Aruba Launches Integrated WLAN Asset Tracking Solution

June 05, 2017 - Aruba Networks announced the release of its location-based, fully integrated WLAN asset tracking solution to assist healthcare organizations in lowering operational costs caused by misplaced equipment.

The solution is integrated into the Aruba wireless infrastructure, allowing organizations to keep track of IoT and connected medical devices.

“Organizations worldwide lose millions of dollars every year on high-value items and inventory that are misplaced, lost or stolen,” Aruba said in a statement. “Furthermore, employees and customers suffer from lost productivity and poor experiences.”

“These challenges are particularly prevalent in industries like healthcare, where items such as IV pumps and heart defibrillators are easily misplaced, resulting in 25 percent of hospital staff’s time wasted looking for these assets1 and negatively impacting quality of care.”

Integrating the solution into the Wi-Fi infrastructure eliminates the need to deploy a separate network. Aruba’s asset tracking solution uses a map-based mobile app, or integrates with an organization’s existing tracking solution to locate assets.

The asset tracking solution includes:

• Advancements to ArubaOS and Aruba APs: New software lets Wi-Fi infrastructure double as an asset tracking network by permitting Aruba Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-enabled access points and sensors to act as asset tag “observers.” This creates a sensory network providing additional value to organizations with existing Aruba wireless infrastructure.
• New Aruba Tags: Small and unobtrusive BLE-enabled tags work for items for items that range in size from IV pumps in a healthcare setting to large warehouse pallets. The tags are designed to meet stringent environmental requirements and come with multiple attachment options depending.
• Asset Tag Configuration App: Aruba’s configuration app streamlines set-up and ongoing tag management simple. Assets can be assigned names, photos and optional IDs so that similar assets can be easily distinguished from one another and tracked more effectively. Changes can be performed quickly, near the assets, and all data is automatically saved in a central cloud database.
• New features for the Aruba Meridian AppMaker: New features allow organizations to create their own asset tracking app for iOS or Android with the Meridian AppMaker. The AppMaker provides a new SDK and APIs for third-party integration and custom use cases.

Asset tracking solutions are especially significant to healthcare because clinicians need to be able to locate lifesaving equipment quickly.

VentureNext Vice President Scott Rehling explained that healthcare organizations constantly request asset tracking that gives full visibility of critical assists while also integrating with their existing application platform.

VentureNext, which is an Aruba partner, helps healthcare companies improve operation and efficiency with location and mobile tools.

“By leveraging Aruba’s asset tracking solution we can provide the added functionality requested by utilizing customers’ Wi-Fi and beacon infrastructure, resulting in operational efficiencies,” Rehling said in a statement.

Many healthcare organizations already deploy an Aruba wireless network infrastructure, including Scarborough and Rouge Hospital.

Earlier this year, the hospital chose to deploy a full 802.11ac Wave 2 Aruba network to accommodate for anticipated Internet of Things (IoT) devices and indoor location services.

The hospital’s goals included improving nursing staff productivity with mobile workstations, increasing patient safety with fast and accurate information input, providing better patient experiences by delivering high-performance wireless access, and preparing for new use cases and future initiatives.

The upgraded gigabit wireless network lets the hospital add applications to improve workflow and increase patient care.

Scarborough and Rouge, along with many other healthcare organizations, can now leverage its existing Aruba network infrastructure with added asset tracking.

The asset tracking solution can help healthcare organizations keep track of devices as they continue to add new IoT and mobile technology to their IT infrastructures.