David Fernandez
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The Rise Of Speech Recognition: Could COVID-19 Make The Touchscreen and Keypad Obsolete?

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How Banks Can Catch Up With Third-Party Mobile Wallets: It's A Priority

If how banks can catch up with third-party mobile wallets isn't a priority for your institution now, it soon will be.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, banks have been losing ground to mobile wallets for years. Customers have to deal with their banks less and less, and this puts financial institutions at risk of losing customer loyalty. 

Instead of conceding to the competition, financial institutions can now jump into the game with their own, branded mobile wallet. Netclearance has a turnkey solution called mBeaconPay that will help bring your customers loyalty back. Netclearance's smart payment terminals come various form factors that are tailored to fit your needs exactly. 

Our solution is already surging in popularity. Danske Bank's mobile wallet is one of the top 5 across mobile wallets in Scandinavia and is used on nine out of ten smartphones in Denmark. Our unparalleled mobile customer engagement continues to keep us on top. Banks need to stay relevant in the age of mobile payments, and Netclearance mBeacons are your key to the future. 

The most important feature of mBeaconPay is its ubiquitous platform. This smart payment terminal is compatible with all major mobile operating systems and cash registers. It can work with cash or credit card based transactions. This means that no matter what device they are carrying or payment method, your customers transactions will go through seamlessly. It offers unparalleled mobile customer engagement that is unique in the industry.

Your bank can take the lead in your customers mobile payment experiences. Since the day people leave their houses without their cards is closer than we think, it's time to take action. Contact Netclearance for your turnkey mobile wallet solution, mBeaconPay. 

Wearable Technologies in the Enterprise - Why Would Your Organization Not Use Them?

Wearable technologies in the enterprise are technological solutions that make good sense, period.  For instance, why not have a smart badge that could let your team leads know exactly where your employees are?  Suppose there is an emergency?  Suppose you need help within minutes or even seconds in some type of crisis situation?  Would you not want to know exactly who might be nearby to help?

There are any number of given scenarios where a smart badge would be a great help.  It would also be great to have a smart badge simply to park with a piece of expensive equipment, letting you know at all times where in the plant that equipment is.  

Of course, there's a great deal to be noted about the efficiency improvements that can come about by the use of wearable technologies in the enterprise, like smart badges.  "Frederick Taylor would have loved to have been able to monitor the efficiency of workers with wearable sensors. Tesco uses armbands to track how workers are transporting goods in their warehouse. Employees like it because it saves them from having to carry and fill out clipboards of paperwork," according to an article by Jonathan Duffy titled Wearable tech gives businesses a competitive edge.  

Of course your work crew are trustworthy folk, but visitors and vendors maybe not so much.  A smart badge would be a good thing if there are very sensitive corporate assets or systems that could be breached by unauthorized persons who try make their way into areas they clearly don't belong.  Better to keep a closer watch using the additional safety of a smart badge that can track them within meters anywhere indoors.

Smart Badge Technologies in the Enterprise Work to Improve Businesses

Wearable technologies in the enterprise serve to improve business processes in many effective and creative ways. A simple badge the size of a credit card recently released by Netclearance serves as an excellent paradigm. Though the initial reaction to the term ' wearable technology' may lead some to imaginative conclusions, the technology is real and ground-breaking. With ever evolving advantages to enterprise, from their bottom-lines to the efficiency of their operations, wearable technology is proving its value everyday in the business world.

What may appear as a simple badge that identifies the wearer, upon further examination reveals a highly complex communication device. Embedded in the badge's, or mBeaconCard, manufacture is a Near Field Communication module and a Bluetooth Low Energy radio. Though an observer may see just a picture and wording, the badge is actually a transmission tool sending data packets to Netclearance's mBeaconGW, or IoT gateway. 

More than just being able to track an employee's movement and location within several feet, the badge finds use in tracking goods as they travel through a facility. Security and timing underscore this function. Knowing where goods and individuals are in the enterprise's facility is always an important concern.

As a convenience, an individual can use the badge to buy goods. 

The BLE also interfaces with, as reported by IOT Journal, "Netclearance's mCloud Content Management System software [and] is used to collect and manage the data transmitted by the badge, and from there it can be sent to Netclearance's business application or analytics software." This clearly indicates that the badge belongs to an integrated system with the potential to update and analyze facts as they change real-time. This also includes third-party applications and analytical platforms.

