Security identity technology company HID Global has launched a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based solution known as HID Location Services to allow businesses to identify the locations of individuals within a room. The solution is aimed at universities, financial and manufacturing facilities, and health-care companies that want to manage workforce location in real time.
The system has been piloted by several dozen companies, and includes technology provided by BLE firm Bluvision, which HID acquired in December 2016. Bluvision’s beacon portal receivers can be installed throughout a location. Personnel are then provided with Bluetooth beacon-enabled smart cards, and data is captured and managed on a cloud-based server provided by HID Global for a monthly service fee.
With millions of customers across numerous industries, HID Global has identified a growing need for technology that would enable customers to better understand the movements of people through their spaces, says Ian Lowe, HID Global’s director of product marketing physical access-control solutions. HID Global acquired Bluvision last year to address this need, and has since been developing HID Location Services.
“Existing solutions [using RFID] typically require a significant hardware investment in servers, antennas, readers, repeaters, plus other equipment,” Lowe says, in order to ensure location granularity to within 10 to 20 meters (33 to 66 feet). HID Location Services, employing BLE technology, can accomplish location down to about a meter with less infrastructure—”namely, the installation of small gateway devices,” which he says are about the size of Apple iPhone chargers. Those beacon gateways then share data with a cloud-based server.
HID Global has created smart cards with built-in Bluvision BEEKS beacons that are IP 67-rated, as well as environment- and water-resistant. They come with a coin-cell battery that has a typical life span of three years. Because of the battery, the smart cards are about 2.7 millimeters in thickness—slightly thicker than standard ID badges.
Once gateways are installed in a space—such as in a warehouse, on an assembly floor or inside a classroom—the movements of individuals wearing smart badges can be monitored. The primary use case thus far, Lowe says, is workforce optimization.
For instance, if building managers or administrators want to better understand how a building is being used, and how to operate it most efficiently, they can install the system and view the resulting data analytics from the cloud-based software. This helps them understand if they are complying with safety standards (based on the number of people within a room, ensuring that they do not exceed the acceptable number), while also improving operations. Meeting rooms could be reallocated, for example, depending on how they are being used by individuals wearing smart cards.
“Other use cases include streamlining parking access by leveraging its embedded HID smart-card technologies,” Lowe says, “and facilitating energy efficiency through predictive analytics of room and area usage.”
HID Global has completed more than a dozen pilots to date, and companies are now deploying the solution. “A key advantage of the solution is that it allows for user-defined alerts,” Lowe adds. For instance, users could create perimeters to receive a notice in the event that an unauthorized individual enters a restricted zone, or if someone stays in an area longer than permitted.
Customers can purchase the hardware, including gateways and smart cards. They would then pay a monthly fee for cloud access.