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Agility has deep expertise in the use of Real-Time Location System (RTLS) technology to drive business process improvements and offers industry-leading depth and breadth of experience in the healthcare industry having implemented the largest RTLS-enabled solutions in hospitals.
RTLS Defined
A Real-time Location System is broadly defined as a system for determining the location of objects in real-time without any human intervention. In an indoor setting, like an office building or hospital, RTLS technology utilizes a network of devices to collect transmissions from tagged objects. An RTLS system is typically comprised of battery-powered transponders or "tags" that are affixed to tracked objects, a network of devices that receive the transmissions from tags, communication backbone from these devices to a server, which interprets the tag transmissions to determine the location of the tag. There are several RTLS technologies available in the marketplace today including:
- Proprietary RFID systems utilizing a single frequency (multiple frequencies available)
- Proprietary RFID systems utilizing multiple frequencies (i.e. one frequency for long range communication and another for short range)
- Proprietary RFID systems that utilize infrared technology (primarily for room discrimination)
- Ultra-wide Band (UWB) positioning systems
- Ultrasound positioning systems
- Wi-Fi (802.11) positioning systems
When evaluating RTLS technologies, the most important consideration is to first understand the business process changes desired from using the technology, which will in turn determine system requirements. The most appropriate data capture platform should be the technology that maps most closely to system requirements accounting for the comparative costs of technology options. There are trade-offs with every RFID technology, so these trade-offs must be balanced in determining the most appropriate platform. See Evaluating RTLS White Paper.
Agility's RTLS Capability
Agility has experience with all of the RTLS technologies mentioned above and deploys the optimal technology based on each clients needs and infrastructure capabilities. While a RTLS can be an enormously useful enabler for a number of business process applications, as a standalone solution, it is merely a utility.
Agility's unique value proposition is our use of RTLS technology to drive business process improvement through the AgileTrac BPM Suite and specifically in healthcare, the AgileTrac Enterprise solution. There are many RTLS companies that claim to provide business process benefits, but only provide a simple display of the locations of tracked items on a map. Map displays alone, without the workflow and resource management functionality offered by AgileTrac, will not provide the tools necessary to drive business process improvement.
Similarly, many healthcare application software companies claim that they can provide RTLS capability through 3rd party partnerships with RTLS companies. These multi-vendor solutions offer limited functionality relative to AgileTrac. AgileTrac is uniquely designed and built with integrated RTLS capability offering industry-leading functionality and system performance.
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