With an eye on the need to adjust in the facility's environment, smartphone communication is possible with the proper software.  With the NFC reader capabilities, the technology finds utility at the room-level for tracking in large facilities. 

The capabilities continue to expand. Already Netclearance offers a vibration sensor and magnetic sensor using an embedded accelerometer. This technology employs trigger tracking. As the name suggest, a motion or contact event must occur before the badge triggers the software or application systems by transmitting the required data.

Benefits Reported for Wearable Technologies in the Enterprise

Wearable technologies in the enterprise are providing advances in productivity like never before. For now, assisted reality is the here and now in the enterprise. Augmented reality gets everyone's heart pumping but the enterprise is not quite ready for it yet. Instead, focusing on wearables that free up the hands of employees and move those operations that required recording information on a tablet or other device to a wearable technology should be today's focus.

Wearable technologies are demonstrating new, increasing benefits all the time. From being able to offer real-time reporting to significantly reducing time that used to be spent in audits, they are beneficial to employer and employee alike. Employers now have access to productivity at any given moment throughout the day and are even able to detect if an employee is overtired. Employees appreciate having one less thing to track daily. Processes that previously were tedious in reporting and tracking are now captured immediately and with more precision. This increases the effectiveness of reporting that in the past would sometimes be postponed until time became available to stop and record either in a computer, tablet or written form. 

The industry of wearable technology now hosts an event whose sole purpose is to educate enterprises on the use of wearable technology in the workplace. In regards to efficiency, a study released by Rackspace, The Human Cloud at Work, concluded that employees that utilized wearables at work became 8.5% more productive and 3.5% more satisfied with their jobs. Wearable technologies are not a thing of the future. They are here now and although it is just the beginning of things to come, initial indicators show increased satisfaction and performance on both the employer and employee's part.

The Netclearance Smart Badge (mBeacon Card) is a wearable identity badge. Its primary purpose is to support indoor tracking and access control and payments among other workplace applications. This technology will allow for fewer identification sources that are currently being utilized. 

Boost Brand Loyalty Through Private Mobile Wallets

The goal of organizations today is to make the customer experience simple, seamless, and accurate. When combined with great products, these attributes can help organizations build brands that drive customer loyalty. This loyalty is the treasure that every organization is searching for, and branded mobile wallets help retailers boost customer loyalty. 

It would be difficult not to think of Apple Pay or Android Pay immediately when considering mobile wallets. While these are great mobile services, retailers and banks are starting to see the loyalty advantage of creating their own mobile wallets. These organizations are implementing Mobile Wallets with the understanding that they must reward loyalty to build loyalty. 

Organizations have found two clear ways to reward customer loyalty through delivering their own mobile wallets. First, they reward their customers by saving them time. They do this by allowing them to initiate and complete their business through an easy to use interface. Second, they have integrated their organizations rewards systems to these apps to provide customer with further incentive to utilize their mobile wallet.

By finding ways to save their customers both time and money, retailers are seeing an increase in brand loyalty. This is not surprising, since time and money are two of the most valued resources in this fast-paced society. Fortunately, Netclearance offers simple, seamless, and accurate, turn-key solutions for retailers and banks to implement their own branded wallets. With this technology, any organization can now bolster their brand loyalty by giving customers control of their time and money. 

Wearable Technologies in the Enterprise Are Already Making an Impact

While the IoT may still be trying to find itself within the personal lives of consumers, its practical use cases for the improvement of business processes is already well in motion.

Wearable technologies now have the capability to provide a wide array of business applications - from keeping tabs on assets to optimizing workflows - to utilizing the latest Bluetooth technology for greater communication between employees. 

With awareness of the potential for enterprise wearables growing exponentially, companies are beginning to take a serious look at transformative use case possibilities for the technology that may already exist within their own business processes.

Software maker Netclearance is at the forefront of the wearable technologies revolution. Their mBeaconCard has the appearance of an ordinary credit card, yet can be mounted to high-value mobile assets. Additionally, it doubles as an employee badge that utilizes NFC technology for greater internal security. 

The range of applications for the "all-in-one" mBeaconCard is stunning since it can be customized for a multitude of processes that require movement related tracking. Components of the badge include sensors, an NFC module, a Bluetooth radio and an embedded accelerometer.

Everyday consumers may not yet require the level the level of technology where vital data is transmitted in real-time. However, new forms and functions of enterprise level wearable technology are not only yet to be uncovered, they're also clearly already having a game changing impact.

