The "Big Five" channels for photo acquisition

Through projects with a wide variety of requirements and a total of almost two million photos, we have gained valuable experience and would like to shed light on the various options for photo acquisition in this article.

History

Before the foundation of Photo Collect, we worked in the field of card personalization for several years and experienced that the image capturing process is often the biggest unresolved bottleneck in the production of ID cards. In a project in which the ID cards of a large Swiss company were to be completely renewed, seven teams of two students traveled with their equipment (camera, photo box, background) from location to location throughout the country to take photos of all employees. Although the process took several weeks, it was not possible to get all employees in the right place at the right time for a photo. A logistical nightmare, expensive and without a satisfactory result. For companies that are geographically distributed across different regions or time zones, the challenge is even greater and the process quickly becomes complicated and expensive. Without a standardized process, uniform image capturing is hardly possible. We developed Photo Collect out of this need.

Possible acquisition channels

In order to make the photo process as simple as possible, we have developed several channels through which a photo can be submitted. The best thing about it: The channels can be used individually or in combination, in parallel or one after the other.

• Do we know the employee's e-mail address? Then we can send an e-mail with an upload link from Photo Collect. 
• ... or an SMS with the same link if the cell phone number is known. 
• If we only have the postal address, we can send a letter with a QR code.
• Employees who need to pass through a gate or reception can be Capturing there using the Photo Collect app.
• ... or they can use the self-service kiosk with the Photo Collect app on site.

The five channels in detail

1. End-user device

This is the most used channel at Photo Collect, as it enables decentralized Capturing of photos and can be scaled as required in terms of quantity. The person who is to submit a photo uses their smartphone to take and upload the photo. The person does not need an app or login to do this, but can simply carry out the upload in the browser via a link generated and personalized by Photo Collect.

The email and SMS communication channels are integrated into Photo Collect. A benefit of sending links via email or SMS, compared to postal mail, is the ability to automatically send low-threshold reminders if the photo has not been submitted after a certain period.

 Each channel has its advantages and disadvantages: An SMS is immediately visible and is received on the device with which the photo was taken, but often the mobile phone numbers of the employees are missing. An email address, on the other hand, is almost always available, but the user should ideally switch to their mobile phone to take the photo (we facilitate the switch by displaying a QR code). Choosing the right combination of communication channels is an important part of planning the Capturing process.

2. Mobile App

If there is a physical point of contact such as a reception desk, a secretariat or a card office, the Photo Collect app can be used to Capture photos. A responsible person in the company uses the app to Capture and upload the photos of the employees. The person's identification number can be scanned from an existing document, the existing old ID card or from the computer screen using OCR. The Photo Collect app is available for Android and iOS.

3. Photo kiosk

The photo kiosk is used to Capture photos in self-service mode. The person only has to enter their identification number and can then take the photo. As with the app, the image background is removed directly on the device using a depth sensor (infrared) - so there is no need for a classic photo booth, any wall (even brick, concrete) can serve as a background. The photo kiosk is made of oak (solid wood) and is sustainably handcrafted in Switzerland. It runs for 24 hours on battery power and requires no cables.

4. Webcam

Taking photos via a webcam is integrated in Photo Collect, but is only recommended in exceptional cases, as the quality of webcams is often insufficient compared to cameras in smartphones or other devices.

5. Import of existing photos

Existing image databases can be imported into Photo Collect via mass upload. Existing images benefit from quality improvement through automatic rotation, a uniform image crop, and automatic background removal.

Conclusion

The optimal combination of channels for the Capturing process must be found for each customer and situation. In the case of SBB / SwissPass, customers are prompted to upload via SMS and use their own device to take and upload a photo. This keeps the process at the counter very efficient, as the employee only triggers the SMS and the end customer can complete the process at home. Many companies prefer a combination of channels. Email invitations are often used to collect photos in the corporate environment, postal invitations are used to reach employees without email access, and direct upload is popular for Capturing professional photos of C-level employees.

We would be happy to discuss the possibilities for your photo Capturing process with you. Contact us!