May 09, 2014Precision Dynamics Corp. (PDC), a provider of ID wristbands and related products, has begun marketing a tablet reader known as the Smart Tablet, designed to allow users to capture the ID numbers encoded to high-frequency (HF) 13.56 MHz passive RFID tags at such locations as resorts, hotels and water parks, thereby enabling faster check-in, payments or other services. The tablet, which PDC debuted last month at the RFID Journal LIVE! 2014 conference and exhibition, acts in the same way as a kiosk with a built-in reader, but enables a company's staff to be mobile and thereby go directly to people wearing the RFID bracelets, rather than requiring them to seek out a kiosk. PDC partnered with software company Kioware, which provides the tablet's software for capturing and interpreting read data. The tablet can then forward the collected data to a back-end server via a Wi-Fi connection or GPRS. The device could also store that information and upload it to the server at a later time.
PDC is currently in discussion with a national resort that offers water-based rides, to begin piloting the tablets for use in point-of-sale applications, according to Bill Meserve, PDC's installation and support manager.
PDC offers ID solutions for health-care, leisure and entertainment, law-enforcement and animal applications. Its products include wristbands, cards and key fobs with embedded RFID tags compliant with the ISO 14443 or ISO 15693 standard. Many of its clients include hotels and resorts at which customers are provided with the PDC wristband and may use the RFID tag built into the band to acquire services.
To make a purchase, for example, a consumer can present his or her wristband in order to provide account information at the point of sale, or to feed money into a prepaid account. In addition, customers could use the wristband to access other services, such as lockers or water rides, without needing to queue up at a booth or customer service area. They might also use the bands to unlock their hotel room door, sparing them from having to check in at a hotel's desk, or they could use it to charge meals or use other services at the hotel or resort. However, if an individual needs to use a kiosk to feed money into a prepaid account or make a purchase, that can create inconveniences as well, if a kiosk is not close to that user, or if there is a queue waiting to access it.
To enable employees to bring the read event to the customer, PDC developed the Smart Tablet. At an amusement park, for instance, workers at a water slide can utilize the tablet to read the wristbands of those who wish to use the attraction, thereby reducing wait times. If visitors are lined up to check in or order services at a hotel, staff members could approach them in line with the tablet and help them accordingly. If someone does not yet have a wristband, an employee could use the tablet to assign one to that individual, and to link the tag's ID to him or her in the company's software. Workers simply input the user's name and credit card information (the Smart Tablet includes a MagTek magnetic-stripe reader), and then read a new wristband's tag.
PDC expects its Smart Tablet will be used for social-media connections as well, Meserve says. In that scenario, a patron could provide his or her user ID and password to Twitter, Facebook or another outlet, and when personnel carrying the Smart Tablet tap the device against that individual's wristband, a picture or other information specific to that location is uploaded to his or her social-media account. "A lot of customers are interested in that," he states.
The technology would also be easier to set up at a location without necessitating the installation of readers requiring power outlets or a cabled Internet connection.
To date, PDC is only in conversations with potential customers for its Smart Tablet. However, Meserve predicts that several pilots of the technology will be underway this year.
