Spreo Beacons the Way at Mall, Hospital

Taubman Centers, a builder and operator of high-end U.S. regional malls, and Clalit Health Services, an Israeli hospital operator, have each rolled out a new Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon solution provided by indoor navigation technology startup Spreo. The solution offers users with an easy way to not only locate stores or departments of interest, based on their current location, but also to schedule their day, using the app to be directed from one location to the next. The system was taken live for shoppers with the opening of Taubman's Mall at University Town Center (UTC), located in Sarasota, Fla., in December 2014, and for patients, visitors and personnel at Clalit's Carmel Medical Center, in Israel.

Spreo, named after the starling known for its innate navigational skills, was launched two years ago in New York City and Israel. Clalit approached Lior Meller, Spreo's CTO and one of the company's two co-founders, in Israel, looking to develop a solution to help people map their way throughout its large hospital. As a result, Meller and his partner (both of whom came from wireless technology backgrounds) founded Spreo, and began researching and developing an indoor navigation system that was initially based on Wi-Fi but then shifted to beacon technology. "Wi-Fi works and is effective for Android phones," says Brett Reisman, Spreo's marketing and business development director. "But beacon is so ubiquitous."

Taubman Centers' Mall at UTC mobile app

The UTC mall, Taubman's latest shopping location, is designed to be both upscale and cutting-edge, appealing to consumers very accustomed to using their mobile phones to aid them in their shopping. Eighteen months before the mall opened, Taubman Centers began developing its own Mall at UTC mobile app to help make shoppers' experience more efficient and fun.