5 Ways You Benefit From Indoor Positioning And Tracking

Many companies integrate indoor positioning and tracking into their infrastructure these days. The system is often used in frequently visited places, such as train stations, airports, hospitals, and venues for various events. Using indoor positioning and tracking systems provides many benefits. With them, you can not only determine the location of objects but also ensure visitor safety and increase customer satisfaction.

Indoor positioning/tracking: a quick review

Indoor positioning is designed to determine locations in real-time. You can build digital maps and quickly find people or objects indoors using specific equipment (such as beacons, readers, servers, etc.).

Indoor positioning and tracking systems are based on special sensors placed throughout the building and send out signals with identifiers at a certain cadence. When an object appears in the coverage area, the devices identify its location and send the data to a user’s smartphone accordingly.

Several technologies can be used to carry out indoor positioning. The most commonly used are Bluetooth® Low Energy, Wi-Fi, and Ultra WideBand (UWB), allowing a tracking accuracy of 1 to 10-16 m. They can be used to quickly identify objects and perform many important tasks, such as:

  • tracking the movement of people, equipment, or assets;
  • building indoor maps indicating points of interest;
  • building routes;
  • sending push notifications to users with valuable information or ads.

Benefits of implementing indoor positioning and tracking

Using indoor positioning and tracking provides businesses with many significant benefits. When the system is implemented in the infrastructure, it’s possible to increase the efficiency of the company, simplify asset management, improve safety, etc.

Increasing work efficiency with real-time information

All location data is provided in real-time, allowing management to respond quickly to internal processes. The information received makes it much easier to determine the workload and evaluate visitor behavior. Based on the data, businesses can optimize the zones where the equipment will work or the zones where the products will be located on the shelves. And this provides more opportunities for the efficient operation of the company.

Improving visitor and staff safety

Introducing the system dramatically affects the activities of the business in all domains, including security. Indoor positioning helps you quickly respond to accidents and, if needed, initiate requests for assistance. Real-time information shows where the emergency occurred, how to reach the nearest exit, and which employees are closest and can be sent to resolve the issue.

Simplifying asset management

It will be much easier for the higher-ups to manage machinery or vehicles if they know their current location. In addition, an indoor tracking system allows you to replenish warehouse stocks faster, helps build routes for mobile equipment, and prevents collisions with people or vehicles.

Engaging visitors through location-based marketing

Indoor positioning systems provide the management with a new and improved marketing channel that allows them to engage visitors in the company’s activities. Through this system, you can convey a lot of useful information to people, such as:

  • discounts or sales in stores;
  • content about the attended event;
  • targeted notifications about the beginning of an exhibition, conference, etc.;
  • targeted advertising messages;
  • information about the schedules of trains, planes, and much more.
  • Improving business processes with detailed analytics

With indoor localization, you can get in-depth analytics, which ensures the company’s long-term success. The platform carefully collects history and provides management with a large amount of data – from visitor traffic analysis to identifying hot spots and evaluating the efficiency of different marketing channels. All of this helps make the right management decisions and improve business processes.

What industries can the system be used for?

Indoor positioning (tracking) has a wide range of applications. It can be used in any industry where there is high attendance. Stadiums, shopping malls, exhibition grounds, airports, and train stations are the most popular use cases.

Airports, railway stations

Introducing a positioning system allows airports and railway stations to improve the quality of passenger service. Users can quickly find the necessary spots (e.g., cash desks, check-in counters, etc.), easily get to them, and also receive a lot of useful data about the operation of the transport hub. In addition, indoor positioning helps build heat maps, control the flow of people, and respond to emergencies much faster.

Shopping malls

Inside a shopping center, there can be a large number of floors, shops, cafes, and various departments. Implementing an indoor localization system allows visitors to save time and quickly find their point of interest (PoI). It’s enough for a shopper to use the mobile app to build a short route and easily get to the place. In addition, mall owners can use the platform to collect analytics or send push notifications to visitors, including information about promotions, discounts, and bonus programs.

Stadiums

Indoor positioning systems can build a map of a sports facility and allow visitors to conveniently get to any point, such as their seats, catering, locker rooms, and shops. The search is performed using a smartphone, where you can build a short route and accurately navigate anywhere. In addition, positioning helps stadium management analyze performance in real-time and keep track of it for future optimization.

Venues for events and exhibitions

Event venues often cover vast areas where it’s easy to get lost. The indoor positioning system eliminates this issue and allows you to perform the following tasks:

  • accurate navigation through the hallways;
  • quickly searching for the desired object (e.g., specific exhibit, stand, etc.);
  • tips for event participants based on their location;
  • monitoring visitor flows;
  • targeted advertising.

In summary, indoor positioning technologies open great opportunities for companies to develop and improve their business processes. With indoor positioning, you can optimize the company workflow, improve the quality of customer service, and ensure safety for customers and staff.

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