What Are Beacons and How to Use Them?
Beacons are wireless and cutting-edge devices that have been gaining increasing popularity. What are they and how can you use them in your everyday work? Keep reading to discover the secrets of Bluetooth Low Energy beacon technology!
What are beacons?
Beacons can be compared to small radio transmitters that use Bluetooth Low Energy. They repeatedly send radio signals that are received by nearby devices. These signals include letters and numbers. They can be analyzed by any device (e.g., a smartphone) with Bluetooth and this device displays a relevant message to the recipient or user.
How do they work?
Beacons transmit ID numbers that send information to the device.. It can inform about the location, special offers, coupons, it can guide them to e.g. the fastest route to a changing gate at the airport gate, and many, many more. In fact, possibilities are endless. Everything depends on your business needs and creativity.
To help you understand how beacons work, we’ll use an example.
Imagine you are a patient that has an appointment in a new clinic. You show up at the entrance at the last possible moment and don’t know which way you need to go to get to the campus where your appointment will take place. More and more hospitals are already introducing wayfinding solutions especially to improve patient experience and HCHAPS scores. As a patient, you download the app, and it works just like Google Maps but indoors. The beacons are installed in a certain way throughout the entire clinic facility, as you are within the proximity of the beacon the app guides you on which way you should take to get to your appointment.
As you can see, in this particular situation beacons helped you to get to your destination and they.
How to use beacons?
Beacons are used for a number of reasons. They make it easier to:
- Understand workplace occupancy and make informed decisions based on actual data,
- Boost customer experience,
- Navigate visitors, customers, and employees around buildings,
- Keep an eye on visitors’ flow.
Taking advantage of beacons is a great way to improve customer experience, gain valuable information about visitors flow and make informed decisions concerning workplace or room occupancy.
