Ultimate Guide to Introducing Visitor Badges for Your Business

Too many businesses trivialize the need for professional and functional visitor identification assets. However, visitor badges can play a significant role in the security and brand image of your company as well as provide a better experience for your visitors - whether social or professional.

Different businesses also have different requirements, and you’d be surprised at the breadth of visitor badge solutions that can cater to specific situations.

Why are quality Visitor Badges important?

• Visitor badges will help form visitor’s first impression of your business
• Illegible, unclear, or inaccurate printing on badges can lead to lead to awkward situations for visitors
• Visitor badges are used for both convenience and security, so they need to fulfill both roles competently

What Information is Usually Printed on a Visitor badge?

Before you go any further, consider what information you are likely to include on your visitor badges. More isn’t always better, as too much information can impact the viability of your badges. Think about what you want to achieve and the purpose your badges will serve. That being said, here are common types of information businesses usually include:

• Company branding: Not only does a logo make your badge appear professional and official, but it should also leave the visitor with no doubt that they are at the right place.
• Visitor information: You might need to include various details, like name, birth date/age, occupation, or the reason for visit depending on your needs.
• Visitor photo: A clear photo of the visitor will make identification swift and avoid any uncomfortable situations.
• Check-in/out or validity date and time: Providing a period of validity will improve security as well as give the visitor peace of mind.
• Visitor classification: Different visitors may need different classification based on security clearance or reason for visiting.
• Wi-Fi password: If your facility provides internet access you might want to provide visitors with the password.

What Else to Consider When Using Visitor Badges?

Security

Depending on your type of business, you might need to subject visitors to different security measures. Visitor badges should be as tamper and fraud-proof as possible. Any information that can be encoded into the card instead of merely being printed should be to ensure authenticity. The specific model printer will determine whether you can have access to features like different encoding standards (smartchip or magnetic stripe), watermarks, and hidden UV printing.

Ergonomics or Ease of Use

Consider how visitor badges will be used before settling on a specific type of card/printer. For example, there are a number of methods for cards to be carried as:

• Stickers on the body or clothing
• Wristbands
• Attached to a lanyard
• With a belt/pocket clip

Different methods will affect everyday practicalities like how visible the identification is, the easiest method to scan the badge, the cost involved, and how longevity or durability of the badge. For example, a clip-on badge will be inconvenient to remove each time to scan; however, it’s an effective badge for quick visual identification.

Badges may also be made with the purpose of attaching to other objects, like luggage or briefcases, for example.

Badge Design

Take into account all the information you need to include on the badge before starting the design process. That will help determine the size of the badge and the possible design layouts you can use. Also, keep in mind that different printers have different capabilities.

With a dual-sided printer, you will be able to print on both sides of a badge, doubling your real estate. Retransfer printers can also print edge-to-edge, improving the aesthetics and rendering even more of the surface printable. On top of black-and-white or color printers, printers also support different types of color-film, which will provide sharper/higher-quality images.

If you require crystal clear images or small text, you will need to consider high-quality printers with high resolutions ( 300dpi or more) that can crisply render even the smallest details.

Some badge/printing equipment comes with free, easy to use, drag-and-drop design tools so that you don’t need a professional designer every time you need to create a new badge.

Visitor Badge Solutions to Improve Security and Visitor Satisfaction

Non-expiring Visitor Badges

Non-expiring visitor badges may be used for trusted individuals who regularly need access to your place of business. That might include employee spouses, frequent customers, business partners, or frequently used contractors. As the period of use may be indefinite, these visitor badges should be durable, and their printing should last a long time. The latter can be achieved with techniques like retransfer film printing or lamination.

Expiring Visitor Badges

Without relying on the date alone, certain badges can automatically expire after a certain period. Self-expiring badges like TEMPbadges or LIGHTbadges can expire immediately as soon as they’re exposed to light, ensuring single-use only. TIMEbadges can be used longer-term to expire after anywhere from 24 hours to 30 days.

While the former is suitable for one-time visitors, the latter is suitable for contractors, temporary staff, and vendors. Depending on the period for which a bad is valid, the quality and durability may vary. Once-off badges might be disposable paper-quality, while longer-term badges should be sturdy and maybe even laminated.

Sign-in Books

Sign-in books are an effective solution where a paper trail is needed, like schools, office spaces, or corporations. In light of recent events like the coronavirus pandemic, it can also be used for contact tracing, which could save lives. Individual cards can be filled out with a duplication sheet underneath, torn out, and handed to visitors, leaving both the host and visitor with a copy. Books can be ordered with custom branding.

IDSecruityOnline has Your Visitor Badge, and Card Printing Needs Covered

With an extensive catalog of Visitor Badge products, you’ll be sure to find something that precisely suits your requirements. Shopping around and seeing what’s available is part of the process of figuring out what the optimal solution for your business is.

So, whether you need an ID card printer, a photo ID system, a camera or accessories for existing equipment idsecurityonline has everything you need.