Credential exchange
A dual-technology card carries the old card and the new one at once. Both keep working from day one of a migration.
The terminal
One terminal, doing the work of a reception desk
Credentials exchanged, visitors registered, contractors checked in, unattended, at any hour.
Self-Service Terminal
Self-service badge terminal for visitors, contractors and staff
Forgotten cards, lost cards and leaver returns, handled across shifts and out of hours. The reception desk stops being a place and a queue.
What it does
In practice
Visitors and contractors
Self check-in against an expected visit, with documents and inductions verified at the door before anyone reaches the gate.
Issue, replace, return
Forgotten cards, lost cards and leaver returns, handled across shifts and out of hours without a reception desk.
See it
Pick a situation and watch the terminal handle it
8 journeys for visitors, contractors and employees, all on the same terminal.
Visitors
Contractors
Employees
A visitor checks in, no badge needed
The invitation QR code becomes the pass. Identity checked, safety rules accepted, host told.
- The visitor holds the QR code from their invitation to the reader.
- The terminal finds the invitation, the host and the time of the visit.
- They present a passport or electronic identity card. It is checked against the invitation and not stored.
- They read the 5 site safety rules and accept them.
- The host is told. The QR code is now the pass for the doors on the route, and it expires by itself after the visit.
A visitor who needs a badge
When the host asked for a badge, the terminal prints one on the spot.
- The same check-in as with a QR code: invitation, identity document and safety rules.
- Because the host asked for a badge, the terminal prints a visitor badge.
- The visitor takes it from the tray, and the host is told they have arrived.
- The badge goes back into the collector on the way out.
A visitor leaves and hands back the badge
The visit only closes once the badge is back in the collector.
- The visitor chooses I am leaving and holds their pass to the reader.
- The terminal sees a badge is still out and asks for it back.
- The badge goes into the collector.
- The badge is kept and the visit is closed.
A visitor leaves with nothing to hand back
Most visitors never get a badge. Checking out takes a single scan.
- The visitor chooses I am leaving and holds their pass to the reader.
- No badge was issued, and there is nothing to hand back.
- The invitation code stops working and the host is told the visitor has left.
A contractor checks in for the job
Access comes from the job order: the right areas, the right hours, and it ends when the job does.
- The contractor holds the work order code from their employer to the reader.
- They confirm the job: employer, job order, areas and hours.
- The terminal checks identity, the work order, the safety certificate, the site induction and insurance. The documents stay with the employer.
- Access is set from the job order: only the listed areas, only the shift hours, ending when the job does.
- The site badge is ready. 1 badge-in covers presence, evacuation and hours.
A contractor who cannot start, and why
The terminal shows what is outstanding, what can be fixed on the spot, and what only the employer can fix.
- The contractor chooses I am working on site and holds their work order code to the reader.
- The terminal checks identity, the work order, the safety certificate, the site induction and insurance. The documents stay with the employer; the terminal reads the result.
- The result: the contractor cannot start this morning. The safety certificate has expired and only the employer can renew it. The identity document has expired and can be fixed at the terminal. The site induction is in order.
- Access returns on its own once both are in order. Nobody has to remember to switch it back on.
A new employee gets their first badge
Their access comes from their role. Nobody had to file a request.
- The new employee holds the joining code from their first-day email to the reader.
- They present a passport or electronic identity card, checked once against their record.
- Their access comes from their role, and the areas are already set.
- The terminal prints the employee badge.
- They are set up. Access ends by itself if the contract does.
A forgotten badge, sorted at the terminal
A badge for today is issued and the employee's own badge is paused. The next morning, their own badge works again.
- The employee chooses I work here, then the forgotten badge option.
- They present a passport or electronic identity card as a second check, because a badge is being issued to someone who is not holding one.
- The terminal explains the badge for today: it works until the end of the day, and their own badge is paused from now.
- The badge is printed and comes out of the tray. The employee is set for the day.
- The next morning, they present their own badge at the terminal.
- Their own badge works again, and the temporary badge is kept and closed.
Delivered
Already running
6,000badges swapped
A European financial institution
6,000 badges swapped at the machine in a few weeks.
The old badge collected, the new one printed, personalised and encoded to MIFARE DESFire EV3, without anybody at a desk.
1,000+contractors a month
A chemical plant
More than 1,000 contractors a month.
Identity read, the site's own policy checked, badge issued, all of it at the terminal on arrival.
Named references are shared under a non-disclosure agreement.
At the terminal
4 steps at the terminal
Reads the credential they already carry
Or the expected visit, or the contractor record. Nothing to key in, no list to check.
Confirms the person
Identity verified at the terminal before any credential exists.
Takes the old badge in
Captured and retired against that identity, with a record of the return.
Encodes and issues the new one
Staff, visitor or contractor credential, personalised and dispensed.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does the terminal work unattended?
Yes. It is designed for shifts and out-of-hours use. It reads the credential or the expected visit, verifies the person, captures any old badge and issues the new credential, with no staff present.
Can a self-service terminal replace the badge office?
For most of what a badge office does, yes. Exchanges, lost and forgotten cards, leaver returns and visitor check-in run at the terminal, at any hour. Staff remain for the exceptions.
How does a credential exchange work at scale?
A few steps per person at the terminal. At a European financial institution, 6,000 badges were swapped this way in a few weeks, without a reception desk queue.
The first step
Start with 1 site and 1 population.
You judge something that runs on your own site. Your access systems and readers stay where they are. If it earns its place, we extend it site by site.
One siteOne populationYour readers stay