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Security
| RFID moves into the future |
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| Written by Gary Watkins, Service Works Global, 2007 | |
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Gary Watkins, MD of Service Works Global, guides us through the possibilities presented by advancements in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. What are the new advancements in RFID?What are the expected benefits for facilities managers? Invented as early as the 1960s and used extensively to protect stock in our high street stores for the last two decades, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is now widely commercially available and this sophisticated microchip is tinier and much more cost-effective than ever before. It was when tags could be programmed with individual numbers and each tag positively identified that the possibilities really started opening up. SecurityIt meant for instance that we could move on from magnetic stripe access control swipe cards to using hands-free tags where readers identify us from up to a metre away. It makes authorised access to the building and within the building quick and convenient. Visitors can be issued with RFID tags too, limiting them to specific areas and a specific time. And there's a health and safety implication here as well: when the building is evacuated the facilities manager has immediate online access to data showing who is still in the building, and where. Vehicle security is another add-on: if we install readers at the car park, we can ensure that only authorised people enter, and vehicles can only exit by presenting the owner's access tag. Hospitals also benefit from RFID; many maternity units now put tags on newborns, linking these to the mother's access tag, so an alarm is raised and doors locked, should an abductor try to take a baby. And the same concept protects laptops, so the system administrator can see when a tagged laptop is being taken out of the workplace, and whether the person carrying it is authorised or not. Security continues to top the RFID agenda, with asset tracking a prime example. Until recently most assets would have been labelled with a barcode, but these have two drawbacks. A barcode reader only reads a number; today's generation of RFID tags can contain up to several kilobytes of data, and also have data written to them in situ. In addition, barcodes can only be read one at a time whereas an RFID reader can detect and read multiple tags in an area. Asset trackingSo you can have a simple application where valuable books in a specialist library are tagged. There is no restriction on people's access, but the organisation can identify who has each item and when they were returned. Or, say an art gallery wants to trace paintings that are in storage but have been moved a number of times. Traditionally this would either mean trawling through records that may not have been kept up-to-date, or physically searching for the painting. If all the art works are tagged with readers continuously emitting signals within a wireless network, the system will always know where each item is on site. And of course a potential advantage of asset tagging could be a reduction in insurance premiums. Plant and machineryThe benefits of RFID tagging extend to machinery and plant as well. Health and safety information can be stored on a tag so potential risks are highlighted, such as the need for certification when staff want to operate forklift trucks, or height restrictions when they use cherry pickers. Or take the plant room. The Holy Grail for identifying whether or not an engineer had been on site and maintained a piece of equipment was always to check whether the barcode behind the unit's faceplate had been read. Here, data such as historic maintenance and performance information or meter readings would have been held on a written log, or more recently received on the engineer's PDA as they toured the building. Paper documents get lost or damaged, and PDAs sometimes can't receive signals in plant rooms, basements and other equipment-heavy areas. If the unit bears an RFID tag, historic maintenance and performance information can easily be stored on its read/write chip, read by the engineer, and updated at each visit. Unrealised benefitsSo convenient and full of potential is this technology that we can expect to see significant expansion in the near future. But as with many new developments it takes time for people to become fully aware of the benefits. For instance using PDAs and portable RFID readers to read tags has until recently been a problem because there have been so many different models. Now, thanks to standardisation and miniaturisation, you can use a standard off-the-shelf PDA with a reader plugged in. There is also often an assumption that RFID tagging is a lot more expensive than barcoding, but as time goes by the cost is falling so facilities managers shouldn't assume they won't be able to afford a system. Another misconception is the range that readers can achieve. The proximity tags for door access on many sites only give a reading range of 30cm, but depending on the system today's tags can be read at 100m or more. Convenience is often an overlooked virtue. If you have a room full of assets all barcoded you'll have to go round and scan each item individually, because the barcode reader needs line of sight and can only read one at a time. Modern RFID systems however can multiple read, so you can stand in the middle of the room with a reader and get a list of all the tagged items, whether or not you can see them. The futureSo what can we expect in the future? It's clear that in time RFID technology will link into building management systems and help to make our buildings more intelligent, as well as personalising our journeys through buildings. Just as Amazon recognises us when we log on and recommends books that we may like, so buildings are going to be able to tailor services to people visiting particular areas. For instance RFID tags can potentially be linked into signage and meeting room management. If your visitors are issued with RFID tags, as they walk through the building to find a meeting, the signage will detect them and give them directions. Once the meeting host has arrived, the BMS system would be able to detect the heating and ventilation levels and adjust them automatically. The future for RFID is wide open. Some retail stores are now introducing tagging to the removable labels on some clothing to identify different styles and sizes for better stock accuracy, and we're going to see many more applications in retail and logistics. But the facilities manager is going to benefit too. Potentially, this technology could enable the facilities manager to detect needs and preferences in any area of building management, so watch this space. Quick technology facts
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