Companies, Agencies Use Clandestine RFID Systems to Catch Thieves

Brown says SimplyRFID uses RFID interrogators from Thing Magic and Motorola, among other vendors. A reader is typically installed in a wall at night, or during off-hours, and is connected via an Ethernet cable to a Dell computer server so the data can be reviewed by the company's security personnel.

Companies often install four or five clandestine readers, and about the same number of cameras, at sites where items have disappeared. In other cases, companies arm every doorway and dock door with an RFID interrogator and tag every item inside. Of the private customers for which NOX has been available since 2007, Brown says, "We have three in full deployment and nine others in pilot phases. We are adding about one new install per month."

The companies use the RFID readers to capture ID numbers and send that data to a Dell computer server capable of managing up to 100 interrogators. NOX software allows integration of RFID tag data and video imagery—also stored on the server—so that an image from the time and place of a specific RFID tag read can be automatically displayed on a computer screen, along with the name and ID numbers of the tagged assets and employees wearing RFID-enabled badges.

Most cameras are supplied by Axis Communications, Brown says. The NOX system uses Avery Dennison EPC Gen 2 UHF tags.

The cost for a NOX deployment can be around $40,000 for four or five readers, cameras and software. For larger deployments with more than 30 antennas and 15 cameras, Brown says, the cost averages $100,000 to $150,000. SimplyRFID also offers installation services, he adds, though users often do some of the work themselves, such as installing the cables connecting the interrogators, cameras and server. Other end users, including government agencies, prefer to handle installation entirely on their own.