idXtra celebrates its 20th Anniversary!

We are pleased to announce our 20th anniversary of being in business! As we celebrate this, we would like to thank all of our loyal customers, suppliers and staff for your custom and patronage over the years.

Without our loyal customers we would not exist, and we have gone from strength to strength with your support. We look forward to serving and supporting you in all the years to come!

Tony Walsh, Founder

A little bit of backstory about us… idXtra was founded on 28th March 2002 by Tony Walsh and Tarique Ahmad; how time has flown since then!

Initially idXtra focused mainly on ID card printing and software, but twenty years later we have expanded the team and grown, and we now specialize in an array of innovative technologies such as visitor management systems, cashless catering, attendance monitoring and access control systems.

Take a look at our old logo from 2002-2011; what a throwback!

Season’s Greetings from idXtra!

As 2021 slowly draws to a close, we reflect on what a year it has been. Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, we are thankful to be able to spend this festive period with our loved ones.

We would like to thank our loyal customers for their continued patronage, and we look forward to all that is to come in 2022!

Before we see in the new year, we’d like to welcome on board two new idXtra customers, Queen Mary’s College in Basingstoke and Newham College London!

Queen Mary’s College have just had our cashless catering system installed in their premises; it will make their catering and payment processes so much easier. To find out more about our cashless system, EventPOS, click here.

Newham College London have also recently decided to have EventPOS installed in both of their campuses, Stratford and East Ham. The new system is a big step forward from their previous one.

We look forward to hearing how both colleges get on with their new tech!

Come and see us at the AoC Annual Conference & Exhibition 2021!

After eighteen months of no large events, we are delighted to be exhibiting at the Association of Colleges Annual Conference and Exhibition 2021 at the ICC in Birmingham!

The AoC exhibition is the must-attend further education event of the year and will run from Tuesday 16th to Wednesday 17th of November. We will be on stand F2 in the main foyer.

We look forward to seeing lots of our friends, customers and colleagues at the event!

We will be demonstrating our systems on the stand and giving out lots of information, plus idXtra pens and sweets!

For information about the event and to book tickets, visit the AoC website.

The Inspire Education group goes cashless!

Working with our partner, Wisepay, we installed our cashless catering system, EventPOS, at thirteen locations across two of the Inspire Education Group‘s campuses (Stamford and Peterborough Colleges).

The aim of the project was to simplify the issuing of discreet free school meals and to bring several disparate systems together as one system, on a single network linked to MIS. 

Their system is now much more efficient; the college group also made use of EventPOS‘ latest upgrade, which is the allergen tracking feature. This clever feature keeps a record of all students’ allergies and dietary information, and alerts if a student tries to purchase a prohibited item. Safeguarding has never been simpler!

Big thanks to the Inspire Education group, we look forward to hearing how you get on with EventPOS!

Please click here for more information on our cashless catering system, EventPOS, and here to hear more about its new allergen tracking feature.

ID card printing galore for the Trafford College group!

We were delighted to be chosen as the supplier to the Trafford College group to upgrade their ID card printing systems across their five campuses! 

The formation of the Trafford College group meant that there were disparate systems across the four colleges (Trafford College, Stockport College, The Cheadle College and Marple Sixth Form College), and the aim was to bring everything together with one system.

We supplied twelve new ID card printers and updated and extended their ID card printing software, and we wrote integration pieces in order to push records into three different access control systems.  

The result is a smoother, simplified operation that is easier to support and to extend further.  

Thank you to the Trafford College group, we hope you love your new card printing system!

Please click the following links to find out more information about our products and services relevant to this post:

New City College group gets major upgrade!

In these summer months as the new school year rapidly approaches, many schools and colleges use this time to get upgrades to their premises.

The New City College group are no different, and this month have decided to get a major upgrade to their systems, and opted for idXtra’s cashless catering and visitor management systems.

The NCC group had our cashless system, EventPOS, installed across their six colleges and ten campuses. They chose EventPOS to manage their cashless catering across its very large estate; the system works perfectly for them as it links to MIS to deliver FSM and other bursaries in real time.

A recent and major upgrade to the EventPOS system is that it now caters for allergies and dietary preferences, meaning the safeguarding of students is greatly enhanced.

Not only did the college group opt for a new cashless system, but they upgraded their visitor management system too! We upgraded and replaced all of their systems to our VMS, VisiTapp, across all of their campuses. VisiTapp is highly efficient and reliable, and can be adapted to meet your specific requirements and preferences.

Lastly, just in time for the enrolment period, we supplied the NCC with ten new ZXP 7 card printers plus eighteen new CardExchange v10 licenses. Our card printers and software are very reliable and easy to operate, plus our printers can be hired on a daily basis!

Big thanks to the New City College group, it was a pleasure installing our systems in your premises!

For further information on our products and services mentioned here, please click on the following links:

Attendance monitoring at West Notts College!

We are thrilled to welcome on board West Nottinghamshire College to the idXtra family of customers!