Businesses who are early adopters in the implementation of wearable technologies are quickly finding a tremendous competitive advantage in employee productivity and the tracking of valuable company assets. 

Banks can leapfrog third-party mobile wallets with their own solutions

Technology is changing the world, day by day. And with each day, its reach broadens -- now, the smart phone has been introduced to two-thirds of American adults. And with those smartphones, the world of technology is reaching into an enormously consequential domain: finance. The flow of money across the globe, between individuals, institutions and vendors is incredibly lucrative for many, but there is an upstart in the traditional models of payment. Now, instead of swiping a credit card when paying for something, customers can use mobile wallets instead.

A mobile wallet, even though linked to a bank account, often is administrated by an outside source -- for example, Apple Pay. A customer paying with Apple Pay will draw money from their bank account, but use an app on their phone at the register. The upside to this is that customers no longer have to lug around all of their credit or debit cards; the downside, for financial institutions at least, is that companies that create and administrate these apps (like Apple, Google, et al.) charge fees to the banks.

Thus, banks are at a huge disadvantage -- and with the growth of mobile wallets, they stand to lose even more. If banks do not act to catch up to third-party mobile wallets, they stand to lose out on the important stream of money across the globe. However, some banks are slowly working on developing competing mobile wallets -- but they may not work, or may come to late.

For the financial institutions that are really aware of the importance of mobile wallets (like Danske Bank's MobilePay), they are taking advantage of turnkey solutions -- easily implementable systems that can help them make up ground and maintain their bottom line. Danske Bank, a leader in the field with 30,000 merchants across Scandinavia, has opted to use a solution called mBeaconPay by Netclearance. And it's working: the mobile wallet is among the top three mobile apps in the region.

So the question is really whether banks want to invest in their own success. If they use turnkey solutions like that offered by Netclearance, they stand to make up ground against third-party mobile wallets. If not, they have a long road ahead of them.

Branded mobile wallets help retailers boost customer loyalty

Although the Uber moment for banks arrived last year, there is still time for them to create new revenue streams, or face the consequences of not doing so.  Decreasing revenue and increasing costs are forcing banks, including big names such as Bank of America and BNY, to lay off employees and automate functions. This tactic of slashing costs can be helpful up to a point, but what about exploiting new markets and technologies to create business and healthier balance sheets?

The mobile payments space is full of competition, with upstarts like Square and titans like Google and Apple all vying for a slice of the market. However, it still presents growth opportunities for banks. Customers want an app that allows them easy access to products they like, which Apple, Google, and Square have all failed to deliver.

On the other hand, Starbucks has enjoyed the rewards that come with their successful mobile payment and reward application. By building a product that works for both their customers and for the company, they have seen enormous success, with 21% of all Starbucks transactions involving their loyalty program. Their loyalty program is easy to use, and encourages spending, meaning those on both sides of the exchange leave happy.

How can banks create an equally tangible and profitable product? Banks have access to huge, proprietary data about their customers’ spending habits, which some have begun using to offer customers more personalized experiences and recommendations. When combined with partnerships with outside retailers and firms, this data could be used to drive spending and create customer satisfaction on a larger scale than the loyalty program for a single company.

Of course, banks are not technology companies by nature, and it requires a huge amount of work to bring a viable and useful product to market. Netclearance Systems Inc can help, with its existing technologies and experience in the fast-growing space of mobile payments. Its services, such as mBeaconPay, can help ensure client satisfaction with mobile banking apps by refining existing recommendation technologies. In doing so, Netclearance can contribute to client retention and creation.

Banking's 'Uber Moment': Keeping Up in the Era of Fintech

Financial technology is proving to be a significant disrupter in the financial sector. Similar to how Uber completely transformed the taxi industry, financial startups will have a real impact on the banking industry in the next few years.

In fact, such effects have already begun to take place. The Financial Times estimates that around 100,000 banking jobs were cut in 2015, including those from HSBC, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse.

Banks must now compete on technology in order to stay relevant. According to a 2015 survey by software firm Temenos, 27% of senior bankers reported tech companies as the greatest threat to their business.

As mobile phone Internet use is becoming increasingly popular, mobile wallets are quickly becoming more utilized by consumers. Banks looking for new revenue streams should strongly consider building their own mobile wallets in order to compete with technology like Apple Pay and Google Wallets.

