Three best practices to prepare your campus ID credential issuance program for fall

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In preparing to welcome students back to campus at the beginning of each year, semester, or quarter, many higher education institutions struggle with managing the process of registering students. With 80% to 90% of school identification cards printed during a short registration period, it's not uncommon for campuses to experience long lines of students crammed into small registration offices waiting to receive their credentials. And, with a greater focus on school security and safety, campuses are increasingly adopting secure identification credentials to help mitigate unauthorized access into campus facilities.

With our expert guidance, you can learn how to ensure your card printers perform consistently and produce high-quality student ID credentials while minimizing costs and security risks. These best practices will help ensure your student ID program is ready so you can confidently and seamlessly welcome students back to campus.

Here are three essential tips every campus card office needs to know now:

To ensure optimal printer performance for your student ID program, it's crucial that the printer is cleaned according to manufacturer recommendations. We recommend cleaning after every 500 cards are printed or every ribbon change. Cleaning regularly will significantly reduce cost as well as technical cleaning, which requires the services of a technician and can be costly. Additionally, regular cleaning ensures that your printer consistently prints high-quality cards every time, that your credential administrators have a better user experience, that printer downtime as well as service calls are minimized, and that the life of the printer and printhead are extended.

You can do several things before the next school year begins that will help reduce future maintenance and service costs. As mentioned above, if you clean your printer with care, you will reduce the number of service requests and calls, as well as waste. This also helps extend the printhead life, which means fewer replacements to pay for. We also recommend testing your card stock and card technology to ensure they are compatible with your printer. Another thing to look at is your supplies inventory to prevent last-minute purchases. Do you have everything you need to start the school year strong? Finally, follow the printer User Guide's storage and shelf-life recommendations to extend the printer's life as long as possible.

ID credential issuance manufacturers often release updates regularly to enhance security. Take advantage of each update – don't ignore them; they are there for a reason. It's also important to follow through with any recommended software driver and firmware updates to minimize the possibility of security breaches. Ensure you have the latest version of Instant ID software to resolve any existing software and hardware issues.

To learn more about how campus card offices can prepare for back-to-school this fall, download our best practices guide here. Or, visit our website for more tips on reducing costs and waste, as well as enhancing security with every card: https://www.entrust.com/issuance-systems/instant/id-card-issuance/supplies/c/regional-supplies.

The post Three best practices to prepare your campus ID credential issuance program for fall appeared first on Entrust Blog.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Entrust Blog authored by Renee Henry. Read the original post at: https://www.entrust.com/blog/2023/06/three-best-practices-to-prepare-your-campus-id-credential-issuance-program-for-fall/