chrispeng [ad_1]
When most business people conduct business, they usually carry research materials and notebooks on the restaurant table. Sometimes they also work at home and negotiate business with customers or business partners. They usually choose a cafe to do it. Recognizing this, BarbaraSprenger decided to start its own business: Satellite telecommuting center. The center is located in Felton, on the southern edge of Silicon Valley. It officially opened earlier this month to provide a business meeting place for small businesses or other organization members.
Remote office center based on RFID technology
Sprenger (the president of the center) and her team (Facilities R&D Director KenMeshke and Marketing Director Jim Graham) chose to use an RFID-based system to manage members’ access to the center and use of its services.
The center installs RFID readers at the main entrance and beside the door leading to the center’s private offices and meeting rooms. Each member will issue an RFID card for easy entry and exit.
During office hours from 9:00 to 17:00, the center will be open to the public. Before entering the center, all members must show their RFID card in front of the RFID reader. After a few hours, after the front door is closed, members can still use their card to open the door.
If a member wants to use the private office or meeting room of the center, he must pay a higher fee and must use an RFID card to enter these areas. Before entering, the individual needs to read the RFID smart card close to the reader. The center also provides a small telephone room, the size of a personal study room, members can use RFID cards to open the door to enter. These small rooms are less expensive to rent than a private office, and are designed for those who need to make a private phone call but do not need a large space.
System supplier
Honeywell provides related RFID readers and smart cards. According to Graham, these smart cards contain passive low-frequency 125kHz RFID tags provided by HIDGlobal with a reading distance of one foot. JohnsonElectronics, a local communications system provider, is responsible for installing the RFID system and training the staff of the center.
Each reader will collect the unique ID code on the RFID tag, and then forward this information to the central database. The ID is linked to the member’s account information. Once the account balance expires, the administrator will contact the member and coordinate his account. If a member tries to enter the center but the main entrance is closed, the software that collects the tag ID code will point to this account, and the doorkeeper will still be unable to enter. On the other hand, if the member associated with the ID code has a good reputation, the software will trigger the door to unlock and the person can enter the center.
Interest rate fees will be charged every hour for using the center, and the hourly fee will be based on the time of day and the number of days used in the week. Use of private offices, meeting rooms or telephone rooms requires additional costs. The center needs a measure that can easily track the members who arrive and leave the center, and when they arrive and leave any fixed area. The team found that an RFID-based access control system is the easiest solution to deploy.
In each settlement cycle, the software will count the hours spent by each member in the center. Then the system will generate a bill for each person.
The responsibility of each member is only to swipe his or her card on the reader to facilitate accurate checkout. “Sometimes we can see from the data we collect that a certain member may forget to check out. In this case, we only need to contact the member and ask them when they left. In this way, we can transfer the new The data is added to the billing system.” As members become more proficient in using the system, it is expected that fixed-point check-out will become a habit.
It is said that during the team’s search for a solution, some manufacturers provide systems that can integrate RFID card readers into an energy management system. In this way, when members enter private offices and other rooms, the lighting and heating and air-conditioning systems will be automatically activated. When the member checks out, the light will automatically turn off and the temperature will change to save energy. One of the suppliers also attaches RFID readers to office photocopiers, so that members need to show their RFID cards before using these machines, allowing the center to charge based on the number of printed paper copies.
However, at the end of the day, Graham and his partners came to the conclusion that these additional devices were overworking. “We decided to only use the motion sensor to trigger the lights in the room. Members can use the copier by entering the code on the keyboard on the photocopy machine. The code and the number of copies will be forwarded to our settlement system.”
For the future, the founders hope to expand their business and open more Satellite remote office locations throughout the Silicon Valley area.
[ad_2]