Companies looking to build their own mobile wallets can do so using mBeaconPay, a new mobile payment device that enables banks to both acquire new merchants and offer payment-processing services without going through credit card networks or the walled  gardens of Apple or Google.

Using proprietary Smart Beacon Technology, mBeaconPay conveniently supports all wireless proximity technologies like BLE, NFC, QR, and Wi-Fi in a single unit and seamlessly integrates with all point of sale systems.

The mBeaconPay was recently nominated for Best Cash Innovation Award by PYMNTS.com.

Financial startups are quickly changing the banking landscape, and the industry must adapt in order to keep up with these new technological advances. For more information on how companies can build their own mobile wallets using mBeaconPay, contact us.

Wearable Technologies in the Enterprise Give Businesses a Competitive Edge

Wearable technologies are the next evolutionary step in computing. Businesses are already finding a multitude of ways to profit from them, and the wave is just beginning.

Wearable Sensors Enable Physioletics to Improve Workplace Efficiency

Frederick Taylor would have loved to have been able to monitor the efficiency of workers with wearable sensors. Tesco uses armbands to track how workers are transporting goods in their warehouse. Employees like it because it saves them from having to carry and fill out clipboards of paperwork.

Some Wearables Even Track Worker Health and Fatigue

The technologies are not only about efficiency. In the construction industry, now sensors can notice when a backhoe driver's head falls forward or their back slumps. That indicates they're tired or even that they experienced a "microsleep," where they actually did fall asleep for a fractional second. When operating heavy equipment, that's plenty long enough for a mistake that could cost somebody an injury or their life. Therefore, if the continues to work, they're at greater risk of an injury. Some wearables can track such longterm health indicators as rates of breath and heart beats per minutes.

Displaying Hands-Free Data

20 years ago, Boeing began using technology that allowed pilots to see critical information without having to glance down at dials. Now, many technicians from wire assemblers to plumbers can access instructions without having to use their hands to thumb through instruction manuals. Some smartglasses allow the workers to talk one-on-one with a remote expert.

An EEG headband developed by Melon may help knowledge and creative workers by monitoring their brain waves to determine when they are about to have a new idea and to track at what times of day or under what circumstances they are most productive.

Increasing Security

One obvious use of wearable technology is to monitor employee locations. Along with that, it could track visitors to make certain they remain within authorized areas. Employees with authorization could enter restricted areas with less hassle over identification. It could also keep them away from areas under construction or repair.

Protecting Police, Firefighters and Soldiers

Police are wearing technologies to track their activities to better respond to allegations of abuse. One city in California had complaints against police drop by 88 percent. And police in trouble no longer have to call on their radios or rely on a citizen to call 911 if they're unable to. The military can also track activity as well, to respond more quickly when someone attacks soldiers. Sensors can let firefighters know when they're approaching dangerous levels of heat and gas.

Many Employees Like the New Technologies

According to Goldsmiths, University of London, these new technologies improve employee satisfaction by 3.5%. That's from a survey taken of 4,000 adults in the United States and the United Kingdom. One out of every three reported that wearable technologies had enhanced their careers.

Netclearance has launched a suite of wearables for the enterprise including the mBeaconSense and the employee mBeaconCard badges that can help monitor employees and visitors. It also works as a way for employees as a way to signal for help during emergencies. Wearable technologies in business enterprises are here, and are going to become mainstream in the years ahead.

Branded Mobile Wallets Help Banks Retain Their Customers’ Loyalty

According to Pew Research Center, two-thirds of Americans now own smart phones. For 7% of Americans, that is the only way they access the Internet outside of work. And it's more true of younger adults, 15% of them, than for the older population, who use personal computers or laptops.

Therefore, it's only logical that major brands want smart phone users to use their mobile wallets. Starbucks is the clear winner and model for success that other companies wish to emulate. This article in Mobile Payments Today wonders whether discount stores such as Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl's can achieve the same success.

Starbucks launched its mobile wallet in late 2012, and now processes 21% of their orders through it. 16 million customers use it.

According to Financial Brand technology companies such as Google and Samsung want a piece of this huge market as well.

And banks and credit unions are not ready to yield the financial services sector either, especially since they are rolling out ATMs that use mobile phones instead of plastic cards to make transactions.

