Major corporations that have given serious thought to identity management using their photo ID cards quickly settle on the use of smart cards because of their ability to support multiple applications. Companies around the world have come up with an incredibly rich list of capabilities that are enabled by their “smart” ID cards. While no single company needs all of these, here’s a list of some of these capabilities, enabled with smartcard IDs, which can be implemented. Hopefully 1 or 2 will get you thinking about all the possibilities of this powerful technology!

  1. Selectively open specific doors during pre-defined hours
  2. Clock-in and clock-out using smartcard ids with the time-and-attendance system
  3. Log on to certain terminals or networks, but not on to others, at various times of day
  4. Maintain an account to pay for lunch at the company cafeteria
  5. Allow access to corporate buses for transfer from the parking lot, or between buildings
  6. Allow queued print jobs to be printed when you are standing in front of a networked printer, to avoid anyone else seeing confidential documents
  7. Control who is allowed to access shop-floor equipment to change settings or make adjustments
  8. Purchase coffee and snacks from vending machines
  9. Inter-operate with city bus and metro systems to encourage use of public transit
  10. Limit access to files related to an employee’s department, or level in the organization, thereby greatly increasing the levels of data security/privacy
  11. Access to specific parking lots/garages using smartcard ids
  12. Encrypt emails or other sensitive communications
  13. Monitor use of gyms and sports facilities to encourage fitness/wellness programs
  14. Check out tools or equipment for tracking/monitoring purposes
  15. Access corporate vehicles, like golf carts or utility vehicles
  16. Enter reserved conference rooms or building facilities
  17. Purchase gas for company vehicles
  18. Authorize temporary access for visitors
  19. Securely store personal items in lockers
  20. limited only by your imagination…

We would be pleased to discuss with you which of these uses of smartcard IDs might be implemented in your company.