It seems as if every moment of our personal and professional lives is on the go. With technology like smartphones, VPNs, cloud storage, and messaging apps making it possible to get a great deal of work done outside the office, mobile productivity has become the rule and not the exception in the workplace.  Most of the time, mobility is a convenience--it's not required to get the job done, but it makes everything easier.

However, in certain situations mobility becomes a crucial part of the job. Take, for example, mustering and evacuations. Mustering is a critical part of any disaster plan and involves accounting for personnel during an emergency. With the rise of RFID-based access control, many companies manage this process through the facility's access control system. In order for this process to be efficient and accurate, the data must be accessible from a mobile device. Sitting at a centralized workstation inside a building that is on fire will not work. During an evacuation, attendance is taken outside at muster points, far away from the building’s doorway and wired readers.

Serialio takes RFID technology for access control and extends mobile functionality to it. Now personal devices such as iPads™, iPhones™ and Android™ applications can read RFID tags directly into any app. With mustering activities, Serialio’s Cloud-In-Hand® mustering platform integrates with existing access control systems, providing additional functions and use cases and increasing the ROI on the existing access control investment. Cloud-In-Hand software is a native application, downloadable from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The user then connects, via Bluetooth®, to the Serialio idChamp RS3 RFID reader, powered with rf IDEAS technology. Cloud-In-Hand service communicates with the access management server and the idChamp RS3 validates the employee's badge, taking mustering activities away from the point of disaster and into a safe meeting zone.  

 

Real World Mustering Example

A great example of this is the mustering solution used by Kiewit Corporation. As a large construction company, Kiewit has a robust mustering strategy for its central headquarters. Kiewit deployed Serialio’s Cloud-In-Hand mustering solution, in conjunction with rf IDEAS' technology, for an on-the-go mustering application that they rely on to help evacuation drills run more efficiently. In the event of an emergency, their muster captain is able to export a database from the access control system containing all employees currently on site. Cloud-in-Hand.com automatically pulls this database and then syncs with the mobile devices held by the muster captains. Using the Serialio idChamp RS3 reader and their mobile phone, captains scan employee badges at the muster point and send data back to Cloud-in-Hand.com. Now company management and emergency personnel can see a near real-time list of who safely made it out and who is yet to be accounted for.

 

Benefits of Serialio

Cloud-In-Hand software solutions seamlessly integrates with Serialio’s hardware allowing for easy deployment. And because it uses rf IDEAS' pcProx technology, it works with virtually any access control card type. Serialio’s hardware offerings are small, compact and feature Bluetooth integration making them compatible with any modern smartphone.  Furthermore, Serialio’s hardware does not require an additional power source, and can read cards for up to 12 hours on a single charge. While mustering drills happen infrequently, it is important to have equipment that is easy to use and reliable. Cloud-In-Hand Solutions and the idChamp RS3 can provide a solution that adds a greater peace of mind to your company's mustering plan.

 

Benefits of rf IDEAS

During development of the Cloud-In-Hand solutions framework, Serialio required a reliable reader that they could trust. rf IDEAS provides a quality engine with unparalleled functionality. The pcProx product line features dual-antennas for reading HF and LF cards. Furthermore, rf IDEAS provides the support a customer should expect when deploying products, with quick response times and an extremely low failure rate. The RF IDeas readers are easy to configure and have greater performance than any other readers tested, especially when compared with the RFID readers built-in to Android and iOS devices.

When it comes to mustering, mobility and reliability are crucial. Learn more about Serialio's mobility solutions for mustering, as well as rf IDEAS readers.