However, for consumer companies, using a tech company's mobile payment solution is not optimal. Wal-Mart wants its customers loyal to Wal-Mart Pay, not Apple Pay or Android Pay. Nor do they want customers to think of Bank of America or their local credit union.

Just settling up the branded mobile wallet app on their phone engages the customer with the brand name. Decades of advertising and marketing experience has proven the more consumers think or interact with a brand, the more loyal they become to it. It's the principle of consistency. After installing the Wal-Mart mobile wallet on their phone they're more likely to go there than to Target on their next shopping trip.

15% of American consumers used a mobile wallet in the last half of 2015. 22% expect to do so in the first half of 2016. Obviously, this market cannot be ignored.

The consumer brands have one advantage the banks and tech companies can't match. Like Starbucks, they can attach a loyalty rewards program to reward them for shopping at that store and for using the mobile wallet. Therefore, they can feel virtuous for saving money in the future.

It's also likely that in the future consumer brands will partner with technology companies and banks, as Starbucks has done with Chase Pay, because some consumers may prefer to use one wallet to handle all their payments.

Netclearance Systems Inc offers turnkey wireless sensor and mBeaconPay technologies that enable both merchants and banks to bring out their own mobile wallets for their customers. Because mobile wallets do help retain customer loyalty, consumer businesses and banks need to offer their own branded options before their customers begin using Google's Android Pay or Apple Pay.

Three Ways LoT - Location of Things Can Benefit Hospitality Providers

Resorts and hotels have many moving parts – guests checking in and out, bags being moved, and food getting served. Every hour of every day, guests are in their rooms, or lounging in the resort spa, restaurant, bar, or poolside. There are many ways that premiere resorts can benefit by implementing LoT - Location of Things technology into their services.

  • LoT - Location of Things Systems Help Guests: The grounds of your resort are foreign to many of your guests. Unless they have been there before, many guests may feel overwhelmed by the size and scope of a high-end resort. LoT systems can help guests navigate resort grounds without ever feeling lost. LoT systems can help guests plan their day better by telling them how far the spa is from their room, as well as things like how many guests are currently at the spa and if there is a wait time. 
  • LoT - Location of Things Systems Help Staff Stay Productive: LoT systems are helpful in assisting staff with locating rooms and areas of the resort that require their attention without delay. With Location of Things technology staff can even locate specific guests anywhere on the grounds with ease. LoT systems support orderly rest and meal breaks, as well as effortless clocking in and out.
  • LoT - Location of Things Systems Make Guest Services Seamless: Guests can order services to meet them in their room, poolside, in the lounge or spa or wherever they are on the resort grounds. If they need help figuring out if they have time to visit the pool before dinner, they can map how long it will take them to get from their room to the pool and from the pool to the dining hall. If guests need help, they can quickly call for the nearest staff member with the push of a button or look on a map to see where the closest staff members are near them.

Other hotels have already implemented Location of Things systems to assist with personnel and guest monitoring. Netclearance is the premiere provider of solutions and information for implementing LoT - Location of Things systems into your resort's offerings.

LoT - Location of Things - Where is that box?

 The Location of Things or LoT can tell you where things are in real time using active RFID tags or labels.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a sensor technology based on smart tags, which are attached to different items. The microchip in the tag stores a small amount of data and comes with a small radio frequency transceiver that transmit the data at predetermined intervals. 

RFID labels contain more information than a barcode label. An RFID label will tell you not only that the item is a green tee shirt, but which green tee shirt.

For example, if you order a gross of tees in various colors and styles, with RFID labels you can follow those tees from manufacture to arrival in your store. Once the tee shirt has been manufactured and packaged, the package is labeled with an active RFID tag containing the information about its content - smart packaging. 

You have been able to follow the green tee shirt from the moment of manufacture to its arrival in your store via the RFID label. Now the RFID label goes to work for you.

On arrival, without even being taken out of the box, the package is automatically scanned into inventory, saving you employee hours. You know where in the stock room the tee has been stored, when the tee is moved to the sales floor, and you know where the tee is on the sales floor. More importantly, you know how long it takes that tee to sell. Using RFID labels, you know which colors and sizes are the best sellers. You know when and what to reorder. All this can be done remotely at a touch of a button.

With active RFID tags from Netclearance, a manufacturer can simply put an active tag in a box of shirts. Upon arrival the Netclearance active reader can quickly scan and receive the signals from the active tags saving precious time and costs by not having to scan each shirt individually and by installing an expensive array of passive RFID readers and antennas to capture individual tags.

