Access Control Software | RFID

5 New Functions of RFID Access Control Software You Could Implement Right Now

Not only can Access Control Software using RFID or other AIDC technology significantly increase facility security, provide access efficiency and produce real-time visibility, it also safety, manages time and attendance, handles attendees at events and conferences, collects marketing data and provides other benefits that increase customer satisfaction. Let’s review the new functions of the access control system in detail.

1.      Emergency Management

While the personnel and visitors are issued RFID cards to enter and exit facility, by deploying more read points in key areas and adding a few functions to your access control software, you can turn your basic access control system into emergency management system.

2.      Time and Attendance

Since the access control software logs times in and out, you can add a simple functionality by calculating number of hours spent on-site.

3.      Event Management

RFID tags in tickets, badges or cards can be used to gain entry into an event but also to gain entry into specific areas like for instance VIP visitor only area. The same card can be also used for cashless/credit-less payment at concessions.

4.      Marketing

When using RFID technology for access control Software, you can easily extend the system to help you gather data that supports direct marketing activities and lead generation product sales.

5.   Safety

Another type of access control system can be deployed in mental health institutions, drug rehabilitation centers or facilities for the elderly, where it is important to make sure that patients don’t wander off, on purpose or accidentally. The same tag can be used to verify the identity of a patient for correct drug or meal dispensing, allowed activities due to health, all for the safety of patients.

As you can see there are plenty of ways to utilize your access control system more than you originally thought. If you are intrigued and would like to see how your access control software can be supplemented for additional functions, contact us! You can view the whole article here.

RFID Software

RFID Software is a software that helps integrate the RFID technology into the client’s business to increase operational efficiency, decrease cost, reduce errors or increase safety. The RFID Software fulfills several functions. It manages the flow of data between RFID readers and enterprise applications including data quality, data filtering, data aggregation; and provides tools for device management as well as business logic configuration. RFID software also provides a user interface with actionable information in form of dashboards, reports, lists and alerts.

We have developed RFID software for applications in supply chain management, asset management, manufacturing, event management, access control, inventory tracking, safety and emergency management and many others. Even though the basic logic behind reading RFID tag data, filtering it, aggregating it and showing it in an organized and actionable manner is essentially the same for all the applications, the difference is in client requirements for the particular system function and what they want to see within the application interface. Because the solutions are not one size fits all, great care has to be taken in listening to the customer and designing the application that fulfills all their requirements and solves their business challenges.

For example, one of our client’s challenges was the lack of visibility of surgical kits during their processing as they go through receiving, sterilization, counting, refilling, labeling, storage and shipping back to the customer. Their existing barcode system was cumbersome and inefficient and they asked us to design an RFID software application that would help them integrate RFID technology and provide real-time visibility of all the kits and their status at every stage in the process. What was unique about this RFID software application were the several levels of auditing (control and verification) and management of in demand as well as expired items. The application also provided various dashboards, alerts and notifications, reports and order processing capabilities, while expediting the kit processing, eliminating errors and increasing their customer satisfaction.

To find out more about RFID software and other applications we developed for your clients, visit us at www.rufutech.com. 

RFID Middleware and EPCglobal Standards

AIDC device integration such as that of RFID or NFC readers and printers into the new RFID system and existing IT Enterprise Systems can be challenging, especially due to large amounts of data and considerations like reader management, air interface control, network utilization and information exchange.

Fortunately, middleware for RFID and NFC technology has been governed by a myriad of standards that help unify the technology interfaces for easier handling and integration into the automatic identification systems.

For instance, the EPCglobal community that includes many technology vendors and end users that design and deploy the RFID technology and develop RFID Middleware, has developed specifications that standardize the interfaces between RFID tags, RFID readers and enterprise systems.  There are four main standards: Low Level Reader Protocol (LLRP), Discovery Configuration and Initialization (DCI), Reader Management (RM) and Application Level Event (ALE) Standard.

The LLRP Standard specifies an interface between RFID Readers and Clients. This protocol is called a low-level protocol because it controls the RFID air protocol operation timing as well as the access to air protocol command parameters.

The DCI Standard specifies an interface between RFID Readers and Access Controllers and the network on which they operate. The standard is aimed to specify the the operations of a Reader and Client that allow them to utilize the network to which they are connected to communicate with other devices, exchange configuration information, and initialize the operation of each Reader.

The current RM Standard describes the wire protocol used by management software to monitor the operating status and health of EPCglobal compliant RFID Readers. The Reader Management Protocol specifies the interaction between a device capable of interfacing with tags, and management software.

