It?s impossible not to encounter one ID reader at the very minimum while going through our everyday lives. ID readers are everywhere. The police use it, the bars use it, convenience stores use it, and most probably your workplace uses it too to maintain attendance records.
What Are ID Readers?
ID readers are machines that are used to scan the data of an ID card. Not only is the visible information like date of birth and photo enhanced on the display screen, but ID readers also read the information stored away in the magnetic stripes and the bar code of the ID card.
ID readers not only read, they validate. They are used for verification purposes. This is why they are used extensively by institutions that sell age-restricted products like alcohol and tobacco. Even movie theatres regularly perform ID checks while playing age-restricted movies. The reason for this is simple. The normal human eye cannot tell the difference between a real and a professionally made fake ID card.?
All magnetic stripes and bar codes look almost indistinguishable to the naked human eye. However, ID scanners are specifically designed to authenticate fluorescent overlays and holograms. Reading microtexts and pattern-matching are not things that a human eye is capable of. This is why ID readers have become so indispensable to us.?
What Are ID Readers Used For?
Hotel Check-Ins
Identity verification is a crucial element of hotel check-ins. People often check into hotels with fake IDs for a variety of reasons. Teenagers often wish to sneak in without parental permission. Nefarious activities can be carried out by people who are entering the premises by providing fake identities.
In case these people get into any trouble with the law, the hotel immediately becomes subject to lawsuits. In such a situation, having incorrect information about a guest might even mean allowing a criminal to escape the clutches of law enforcement.
For these reasons, it is simply safer to have ID readers at the reception desk. There is no room for biased rule avoidance or human error with ID readers. Also, the ID reader itself guarantees that you will have a flawless check-in and check-out record that cannot be tampered with.
Checking Tickets at Concerts
Age-restricted entry at concerts is of immense importance. Concerts often tend to be highly chaotic and unmanageable. Allowing minors to enter, even by mistake, opens the door to multiple lawsuits. Moreover, alcohol is abundantly available at most concerts.
Thus, firm checks are necessary. What this usually means, however, is enormous lines of security checks that never seem to end.
ID readers can reduce the effort of the venue managers by half and also significantly reduce the risk posed towards the minors as well as the concert organizers both. ID scanners make the process of verification quick and easy.
Bars and Alcohol Stores
If you are a bar owner, you cannot even think of going without ID readers at the gate.
?Dram shop cases? are no joke. Sure, teenagers might think it is hilarious to sneak their way into a bar and get wasted, but the consequences that you might face for their actions cannot be laughed away. The law holds the establishment that sold alcohol to a minor accountable for all of their actions- including any damage to life or property that they cause outside the premises of the bar. This means running the risk of spending millions of dollars on legal fees and fines.
ID readers are a must for bars for another reason. During a Friday night or weekend rush, it is impossible to manually check all IDs and not make a single mistake. If you attempt to be thorough, you?ll simply end up holding people out at the gate for a longer period. And, you?ll still not be able to tell the well-made fake IDs from the real ones.
ID readers exist to save you from this horror.
Police Checks
Everyone has faced these police check-ups at some point or the other in their lives. It can be for a variety of purposes- running a red light or failing to follow some minor traffic rule.
The officer usually comes over with a hand-held ID reader or carries over your ID card to the squad car which has the ID reader fixed to the dashboard. The fact that ID readers can be portable or fixed is of immense help to professionals such as these. ID scanners don?t require any external wires or a mandatory internet connection. The ID readers help them to keep to their schedules and not have to scrutinize your ID.
What do they check for? Mostly your basic information to ensure that you aren?t using someone else?s driver?s license or that your driver?s license hasn?t expired.
Attendance Keeping?
A lot of offices use ID readers now for attendance keeping. Attendance keeping is a tedious process that can easily be tampered with.
The use of fake IDs is not an issue that most offices are worried about. Offices mostly try to ensure that their employees have entered the office in time and aren?t leaving before the set closing time. In case someone needs to leave in the middle of a workday, ID readers record the amount of time that person has not been present in the office.
In Conclusion
ID readers are used for verification and record-keeping. They make a tedious, error-prone, risky process extremely quick and easy. No training is needed to use ID readers. The device itself is all you need to get started.
