Are There Any RFID Systems Available for Field Services?

We’re a commercial HVAC and facilities services business that provides routine maintenance for building assets. For years, we have tagged equipment to be serviced with stickers marked up with a sharpie, or we have used bar codes. Ideally, we could affix an RFID tag to the outside of roof-mounted equipment, then have our technician scan it with their phone and an app, identify the asset in a database, and log updated repair and maintenance information into our ERP system from the field. Is there an inexpensive and elegant RFID solution available?

—Tom

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Tom,

“Inexpensive” and “elegant” are subjective terms, and I have not personally used any RFID systems designed for field services. But we have written about a solution from  ServiceChannel, a leading online marketplace and SaaS platform for facilities managers, contractors and technicians. Its Asset Manager function provides visibility into the details of physical assets, including work history and maintenance, as well as warranty and preventive maintenance information (see  Service Channel Improves Facilities Maintenance via IoT-Fueled Asset Tagging). There are other companies that offer applications for managing assets, though not necessarily HVAC equipment. These solutions could easily be adapted for your purposes. I would encourage any RFID businesses that offer solutions to let me know and I can forward your information to Tom.

Mark Roberti
Founder and Editor
RFID Journal