Recently we completed the installation of EventMarker, our attendance monitoring system, in all of their classrooms and teaching spaces. The system was installed in a way that incorporates their existing student ID cards, which meant they didn’t need to get all new cards printed, thus saving time and expense.

Through the installation the idXtra team also fine-tuned the link to their MIS system, for the purpose of exchanging timetable and attendance data. This system was a major investment by the college, which will inevitably result in even better student retention rates and the funding associated with it.

Thank you West Notts College, we look forward to seeing how you get on with your new system!

For information on our attendance monitoring system, EventMarker, and to find out how to book a free remote demonstration, please click here.

The Headteacher magazine – Summer issue

As we enter the summer months, we are pleased to announce that idXtra will feature in the new June / July issue of ‘The Headteacher’ magazine!

We are delighted to be featured in the publication again, which is received by many primary school headteachers, school leaders, SBMs, executive heads and academy chain buyers.

Our feature in this issue focuses on our visitor management system, VisiTapp. We feel VisiTapp in particular would be of interest to primary schools, not just because of GDPR reasons but also for safeguarding and security purposes. These systems are essential as much as they are affordable; they can also really enhance the look and feel of the school’s front-of-house reception area.

VisiTapp is highly reliable, flexible and affordable, and is more efficient than the much-hyped leading brands. For more info on our VMS, visit idxtra.com/new-visitapp, and for a free demo or quotation, email info@idxtra.com or call 0800 083 6053.

Get your latest copy of ‘The Headteacher’ magazine (Volume 5, Issue 5) on June 25th.

Welcome New Customers!

In recent weeks, we have had the pleasure of welcoming some new customers to the idXtra family! We are delighted to welcome the following establishments on board:

  • Hartlepool College of Further Education – EventPOS Cashless Catering
  • Derwentside College – EventPOS Cashless Catering
  • Warley Primary School – VisiTapp Visitor Management System
  • Colchester Sixth Form College – EventPOS Cashless Catering

Our cashless catering system, EventPOS, is proving to be very popular at the moment. Now is a great time to invest in a cashless system, as it would be installed during the summer months, so it would be ready just in time for the start of the new academic year!

Bicester School, who have been an idXtra customer for a few years, have recently upgraded to our cashless catering system too.

Benefits of using a cashless system include:

  • Allergen tracking for students (the system records allergies and dietary requirements for all students, and alerts you if a student selects an unsuitable product)
  • Improved customer throughput and reduced queueing
  • Minimised cash handling
  • Improved reporting
  • Easy managing of payments (option to top-up cards online or with cash at a kiosk)
  • Built-in bursary function with discrete FSM feature
  • Ability for parents to view their child’s meal purchase history

For more info about our cashless catering system, EventPOS, please visit idxtra.com/new-eventpos.

For more info about its allergen tracking function specifically, please check out our blog post from February here.

For a free demo or quotation, please email info@idxtra.com or call 0800 083 6053!

idXtra To Feature in New Magazine, ‘The Headteacher’!

We are thrilled to announce that idXtra will be featured in the upcoming inaugural issue of the new education publication, ‘The Headteacher‘ magazine.

February’s issue marks the launch of the magazine and will bring the very best in financial and leadership expertise to headteachers and school business managers across the country.

Our latest advert, featured in the publication, demonstrates how you can achieve the highest level of safeguarding within your establishment, through the use of our ID cards and Visitor Management, Access Control and Cashless Catering systems.

We wish the team at ‘The Headteacher’ the best of luck with their new venture. The inaugural issue of the magazine will be sent out on February 26th… if you want to get your hands on a copy, click here!

Read on for more info about how our systems can help you to improve the security and safeguarding of your students and staff!

VisiTapp, our Visitor Management system:

  • Gives 100% accurate management information of who is on the premises at any time
  • Records late students and those leaving site early (option of saving to MIS)
  • Has a strong safeguarding strategy including ‘roll call’ and ‘person search’ functions
  • Has an optional evacuation app for mobile phones and tablets

Our Access Control systems:

  • Allow you to manage access to your premises through our range of networked and stand-alone systems
  • Give enhanced security and peace of mind, knowing that only authorised personnel can gain access to certain parts of the building
  • Ensure that buildings, rooms and the valuable equipment contained within remain secure until an authorised individual wishes to gain access

Our ID cards:

  • Are versatile and can have whatever technology you choose; they can be encoded and integrated to work with your existing or new systems
  • Can be designed by us according to your specific requirements, incorporating your organisation’s logo and staff and student photos
  • Can include any information provided within your database, for example student numbers, form details and dates of issue and expiry

EventPOS, our Cashless Catering system:

  • Has a built-in functionality which stores data of students’ allergies and dietary requirements
  • Thereby automatically prohibits the sale of any harmful products to students, such as a milkshake to someone who is lactose-intolerant
  • Ensures no allergens go unnoticed, thus assuring the safeguarding of your students and compliance with ‘Natasha’s Law’, which comes into effect in October 2021