The ALE Standard specifies a means for clients to specify, in a high-level, declarative way, what electronic product code (EPC) data they are interested in, without dictating an implementation. It provides a standardized format for reporting accumulated, filtered EPC data that is largely independent of where the EPC data originated or how it was processed.

For more information about these standards, visit www.gs1.org or check back on our website www.rufutech.com as we will be going into more details in future blog posts!

Mobile Apps Importance is Constantly Increasing

More and more we are turning from personal desktop computers and laptops to portable smartphones and mobile tablets (e.g. iPads) to search for information or entertainment and to study and work. Every part of these activities is getting more and more integrated with the Internet and cloud, which is enabled by new capabilities in distributed computing.

For example, smartphone use is forecasted to grow three times to over 6.1 billion smartphones worldwide by 2020 from approximately above 2.5 billion in 2015. This means, almost every person on a planet will have a smartphone. Today about 60% of the searches for information are carried out from smartphones and this is forecasted to grow to almost 90% in the next two years. Time spent on mobile devices have already surpassed the desktops or laptops.

Source: eMarketer 9/14 and 5/15

The mobile expansion has provided a large opportunity for companies of any size to gain access to their existing or potential clients and having an always open link of communication that allows to provide real-time notifications that could include running marketing campaigns, customer loyalty initiatives, inventory clearance sales, reminders, driving directions, one-touch calling and other functions.

To take advantage of these opportunities, companies have to undertake an app development and make their app available in mobile marketplaces for iOS (App Store), Android (Play Store) and Windows (Windows Store).

Bringing a well-designed, professional looking App to marketplace and making it available for customers to download is somewhat tedious and time consuming process and it takes a dedicated team of highly trained professionals to successfully complete such projects right from conception to Go Live.

This can be achieved by working with a team of highly experienced professionals who are seasoned business analysts, experienced Software Solution Architects, mature and expert app developers with leading edge expertise in software design and app development and passionate professional service engineers to provide ongoing support for maintenance and upgrade of live production apps.

Obvious choice for many businesses is to take advantage of services provided by dedicated software development companies and give their 100% focus on their core competencies to grow their business.

RUFUtech is a leader in application software development with solutions targeting Cloud infrastructure and mobile space via iOS, Android, Windows Phone Apps.

We would love to help you with your software App development needs!

Auto id

Applications integrating Auto-ID (Automatic Identification Technology), such as RFID, NFC and barcode are often used for supply chain management, inventory control, asset management, personnel management and safety and many other applications. Anywhere high volume of items gets processed, changes locations, gets received, shipped and stored. Auto ID technology has been in use for years and its importance rises as the Internet of Things expands. The applications within the IoT use RFID and NFC, sensors, the Cloud and the Internet to automate operations and increase efficiency.

However, the Auto-ID technologies provide raw data that must be properly translated for use by the ERP systems and standard device drivers and middleware often fail to do this seamlessly. Therefore, it is always a good idea to use a customized software application built by experienced team of developers that specializes in RFID and Auto-ID technology integration rather than a generic software development firm.

Auto-ID technology started with use of barcodes that have become very quickly a very popular method of tracking. Barcode labels are inexpensive, they do not contain any technology, only a label with adhesive and a printed barcode that can be easily generated by a simple application. Depending on the specific barcode type, 1D barcodes can have from 20-25 characters while 2D codes can go up to 2,000 characters. The main practical concern is that as you increase the amount of information in the barcode the bigger it will become. This is especially the case with 1D barcodes and therefore it is usually encoded only with 8 – 15 characters carrying an SKU (Stock Keeping Unit). In addition, you need a line of sight and specific orientation to read a barcode, which is impractical in high volume operations. This has become the claim to fame of RFID technology, that it can read tags in distances of few feet to hundreds of feet, without the line of sight and in high volumes. However, the tags are more expensive in comparison as they include chip and antenna and therefore are usually justified for higher value items, cases, pallets and returnable assets.

RUFUtech develops software applications that use Auto-ID technologies for deployment in industries such as healthcare, pharma, manufacturing, retail, government, event management, agriculture, construction, wearables and others. Let us know if we can help you with your application!

inventory management software

Traditional Inventory Management Systems utilize barcode technology that produces limited amounts of data (barcode has only so many characters) and the data capture is a labor intensive proposition. Such systems are often local and are not set up to perform real-time item identification and tracking, while handling all data, item and tag attributes provided by the RFID and sensor technology.

The new generation of InventoryManagement Software performs full inventory control utilizing a combination of technologies including RFID tags, RFID readers, barcodes, sensors, Wi-Fi networks and the Internet. In addition, the system software provides the capability to categorize and track individual items throughout its supply chain over the Cloud using desktop applications, Internet browsers and/or mobile apps.

