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Tietotalo Insight Digital marketing

Beacon FAQ

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Beacon FAQ Digital contextual marketing is a new subject for many marketing professionals. Mobile apps can feel complicated, beacon and nearables might be unheard of terms not to even mention concepts such as indoor positioning and Bluetooth low-energy (BLE). However, a concept that enables customers to receive notifications, offers or functionalities based on where they happen to be moving, sounds interesting. Is it really possible? It's time to set the facts about beacons straight.

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1. What are beacons? Beacons are small radio transmitters that send out a signal at regular intervals. This signal contains an individual beacon id. Mobile apps can identify this small digital beacon and figure out their distance to that particular signal. Beacons often contain other ”extra” information that smartphones can query, such as temperature or motion data.

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2. How do they work? Beacons use Bluetooth 4.0 –standard low energy -technology (BLE), which only uses a fraction of the energy of normal Bluetooth signals, which gives the device a much longer operating span. Beacons are ”registered” to an app so that the app will function in the required way when it’s near that particular beacon. To manage the beacons and the app, Tietotalo has created the Liki CMS -platform.

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3. What data do they send or receive? By default beacons only send their individual id data by which the smartphone can determine its location. In addition to the id data, beacons can measure temperature and motion. The mobile app can query this info from each beacon in turn and it can then adapt its response accordingly. The beacon doesn’t send out user data or functions to the user. These are saved in the mobile app and can be controlled in platforms such as Liki CMS.

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4. Which devices do they function with? Technically all Bluetooth Smart compatible devices can indentify beacon signals and practically all newer smartphones already have beacon support installed. Supported platformrs are iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, OSX, Linux and Windows 8. These platforms should preferably also be updated to the latest versions. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has predicted that 90% of smartphones will support Bluetooth Smart –technology by the year 2018 (read more).

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5. What’s the difference between beacons and nearable stickers? Beacons are larger and have larger batteries. Nearable stickers are about the size of a finger tip and have the same properties that beacons. Beacons are designed to be used in locations such as museums, airports and shopping centres, while stickers can be attached to individual objects. By attaching a sticker to a product, that product becomes a nearable that can be identifyed by a mobile device. The app can now automatically give information or discount offers relating to this product.

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6. Do I need a mobile app to use beacons? Yes. Becons and stickers only send out an id signal which gives the mobile app information to interpret. The mobile app decides which functions and content these signals trigger. Liki combines the information from the beacons and the control of the mobile app into one user interface and enables the effective management of these two. Read more about Liki.

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7. How long do the batteries last? Beacons and stickers contain a single use lithium battery that lasts about 1-3 years depending on their configuration and usage. Optimising the configuration can prolong the battery usage to up to 4 years. Beacons can also be built directly into the infrastructure of a building where they can be connected to the main power.

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8. What’s their range? The Bluetooth low energy signal the beacons send out typically ranges to about 60-70m. The range is effected by the position of the beacon because the signal can bounce back or be dispersed by obstacles in its environment. By adjusting their range the battery life can be extended. Often the beacon doesn’t have to be set to the maximum range.

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9. What’s iBeacon? iBeacon connects BLE-transmitters (beacons) and their properties, development platforms and the devices that receive the signals. iBeacon is a term launched by Apple which means the way BLE signals are handeled. Apple released iBeacon-support with iOS7. As of yet iBeacon is not a separate device. Apple phones and tablets can also function as BLE transmitters, beacons. Apple iOS8 devices can detect beacons and send app users information eventhough the app is closed. Other platforms require the app to be opened for it to receive information.

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Did we answer all your questions? If you have any more questions about beacons and the market around them, you can send us your questions and we’ll get back to you with an answer. You can also get in touch if you want more info about the content management system for mobile apps and beacons. Antti Brunniantti.brunni@tietotalo.fi +358 50 407 2766

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