ID card printers including models from NBS, Datacard, Evolis, Zebra, Nisca and Fargo printers are field upgradable. This means that you will be able to quickly add features to your ID card printer with the change in requirements without the need to replace your existing ID card printer. Some of the functionalities that you can add to your ID card printer by way of upgrades are:
- Dual-sided printing
- Magnetic stripe encoding
- Wifi/Wireless module
- RFID Encoding
- High-capacity input/output card hopper
- Ethernet module
- Smart Card Encoding
Read ahead to know more about these module upgrades and how they can be beneficial for you:
Dual-Sided Printing
Double-sided printing or duplex printing is a feature of ID card printers that makes printing on both sides of the plastic ID card possible.
Magnetic Stripe Encoding
This will let you store variable data like an account number, ID number or security code on the magnetic stripe of an ID card.
Wi-Fi Or Wireless Module
Adding a Wi-Fi module to your ID card printer will let you wirelessly connect your printer to your internal network so that computers will be able to print and encode ID cards without directly connecting to the printer.
RFID Encoding
This is a security identification technology that makes use of radio waves to establish communication between RFID tags and RFID readers. Unlike magnetic stripes or barcode-enabled ID cards, RFID cards do not need to be in direct contact with an RFID reader to be read.
High Capacity Input Output Card Hopper
High-capacity card hoppers will allow you to load and collect more blank ID cards to ensure uninterrupted high-volume printing.
Ethernet Module
An Ethernet module will let your ID card printer connect to your internal network so that computers will be able to print and encode ID cards remotely.
Smart Card Encoding
ID cards with embedded smart chips are capable of holding a hundred times more data when compared to a typical magnetic stripe card. You can easily expand the functionality of your ID card by adding smart card encoding.
