If your place of business needs an ID scanner, you might not know where to look or what to look for. ID readers are important when you’re running a business that requires patrons and customers to be of a certain age, as they can help you find out should be allowed entry, and who should not. Around 218 million Americans have a driver’s license in the U.S., and keeping track of who’s legal or who is expired can be important.

These readers come in a lot of different forms, like table top scanners and peripheral scanners. However, no matter what kind of ID reader you get, you need to keep a few things in mind for your selection. Here is a list of things you should consider when looking at license scanners:

Portability
There are a few main types of scanners. The first is the counter version, which is ideal if you require a scanner that doesn’t move the majority of the time. Second are handheld drivers license scanners. These are made of lightweight, but durable, materials and can be easily carried around. The final type is an ID scanner app, that uses a camera on a phone to scan the barcode on an ID, or has the ability to swipe IDs through it.

Both the scanner app and the table-top versions can be considered peripheral scanners, which read the information on the bar codes of cards.

Storage Ability
Some ID scanners have the ability to store the information that is obtained during a scan. This is useful for keeping track of who has been in the venue, and whether any individual has been banned before. It can also be used to provide the police with information if problems occur. And last but not least, it provides helpful consumer data such as the genders of patrons and how often they are visiting.

The Ability To Give Alerts
Let’s say that you have a list of individuals who are banned from attending the venue. You obviously don’t want them allowed inside, but how do you know if they’re present? A good ID scanner will alert security that an unwanted individual has attempted entry, or that an ID is fake or expired. These alerts can appear on the device, or even in text messages in some cases.

These are just a few items to consider when you’re looking at purchasing a scanner, whether that be a table top scanner or a handheld peripheral scanner. Having a good scanner for your business can be extremely helpful and provide great information for you to use.