Can RFID Monitor Children on School Buses?

Is there a cost-effective RFID reader that could be placed at the door of a school bus to determine when students get onto and off of the bus?

—Name withheld

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Almost any ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) interrogator would work, and there are a variety of models on the market. Some are high-performance, to guarantee accurate reads. Others are cheaper and designed to offered less power and reduced functionality. It’s difficult to recommend one specific model over another, since the right one will depend on a number of factors, including the read distance, the amount of intelligence required in the reader and communication requirements between the interrogator and a host system. AT&T offers a managed service for school systems (see AT&T Unveils Managed RFID Service for School Systems).

—Mark Roberti, Editor, RFID Journal