About Us
Our Company
How it started
Like most great things in life, Educational Biometric Technology (EBT) started out as a far-fetched idea. It was the mid- 90s, Bob Engen, was just a software programmer from a small town, working at Winnebago Software, a library software company. While visiting schools, he witnessed how slow and inaccurate the process of children checking out books was.
He saw the stress that it was putting on the library associates and how much of their time it was taking up by just manning the checkout. He saw children having to go through the identification process over and over because of misidentification. He saw this major problem and knew it needed to be fixed.
After much thought, he established that the best way to both fix the slow, inefficient, lines while simultaneously securing against problems of misidentification was to use biometrics. Since everyone has a unique fingerprint, he figured the finger reader would be the best solution to the problem.
Thus, Educational Biometric Technology was born! In March of 1997 the first EBT media center finger identification system was installed into its first school in Eagan, Minnesota and it was an instant improvement!
How it's going
25 years later and EBT has over 2,500 different sites across the nation, and we are now striving to solve all identification problems in schools.
Since ‘97, we have adopted the IDconnect brand. We’ve expanded our software program lines to include not only media and library service but also, food service, bus trip management, classroom attendance and activity tracking. We also have added providing biometric identification to universities and colleges to our services.
Finally, and most proudly, IDconnect has become a family business with Bob’s children entering the company and continuing on EBT’s traditions. We are excited for what the future has to bring and hope you will want to be a part of it.
Our Values
Although we have grown to a nationwide company, we still hold the same small town, midwestern, family values that Bob has instilled in the company since the beginning. We believe in honest and trustworthy service above all else, with a large dash of smiling, friendly faces. We want you to know you have a friend with us.
We will cater to any need that your school may have for a biometric identification service. We truly believe in the safety and security that our software provides schools. We want to continue to help schools have an easier daily life while also protecting children.
Our Mission
Our purpose is to inform schools about the important need for access identity protection for their students. Sadly, this is an area that is overlooked and not thought about as much compared to all the other things schools have to handle. So, we want to raise awareness to the importance of your identity solution. We want to help you find the perfect solution for you, even if it isn’t with us.
Our mission is to improve student safety with just a touch of a fingertip. Biometrics are the most secure form of password protection, and our vision is to provide all schools with this security.