The Ultimate Guide to ID Card Software Databases

What is ID Card Software?

Not many people are aware of the components of many types of ID cards we use every day. Think of the employee ID card you use to access your company, the student cards you used to print school reports or pay at the cafeteria, or the gym membership card to verify yourself and access the facility.

ID card software is an equally integral part of the card production process. It can maximize the capacity of an ID card printer and give the cards more functionalities than just verifications. ID card software should offer both the design option and encoding option. The best software for agile card production should deliver an internal database and possibilities to connect to your external databases and more database options.

In this blog, we will explain the critical database options in ID card software. It will help you find the most suitable software for you and your organization.

Database in ID card software

The database in ID card software, as the name suggests, is where all the information on your cardholder is stored. It involves cardholder names, titles, departments or faculties, security clearances, and so on.

Database in CardExchange Producer

CardExchange® Producer is ID card software that enables secured ID card issuance in three easy steps: design, encode, and print. It has been in the market for more than 17 years and contributing to over 25,000 organizations’ seamless ID card production process. It offers five (5) editions, from entry-level editions offering an internal database to higher levels with the latest encoding technology for stricter security and more options to connect to external databases. You can find out which edition works the best for your organization by reviewing our edition comparison chart here.

The database within ID card software ranges from simple to more complex, but it should help you manage data in a stress-free manner. Hence, it is beneficial for your organization to adopt ID software that offers diverse database options like CardExchange® Producer. 

The Internal Databases

The internal database installed with the CardExchange® Producer can benefit you in different ways. From the GO edition, CardExchange® Producer offers an internal SQLite database enabling you to manage your data and have it stored securely. Having an internal database in your ID card system will give you several advantages.

It is possible to opt for a free ID card maker online. However, it is usually the case that you only want to modify the cardholder information and print the card with the same card template. You may need to make a small change like a spelling mistake, which will require you to redo the whole designing process with one-off printing. The internal database in the Producer allows you to save your card templates and print your ID cards without redesigning the card template.

Moreover, it allows you to centralize your data, which means all cardholder records are stored in one place. If you have more than one record in your card templates, you will need to go through each of them to see the information. This procedure is unnecessary and time-consuming when all you need is a database that allows you to access all the data within a couple of clicks.

Besides storing the cardholder information, you can utilize the internal database to store other data such as phone numbers, emails, or physical addresses. These are the information you may not want to have on the card itself but would like to store for contacting purposes.

The CardExchange Producer Go edition does offer an internal database allowing storage for up to 200 records. This edition will be a perfect fit for you if your organization is smaller and need to print less than a hundred cards a year. If you have a slightly higher-volume production, the Premium edition already offers you an internal database with unlimited storage space.

Connecting to your external databases

You may have been using an existing system like an HR or Student Registration system with databases. In this case, you may want to connect these databases to your ID card software to create a seamless workflow for an ID card or badge production. It provides a live connection to existing database(s). Having a live connection to your existing databases means you do not have to worry about data matching from one application to the other. There is no need to worry about updating multiple databases to make sure they match. To create a direct connection to your database(s), CardExchange offers native connections to the most popular SQL databases (MySQL, SQL, Oracle, and so on.). For other SQL type databases, you will need software with Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) or supports the types of databases in your existing system(s).

From the Professional edition, CardExchange® Producer supports database connectivity, which allows you to connect your card templates to its own database. Every card template can connect to one leading database and on the moment the card is printed update unlimited databases in one click. The database connectivity enables you to retrieve a cardholder’s name, access privilege, and other personal information from your existing databases. This functionality also makes it a lot easier for the administrators to reprint lost or stolen cards.

Starting at the Premium Edition, CardExchange® Producer offers native database connections to Microsoft CSV, Excel, or Access. Database connections and their stability have always been one of the factors for developing the connectivity. Besides the variety of connection possibilities that the CardExchange® Producer offers, all the database connections are created based on direct (native) connection. Therefore, for all the major database systems, we have their native connectivity. That will ensure 100% stable and secure connections.

CardExchange® Producer delivers not one but multiple options to connect your databases. Depending on the edition, our ID Card Software currently supports Internal MS Access Database, MS Excel, CSV, and TXT files, Paradox, MS SQL, MySQL, Oracle, DB2, PostgreSQL, and more. For example, if you have the records stored in an Excel spreadsheet and you would like to print them all, imagine how long it will take to print them one by one. These connections enable you to connect the data to the card production system and print them at once. You can see more information on which database is supported on our website. 

CardExchange® Producer also offers multiple database connections with the Push-Pull technology. It means the Producer database and your exisiting database are connected, and the information between all connected databases is synchronized without manual work. 

Additionally, for organizations that require multiple workstations working in a network and sharing a single database. CardExchange® Producer is available with a network license starting from Business edition. This solution allows you to centrally manage your data and licenses on the same network. Our network licensing is not limited to a local area network. 

Conclusion

Databases sound complicated for many non-technical users. Therefore, it frequently led to uncertainties if they need ID software with a database for their organizations. It is possible to go for free badge maker applications or websites. Nonetheless, they will not provide the database options that scalable and professional ID card solutions like CardExchange® Producer would offer. It depends on what do you and your organization need because there is no one size fits all. Thus, we offer different editions together with the possibilities tailored to your organization’s specific needs.

To understand what database options you need, try asking the critical questions. For example, how many ID cards do we need to print in a year? How frequently do we reprint cards? And how many records do I have? And so on. Even better, ask the experts. CardExchange, Inc. team is located across the world and can help you find the right solution. Contact us today!