Welcome to the idXtra Blog! – Catch up with the latest news in the world of ID innovation

“Open Sesame” for Chichester College!

As 2023 draws to a close, Chichester College have had a brand new idXtra access control system installed throughout their campus.

We have replaced their existing system across their campus, so that the premises are much more secure and receiving visitors is more efficient.

The installation was of a Paxton Net2 access control system, linked to the college MIS system in real-time. This means that new learners are added when their card is printed, and any learner that is not currently enrolled in a course within MIS is automatically invalidated and cannot enter the college.

Intrinsic to the system are its links to PaperCut (photocopier and print control system) and to VisiTapp, our flexible visitor management system. This ensures that learners that wish to enrol onto the new access control system can do so in a self-service manner at the main reception desk.

All users that had previously enrolled their cards in PaperCut are automatically brought through to the access control system and placed in the appropriate access group.

Thanks Chichester College, we’re glad we could help.

Safeguarding has never been easier with idXtra!

idXtra in Glasgow!

Another month, another exhibition… this time we were in one of the world’s friendliest cities, and the largest one in Scotland – it was of course Glasgow!

We were there to exhibit at The Learning Places Scotland Exhibition and Conference at the SEC.

We enjoyed making new connections and catching up with existing ones!

Until next time, Scotland!

City of Westminster College “tap in”!

The United Colleges Group already had our cashless catering system, EventPOS, and our visitor management system, VisiTapp, and we had installed new ID card printers and ID design and printing software for the group.

We were therefore delighted to be asked to install our attendance tracking solution, EventMarker, for City of Westminster College!

Primarily it was required for monitoring students’ self-study sessions, which are timetabled but not necessarily staffed by teachers, so no formal registers were being taken.

EventMarker consists of simple PoE smart card readers located in the appropriate places, so that learners can simply tap in and out of their self-study sessions.

If learners arrive on time they are marked as PRESENT and if they arrive late they are marked as LATE. These marks are saved into the ProSolution MIS database under the relevant lessons.

Teachers and administrators with the appropriate level of access may edit the marks, for example, if a student was late through no fault of their own.

Thanks City of Westminster College, we look forward to hearing how you get on with your new system!

We take on the Education Estates Exhibition in Manchester!

This month we headed up north to a city famous for its railways and records… Manchester! This was where the Education Estates Exhibition 2023 was held.

We had a blast meeting idXtra customers old and new, and of course we set some time aside to check out what this buzzing city has to offer!

Thanks to everyone who came and visited us at our stand. We look forward to our next event!

Very smart cards at Caterham School!

We were delighted to be chosen by Caterham School to upgrade and streamline their smart ID card system.

The brief was to utilise any serviceable aspects of the existing system, updating where necessary and feasible, and to add state-of-the-art solutions to form a modern student, visitor and staff safeguarding solution.

The project comprised of adding new ID card printing stations, with internal smart card encoding units, to print and program smart ID cards.

The solution is streamlined and driven by live data from the iSams MIS database. Upon card issuance, users’ credentials are sent in real-time to the cashless catering system, the visitor management system and the access control system (Paxton Net2).

This minimises the need for staff intervention and maximises security, keeping students safe all throughout the school and the associated Sports Centre.

Thanks Caterham, we’re glad you “tapped in”!

Hands up if you love Cashless!

As the autumn leaves begin to fall and the new academic term begins, Kensington Aldridge Academy have decided to go cashless with their catering and upgrade to EventPOS!

Their new cashless catering system replaced a competitor’s system that had not been updated for 11 years – that was expensive and inefficient.

We happily provided a state-of-the-art new system for less cost, which has made their break and lunch times much more efficient.

They can now enrol fingerprints / thumbprints for a whole year group in around just 30 minutes.

Thanks KAA, enjoy your smoother break times!

Portsmouth Grammar School go Cashless!

This month we installed our popular Cashless Catering system, EventPOS, in the independent secondary school which has a student population of 1,351.

Their system is programmed specifically to their requirements, to charge different rates for those who pay daily, versus those who choose to pay for a term in advance.

This categorisation is not visible to students, nor are bursaries or any allergens/dietary requirements.

They opted to use smart ID cards with their system, but other options such as biometric fingerprint readers are also available.

Their system is linked to WisePay for parents and carers to top up and monitor their children’s accounts. This keeps parents happy as it is so easy to use!

Thanks to The Portsmouth Grammar School, we can’t wait to hear how you get on with EventPOS!

To find out more about our cashless catering system, click here!

idXtra at The Security Event 2023!

We had a blast at The Security Event 2023 in Birmingham! It was our first time exhibiting at this event, and we hope to return next year. We made lots of new connections and gave out more idXtra Business Bears!

The two Tony’s!

We had lots of interest in our Visitor Management System, VisiTapp, as it enhances safeguarding and security in any establishment. We can integrate our software with most existing Access Control systems, which makes upgrading to VisiTapp even easier.

To find out more about VisiTapp or to book a remote demo, please click here!

Working hard or hardly working? 🙂

Keep an eye on our blog and Twitter for news of our next event appearances! We hope to see you soon.

myday App Integration for the NCC Group!

As we approach the academic summer term, the New City College group opted for an upgrade to their idXtra EventPOS cashless catering system (find out about EventPOS here). They asked us if we could integrate their cashless system with their collaborative student portal, myday, and we delivered!

Having EventPOS integrated with myday will enable the college group and its staff and students to easily retrieve data from the cashless catering system through the app, which they also use for retrieving data from their other IT systems. Having it all in one place makes life much easier for them!

If you would like to find out more about our cashless catering system and/or would like to book a free remote demo, please get in touch here so we can discuss your requirements!

idXtra at BETT 2023!

Spring has finally sprung, and this month we were thrilled to exhibit at the BETT Show again, for the first time since the pandemic!

It was great to see so many idXtra customers at our stand, and to meet some new ones too! Thanks to everyone who came and said hello.

Sales Director, Tony Walsh (right) and
Regional Sales Manager, Tony Brock (left)

Our new eye-popping graphics made a feature on our stand, highlighting our five main systems and emphasizing how they can all work together harmoniously.

We’ve got some special show offers on, which apply to VisiTapp, EventPOS and card printer bundles. These are here for a limited time only, so act fast if you’re after a great deal!