NCJ Number
135805
Journal
Security Management Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1992) Pages: 54-57,59
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Photo identification (ID) documents have played a central role in corporate security programs since the 1950's, and verification of an ID badge by a lobby security officer remains the principal security procedure followed in most workplaces.
Abstract
The advent of computer-based ID systems, however, has given corporate badging programs a whole new image. Growing numbers of organizations are discovering that ID systems have valuable uses beyond employee documentation, such as providing better visitor identification or serving as the hub of an elaborate security network. Electronic systems offer users a choice of badge media and features that allow even inexperienced camera operators to produce portrait-quality photos quickly and easily. Users have the option of producing badges on traditional film or on new thermal media through the dye transfer process. Computer-based ID systems use sophisticated photographic equipment, such as high resolution video cameras and electronic strobes that provide uniform illumination under virtually any ambient conditions. Electronic ID systems produce badges with several layers of security protection to defend against fraud or tampering. Some systems, for example, use a validation plate that optically separates portrait and data images during badge production. The simple removal of this plate renders the system inoperable for further use. Certain companies are experimenting with badge laminates that incorporate holograms, and multiple badge formats let organizations display an individual's employment status and security clearance. Some organizations are taking the link between identification and access control systems a step further by creating on-line software interfaces between the two. Many organizations now interface their ID systems with a personnel or security data base, either directly or over local area networks. Dossier printing enables organizations to output batched portraits on a standard laser printer.