(FORTUNE Magazine) – What handy five- by seven-inch contraption has the ability to fend off bad guys yet isn't endorsed by the NRA? A desktop label-printer. After Sept. 11, offices and trade shows have had to rethink how they monitor the comings and goings of visitors. In February, DYMO, a $144-million-a-year maker of office gear and supplies, teamed up with a handful of software companies to introduce a simple workplace-security solution, built around its $200 LabelWriter printer. Famous for pioneering the label gun, DYMO, a subsidiary of Sweden's Esselte, has in recent years generated most of its business selling labeling equipment for filing and the like. Now, says Traci Kaas of CI3 Software, one of DYMO's partners, "they've jumped to the reception desk."

This invasion of the so-called visitor-management market could eventually mean goodbye to the stick-on HELLO, MY NAME IS ... badge, the kind conventioneers fill out with felt-tipped pens. Front-desk systems like one from DYMO and CI3 (a full-blown setup costs around $6,000) enable a receptionist to produce an official badge in seconds, and simultaneously to check the visitor's credentials against a corporate appointment calendar or convention registration database. The printer also links with business-card scanners and digital cameras. Not only can it churn out instant photo IDs, but some badges from DYMO are even time sensitive. After 24 hours they develop red stripes as a sign that the visitor has worn out his welcome.

--Julie Schlosser