Intelleflex Rolls Out Fob-size BAP Tag

According to Liu, employees of a company such as a casino might inadvertently take the keys home. Not only is this a security concern, but in the case of casinos, it is also a violation of some state gaming regulations. To resolve this issue, casinos wanted a system enabling them to be alerted if keys ever left the premises. Law enforcement agencies also use the system to track keys to evidence rooms, as well as to tag and track the evidence items themselves.

Much of the RFID industry, Liu says "has been going after higher-value assets, but some assets are important and they can be small." None of the end users of the new tag—who are currently receiving the tags—wished to be named for this story.

With the new tag, casinos and other users can set up interrogators at doorways and other areas of concern, to be sure the keys don't enter those locations. When the tag approaches something such as an exit door, Liu says, an Intelleflex I-Beam 500 RFID reader captures the tag's ID number and transmits it to the company's security database, either via a Wi-Fi or wired LAN network connection.

Like its predecessor, the FBT 7400 Fob has a total of 64 kilobits of storage, of which 60 kilobits is user memory, so a history of the tag's movement can be recorded directly on the chip. Users can then access that data using a handheld I-Beam reader, or directly from their own database. The new tag costs the same as the original model, Liu says, though he declines to reveal the exact price.

In November 2006, Genesis Resource, a company specializing in security systems for the casino industry, began selling Axcess International's RFID system that uses active 315 MHz tags to track slot-machine keys (see Axcess Partnering With Casino Technology Provider).