LoT and ultra low power active RFID labels will help streamline your business and help increase sales. Netclearance can assist you with this amazing technology.

 

 

 

 

Using LoT - Location of Things to Improve Business Practices

A lot of buzz has lately been generated about LoT - Location of Things, or the function of geography within the Internet of Things (IoT). Corporations and organizations can improve their business practices by using LoT technology within their existing systems.

A few examples of how we can optimize your current business practices more efficiently with Location of Things:

  • An employee walks into the building and forgets to clock in - our systems allow you to track these employees as soon as they enter the building using a smart badge.
  • Your warehouse supervisor struggles to keep up with the maintenance needs of your large-scale facility - our resources create immediate, real-time tracking of maintenance requirements and allow you to track humidity, light, and temperature where you store your assets.
  • Shipment supervisor needs to share stats and shipment details with multiple staff members - cut out one extra step and one more string of unnecessary emails with automated tracking across multiple users.
  • Need to streamline payments - our mobile payments based on active RFID technology streamlines your customer experience.
  • You want your guests to know about the new amenities offered at your hotel- use our systems for on-site engagement of guests in the hospitality industry.

Netclearance Systems, Inc. is the leading provider of cloud-based tracking and analytics solutions. We offer state-of-the-art active wireless sensor technology and software to drive real-time customer and workplace insight for optimized decisions and increased margins, using IoT and LoT to enhance your organization.

Please contact Netclearance for information on LoT technology and how it can change your world. Visit us at RFID Journal Live in Orlando, Florida, May 3-5 Booth #728B

Smart Badge to Power Workforce IoT Applications

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Netclearance, a maker of multi-sensor beacons and software designed for a range of business applications, such as optimizing workflows and tracking assets, has introduced a new product called the mBeaconCard. Approximately the size of a credit card, the mBeaconCard contains a Near Field Communication (NFC) module, as well as a Bluetooth radio. It can be used not just as an identity card or badge, but also to enable workers to make purchases using its NFC module, as well as to track the locations of employees on job premises, by utilizing the card's Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio. Alternatively, the card could also be mounted to high-value mobile assets and be used to track their indoor locations.

The basic mBeaconCard configuration contains a microprocessor, a BLE radio and an NFCmodule. But customers can also order a version that comes with an embeddedaccelerometer, a vibration sensor and a magnetic sensor—either a compass or a reed switch—in order to support a wider range of applications, such as those requiring movement to trigger tracking.

The BLE radio is used to transmit sensor data or information written to the mBeaconCard's 2 kilobytes of memory, explains David Fernandez, Netclearance's founder and CEO. It transmits data packets to mBeaconGW, Netclearance's beacon gateway appliance, or to nearby smartphones running the Netclearance mobile application.

Netclearance's mCloud Content Management System software is used to collect and manage the data transmitted by the badge, and from there it can be sent to Netclearance's business application or analytics software. Conversely, the data can be forwarded to third-party applications or analytics platforms via an application programming interface. Using the mBeaconGW gateway and an external NFC reader, employers can set up an access-control system. If the badge is being used for room-level tracking, Fernandez says, location can be determined to within a few meters.

Pricing information has not yet been released, but Netclearance will demonstrate the mBeaconCard and its full product portfolio at the RFID Journal LIVE! 2016 conference and exhibition, taking place on May 3-5, in Orlando, Fla., in the Internet of Things Pavilion (booth #728B).

Original article from IoT Journal: http://www.iotjournal.com/articles/view?14379

LoT - Location of Things Technology Aids in Hospital Patient Care.

The face of medical treatment is changing and LoT - Location of Things is at the heart of it.

A quick explanation: The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to things connected to the internet, laptops, I-pads, cell phones, vehicles, people, even appliances. The location of things, or LoT tells you where those things are in real time.

In a hospital setting this will have many applications. Hospitals will know the location of specialized equipment, hospital beds and wheelchairs. Medications can also be tracked. An inventory of the supplies that keep a hospital running will always be available. More importantly, hospitals will know the location of doctors, nurses, other staff, patients, and visitors.

Active RFID tagging is an ID system that uses small radio frequency identification devices for identification and tracking purposes. They are capable of receiving, storing and transmitting digital information. 

