Glossary / 28 terms

The vocabulary, defined by what it changes.

Every term a property meets while specifying credentials, described by behaviour rather than by brand — with a line on why it matters.

A realistic family of silicone, woven, paper and wood RFID wristband constructions — REAL PRODUCT / PROVEN CONSTRUCTION

How to use this

These are the words that appear in quotations, in conversations with integrators and in this site’s own pages. Each definition includes why the term matters, because a definition that does not change a decision is not worth reading.

Nothing here is defined by brand name. Credential technology is described by frequency and by behaviour, which is what determines whether something will work at your doors — a product name does not.

Compatibility rule

Compatibility is confirmed against the property’s lock system, credential technology and encoding requirements before production. We do not claim universal compatibility.

Technology and reading

6 terms

LF (125 kHz): Low-frequency credentials, typically carrying an identifier rather than structured data. Tolerant near metal and moisture; the antenna needs more space, so the most compact wearables are rarely low frequency.
HF (13.56 MHz): High-frequency credentials, supporting structured memory and authenticated exchanges between credential and reader. The default in current hospitality installations and the frequency that fits into slim wearables.
Antenna: The conductive loop inside a credential that couples with the reader’s field. Its enclosed area is the main thing determining read distance, which is why a card behaves differently from a wristband module.
Inlay: The antenna-and-chip assembly before it is built into a card body, wristband or label. What a supplier means by "the chip" is usually the inlay.
Read range: The distance at which a reliable read happens — a property of the whole situation rather than of the credential. Reader type, mounting surface, water and the wrist behind the credential all change it.
Anti-collision: How a reader behaves when more than one credential is in its field, for example a wristband presented next to a wallet holding a card. Systems differ; knowing yours determines the fix.

Encoding and identity

5 terms

Encoding: Writing the data that makes a credential work with a system. Separate from supply: credentials can arrive blank for the property to encode, or pre-encoded to an agreed range.
Identifier: The number a credential presents. In most hospitality arrangements this is all the credential carries; permissions, folio and guest record live in the property’s systems.
Keys: The secrets that allow authenticated credentials and readers to prove themselves to each other. They belong to the property or its integrator and are handled under that party’s process.
Numbering range: A block of sequential numbers allocated to a batch of credentials. What makes an estate auditable — which range went where, and which credentials are unaccounted for.
Range labelling: Supplying goods in counted blocks with the range printed on the label, so a property can record what arrived without opening everything. Decided at order time; cannot be retrofitted.

Cards

4 terms

CR80: The standard card format, 85.6 × 54 mm, defined as ID-1 in ISO/IEC 7810. The reason cards remain interchangeable between properties in a way wearables never are.
Card body: The laminated material the card is built from — PVC, recycled-content or documented paper-based options. Determines print behaviour, feel and service life.
Lamination: The heat-and-pressure process bonding printed cores around the inlay into one body. Heavy foil, large metallic areas or embossing over the antenna path can disturb it.
Magnetic stripe: A magnetic data track on the card surface, still required by some installed estates. Worth confirming as a requirement rather than carrying forward as a habit.

Wearables

7 terms

Closure: How a band fastens. The single most consequential choice on a wristband: it determines whether the credential can be transferred, whether it can be reused, and where the band will eventually fail.
One-way closure: A closure that engages once and must be cut to remove. How transfer is controlled, at the cost of making fit final at issue and consuming a credential on every misfit.
Closed loop: A continuous band with no closure, sized at issue and removed by cutting. The standard construction for young children.
Module: The sealed component carrying the credential within a wearable. On some constructions it is removable, which lets a credential change without replacing the band.
Deboss: A mark pressed into a surface so it is carried by geometry rather than by a printed layer. Survives cleaning, abrasion and sunscreen; an infill adds colour into the recess.
Chatoyancy: The band of reflected light that moves across certain stones as the angle changes. On a bead construction it depends on beads being cut consistently relative to the fibre.
Durometer: A measure of how hard a moulded compound is. Set at sampling: softer feels better on a bare wrist, harder holds a closure geometry longer.

Supply and control

6 terms

Minimum order: The smallest production quantity for one artwork — 500 pieces here. The word doing the work is "artwork": a colourway or a moulded size is generally a separate count.
Artwork approval: The point at which a design is accepted on a production-realistic sample. Production is 14–21 days after it, so the clock starts here rather than at enquiry.
Approved sample: The physical reference retained after approval. What a reorder is checked against, and what makes a natural-material delivery assessable rather than debatable.
Reorder record: The approved sample, artwork revision, colour reference, confirmed credential input and packing instruction held together. A repeat order is checked against it; a changed field triggers a fresh check.
Material declaration: A statement of what was supplied, issued against a production run rather than a product line. Evidence about your goods rather than an assertion about a category.
Tamper evidence: A visible sign that a credential has been removed or interfered with. Only useful if a member of staff can recognise it in two seconds without training.

Next step

Bring the system details. Leave with one specification.

Send the lock-system model, credential sample, expected quantity and artwork direction. We will return the questions that matter before anything is priced.

Start a specification ↗