Inventory management software should provide the following functions:

•   Product Receiving, Inventory Update and Verification upon Receiving.

•   Tracking of product movement in transit between vendor, distribution center and store, or between warehouse locations.

•   Put away within multiple warehouses, multiple locations, all the way to row, bin and isle.

•   Order Management that includes order receiving, order processing, order balancing, shipment review & authorization, and order confirmation.

•   Picking including prioritized pick lists, order fulfillment, and item location.

•   Shipment staging and truck loading

•   Shipment tracking and carrier tracking

•   Physical inventory item counting and location

•   Multiple dashboards and comprehensive reporting

•   Alerts on errors, incomplete orders or picklists

•   Alerts and reports sent to e-mail or text automatically or manually

•   Inventory, list and report exports to CSV, XLS or PDF.

•   RFID tag commissioning (tag assignment to particular item) and label printing (RFID label with printed barcode and item, order or case information)

•   RFID device management including reader or printer configuration

We have developed several inventorymanagement software applications for clients in healthcare, manufacturing, military, agriculture and other industries that provide real-time visibility of their inventory and help manage inventory handling, location and movement to increase efficiency, revenues and customer satisfaction. Let us know how we can help you manage your inventory!

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Asset Management Software

Managing Assets in your business using Auto-ID technology

How do you manage your assets in your business? Computers or documents, crates and pallets, machines and vehicles, all these have to be inventoried, located, maintained, assigned, scheduled and eventually written off and discarded. Many businesses are still using pen and paper when it comes to managing their assets. This method works when you have 20 of them, but how about 100, 500, 10,000 or more?

Asset Management Software using Automatic Identification Technology such as RFID provides end-to-end asset tracking and management for all valuable assets in your enterprise. From the time an asset is purchased until it is discarded, the software records and manages the asset’s attributes and its movement throughout the lifecycle. From the asset unique identification, personnel assignment, to location, movement and maintenance. Using Auto-ID technology, the system provides a complete audit trail of all assets throughout their complete lifecycle.

Asset Management Software should provide the following functions:

•       Physical asset location

•       Individual asset description, location, date of purchase, usage, maintenance and repair records.

•       Asset use scheduling (to increase utilization and efficiency)

•       For returnable assets, shipped location, date of expected return and alerts on non-returns

•       Returnable asset audit and refilling (for refillable items)

•       Multiple dashboards and comprehensive reporting

•       Alerts on errors, unauthorized movement or assignment

•       Alerts and reports sent to e-mail or text automatically or manually

•       Data, reports and dashboards exports to CSV, XLS or PDF.

•       RFID tag commissioning (tag assignment to particular item) and label printing (RFID label with printed barcode and item, order or case information)

•       RFID device management including reader or printer configuration

RUFUtech has developed several asset management software applications for various industries that include returnable asset tracking such as crates, bins and pallets at manufacturers, healthcare tools at healthcare vendors, machinery and vehicles at manufacturing or construction sites; parts, their utilization and certification at oil & gas companies, uniforms and laundry at hospitality and government establishments, and many other assets in warehouses, offices, hospitals; indoors and out. Let us know how we can help you manage your assets!

Trends: Is Java On Decline? What is NoSQL? | Software Development

There have been some discussions about current programming language trends and one of them mentioned decline of Java as a preferred language. The argument was, that even though seemingly jobs for Java developers are still in high demand, most of them are doing maintenance, not as much new software development and other languages are taking over. Apparently, we can expect more of Spark, Storm and Scala...BUT, Spark and Storm are written in Java and Scala is also a JVM language (although more complex and probably not as favored as it’s “old” cousin Java). And let’s not forget all the Android applications that have flooded the market and will continue to in future. So am I missing the point? According to TIOBE Index, Java is the number one among the most popular programming languages, followed by C (that was number one a year ago), C++, C# and Python. Even though TIOBE mentions that Java is slowing the growth since last month, it is too short of a timeline to see a reverse trend.
And speaking of trends, NoSQL is also becoming very popular in databases. The reasons are simpler design, simpler “horizontal” scaling to clusters of machines and a better control over availability. NoSQL databases use different data structures (sometimes thought more flexible) than regular relational databases, which makes them work faster. That is why NoSQL databases are more often used in big data and real-time web applications.

RUFUtech’s software development team is heavy on developers on Java and its variations and is constantly updating their skills on popular new programming languages. We have also implemented NoSQL databases into several customer projects. Let us know how we can help you develop your next application!