A patient bracelet or badge with an active RFID tag, will not only give the location of a patient, but all the information on medications and treatments. At birth a baby might wear a bracelet with an RFID tag. All the information about the child will be on the tag. With LoT the location of the baby is always known.

A medic alert bracelet with an RFID tag, will let a doctor know the minute that a person wearing a medic alert enters the hospital. RFID tags will also alert the attendant or EMS when the patient is in, or near, a properly equipped ambulance, possibly leading the ambulance to the correct location after a 911 call.

IoT and LoT are changing not only medical treatment, but the world. Please contact Netclearance for information on LoT technology and how it can change your world. Visit us at RFID Journal Live in Orlando, Fl, May 3-5 Booth #728B

LoT - Location of Things - Pinning Down The Internet Of Things

Knowing the location of things (LOT) completes the picture for enterprises that exploit the world of the Internet of things (IOT) as part of their business processes. Combining IoT and LoT gives the fine-grained insights that only coalesce as the big picture on the larger scale. When you have a geospatial understanding of your connected devices, it adds the final piece of the puzzle of your operations.

Where Are Your Connected Devices?

The Internet of things connects remote digital devices that share sensor data and sometimes offer automation features. The IoT ties everything together via the Internet to gain valuable business intelligence from all of the data transmitted by the device.

Geo-location information systems are Big Data applications that deliver floods of valuable business intelligence. LoT is the technology that makes this possible businesses of all sizes. Adding a smart beacon tracker to each connected device puts it into an information matrix from which you can find patterns by applying visual analytics.

Necessary And Sufficient Data Integration

The IoT provides necessary solutions for enterprises with dispersed assets, but that is not enough to give you accurate real-time intelligence by itself. Users need to know about the state of devices, the sensor measurements that they provide and the locations from which they report. By tracking these three factors in real-time companies can apply the kind of Big Data analytics that delivers true insight and reveals hidden opportunities.

Fine-Grain Data And The Value Of Big-Picture Patterns

Companies competing in industry segments that use the IoT will get improved business intelligence from LoT applications. Many segments are now using Big Data to make smarter decisions and creating competitive advantages.

In diverse fields such as agriculture and supply chain management, the ability to use fine-grain geospatial information is revolutionizing the way that businesses draw conclusions from data and make decisions. Real-time tracking and location solutions for logistics, healthcare, workforce-management are paving the road for a smart IoT infrastructure.

Netclearance Solutions Complete The Picture

Netclearance puts this capability into the hands of the enterprise. The location tagging technology that put your assets on the map will give you levels of understanding and abilities to forecast future trends that have never been possible for you before. Visit us at RFID Journal Live in Orlando, Fl, May 3-5 Booth #728B to see the latest trends and solutions in LoT.

Effective wallet strategies give financial institutions an edge in a mobile centric world

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Financial Institutions' Mobile Wallet Strategies are becoming a top concern as banking is more frequently completed via mobile wallets. According to an article on PaymentsSource.com, 2.6 billion people in the world now own smartphones, and by 2020 that number is likely to jump to 6.1 billion, or 70 percent of the world's population. Further, it is now estimated that 69 percent of mobile users conduct their banking via their mobile device, or "mobile wallet."

Pymnts.com reports that, according to a study by Javelin, in 2014 most people who conducted banking via their mobile wallets did so using their financial institutions' mobile banking app. However, in 2015, this trend changed, and PayPal and Visa apps surpassed financial institution apps as the preferred mobile wallet providers. This new trend tends to leave financial institutions "out of the loop" when it comes to mobile wallet transactions. Further, rather than developing their own mobile wallet-friendly apps, they are relying on third parties such as Apple Pay and Android Pay.

So how can financial institutions step up their game? First, they will have to modify their perception of customer service to pertain to mobile interaction, placing less emphasis on factors like bank location and face-to-face interaction and more emphasis on factors like app development. Second, according to an article in Mobile Payments Today, financial institutions should develop "stepping-stones" toward the mobile scene, such as cardless ATMs. Finally, according to the same article, financial institutions should implement customer value and loyalty programs for customers who use their apps. 

Netclearance offers products, a plan, and the technology that is synonymous with the mobile wallet. As consumers choose to pay daily using their cell phones at various merchant locations, it is time for financial institutions to extend their arm of influence and corner this market. Facilitated by mBeaconPay technology, Netclearance eliminates the middle man so common in these transactions and offers a streamlined system between only the customer, the merchant, and the bank.