I see this growth only increasing. The demand for access control included as part of the card’s capabilities will be much of the driving force, but meal plans will still remain the basic method for making the card system profitable (or at least showing minimal losses).

Although there is much new technology on the horizon such as facial and hand recognition, I still believe that ID cards, especially ID cards with both magnetic stripe and proximity chips, will remain the standard for many years. We should never forget that smart cards did not fully live up to their expectations as shown by some of the major colleges and universities dropping that technology.

First and foremost, secure transactions in both a wireless and LAN environment will be or should be the key concern for clients. As more and more IT departments are becoming involved with the “one-card” process, they are bringing along their demands for secure transmission in what is really an insecure communications medium.

Visit NuVision Networks on the web at www.nuvisionnet.net.