Introduction
RTLS (Real Time Location System), as the name implies, is all about location. You could buy this book because it was either present in a desired location or someone could locate it for you. Whether represented as a map, encoded as a ZIP code, labeled as a store aisle, or as any of the many other ways to represent location, people make fundamental decisions based on location. Location is a foundational information ingredient. If you need something, you need to know its location. If you want to show something, you need to put it in the right location. The ability to control or coordinate actions based on the location of things or people is fundamental. A business can set processes in place to ensure that specific assets are present in a specific location to increase sales. A professor can quickly account for a student’s location at a time of distress. A business can ensure that workers can find shared equipment to prevent time wasted in searching for it. A paramedic can reach the trapped miner by taking the shortest route. A nurse can find the defibrillator in the shortest time. Businesses, schools, government, people, and so on can use location information in many ways to improve security, safety, service, Return on Investment (ROI), and in general, efficiency.
Today, with the increase in technological sophistication, it’s now feasible to locate anything or anyone in real time anywhere. The system that accomplishes this is the Real Time Location System (RTLS), and ...
