Imagine being able to connect with your wireless network users personally, using technology to take advantage of their location and boost your interactions with them. Welcome to the world of location technology, where it’s possible to leverage your user’s location to improve their interaction experience with your business, invaluable in sectors such as the retail industry.
How Does It Work?
Location technology is facilitated by beacons (or sensors) placed around a venue, which send out Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags. Mobile devices can pick up this BLE signal and determine its proximity, and when these devices have been built off BLE technology as well, allow for greater interaction with the end user.
What is BLE Beacon Technology?
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a recent enhancement to the Bluetooth standard that opens up new uses for the wireless protocol to be applied in cases where it was previously unfeasible, primarily due reduction in power consumption thanks to the energy saving techniques implemented in BLE.
The development of BLE has also lead to the development of beacon technology. Beacons are simple BLE messages, transmitted or heard by devices compatible with BLE. These messages can trigger functionality in applications, such as displaying information to the end user that they may find relevant.
The Downside…
Although the low energy features of BLE beacons allow the use of BLE functionality with little impact on battery life, the downside has always been the administrative burden associated with deploying BLE beacons at a scale that fully utilises their potential, and the difficulties in configuring the site.
…Things Are Looking Up!
The good news is that BLE technology is a lot more accessible if you’re using Cisco Meraki’s new range of access points, the MR32 and MR72. Both these access points have integrated BLE technology, which is configured via the cloud, and can be managed via the Meraki dashboard. The access points can also broadcast BLE beacons eliminating the problem of managing many battery-powered beacons.
Why Bother with BLE?
It’s excellent at sharing small packets of data over a low energy link, making it really useful for asset tracking, indoor navigation, health monitoring and proximity detection. It’s experienced a surge in uptake across most smartphone and tablets in use today, as well as wearables predicted to make a huge impact on technology going forward.
Imagine being able to bring up an office, hospital or mall layout for a first time guest automatically, directing them to their destination with ease. This is just one of the ways BLE can improve the wireless network experience offered by an organisation, and how it can boost your end user’s experience.
