News

Christmas and New Year Holidays 2021/22

Our sales office will be closed from lunchtime on 24th December until Wednesday the 5th January. Some production will still take place during this time. If you need to leave us a message please email us sales@authentic8id.co.uk as the phones will not be manned again until the 5th.

November 2021

We are experiencing shipping delays on RFID products from some our factories around the world. This due to limits on the amount of weight that we can ship each day via DHL or FedEx. This is expected to last throughout November. Please allow an additional 3 to 5 working days on top of your usual orders times. 

February 2021 - New Hygienic Protection for Member & Gift Cards

To help improve overall hygiene and alleviate any concerns around issuing membership cards, Authentic8 can now offer a special Anti-Bacterial laminate finish on all their standard card and ID products – that’s barcode, magstripe and RFID cards for membership, gift and loyalty. The special laminate uses ‘Silver Ion’ technology and is highly effective at eliminating 99% of bacteria from the card surface (full report available). The laminate is available in a gloss or matte finish and will not significantly alter the look of your current design.

This option is available for a £75 set-up fee, plus additional 5p per card. Lead time are around 4 weeks from order.

January 2021- UK Lockdown Resumes

We are open for business as usual. Sales and admin staff are working remotely, so please excuse any delays in getting back to you or answering calls (email is currently the best way to contact us - sales@authentic8id.co.uk). Production capacity is currently unaffected with near normal lead times on all products:

• 1 to 3 working days- Peripheral Hardware or blank cards.
• 12 working days for printed barcode and magstripe cards/tags.
• 14 working days for printed RFID cards and fobs*
• 6 weeks for RFID wristbands* (although we do have some stock as well).

*Please note extended lead times will be expected for some RFID products during during Chinese New Year - Middle 2 weeks of Feb.

August 2020 - Business as usual

Our staffing levels have returned to near full complement with operations and production now back to pre-Covid levels. Our sales and admin staff continue to work from home while production is now fully manned on site. Please try to use email communication in the first instance and our staff will call you back. The phones lines are manned and messages are being picked up regularly but please bear with us if your call is not answered immediately. 

Please contact us on sales@authentic8id.co.uk for the quickest response.

April 2020- Authentic8 Covid19 Business Continuity Information

With the current global Covid19 crisis the health of our employees, customers and social environment is a top priority and we are following the latest regulatory advice from the UK Government we have taken the following measures:

• We are OPEN for business.
• We have now implemented a work from home protocol for the majority of staff. We have already tested our infrastructure and IT systems before making this decision to limit disruptions and maintain customer support and business continuity during this time.
• Our main sales office in Glasgow remains open operating with a skeleton staff rotating on a weekly basis to ensure deliveries can come and go.
• Our Customer Service and Sales department remain fully operational, all be it remotely by telephone, email and virtual meetings if required.
• Please note - calls may not be answered immediately but messages are being picked up regularly.
• An anti-bacterial deep clean of our office will be undertaken every Friday between staff change overs.
• We use a number of factories for production, spread across the globe, which enables us to be highly responsive and move work to the most suitable location for the job in hand.
• Our ID production supply chain is fully operational at the moment at our 2 main manufacturing hubs - UK and China.
• Our transportation partners (DHL and DPD Local) are currently operating both internationally and domestically, although delays of a few day are being experienced 
• Lead times are currently:

12 working days for barcode and magstripe cards or tags.

14 working days for RFID cards and fobs.

6 weeks for wristbands (although we do have some stock as well).

*Update 02.04.20 - some of our Teslin made keytags will be temporarily unavailable through April. 

June 2019 - Authentic8 ID Solutions is now an official Evolis Reseller

Please view our updated Evolis Printer & Consumable range of products.

Augmented Reality - add another dimension to your cards, tags or wristbands.

We have teamed up with Zappar to provide a way of adding ‘Augmented Reality’ to any of our printed membership cards, keytags, gift cards, loyalty cards, RFID cards or Easyband wristbands. By printing a ‘Zap code’ (a bit like a QR code but a much more immersive experience), it allows us to overlay 3D buttons, images and even video on top of any printed item. All you have to do is dowload the app and view the card or tag through your phone or tablet. 
 
We can now link your Membership, Student, Gift or ID card directly to your social media accounts, webstore, online bookings, exclusive hidden content or special offers and promotions.... anything with a URL.
The content can be updated whenever you want (without changing the printed code), which means you can also sell time-limited advertising space on your cards.
 
To try it, go to App Store or Google Play and search for ‘Zappar’ – download the app and then scan this image of a basic card (you can scan it from the screen). 

It works better if you view it on an actual card but this will give you the idea.

We can see the following applications being of value on membership cards, gift cards, loyalty cards, keyfobs or RFIID wristbands (there are no doubt more we haven’t thought of yet)…

•    Introductions - Personal greetings or video tours of clubs/gyms/schools/universities

•    Instructional videos – e.g. how to use a piece of equipment or register, redeem a gift card or top up a cashless school meal card.

•    Special offers/promotions – perhaps linked to an email campaign with dedicated landing page: ‘scan your card today for a special time-limited offer’

•    ‘Visiit Our Shop Now!' - direct links to online retail. Deep link into a specfic product or category.

•    ‘Book Online Now’ - link to your online booking systems

•    ‘Download Our App’ - ecourage users to dowload and use your own app.

•    Adverts - selling your 3rd dimension card space to local partners or businesses is a great way to offset the cost of the cards themselves.

Contact us now for more information on how to add Augmented Reality to your cards or tags.