How do Bluetooth Beacons work? Location and proximity.

What are Bluetooth Beacons and how do they work? You might have been involved in a conversation recently about “Beacons”. You nodded, agreeing with the technical details and jargon.  Consider location in terms of proximity to a beacon instead of lat kong geolocation, and using that for push notifications and  Augmented Reality (AR). But in reality, is it a concept that’s technically confusing, too “pervasive” or “futuristic” for you to get your head around right now?

Yes? We thought so. To help you out, we’ve created a handy infographic that explains exactly what it is and how it works. So, next time you’re involved in a conversation about beacons you can contribute and possibly even show the office “know-it-all” exactly how much you actually know.

Put simply, Beacons are small transmitters that connect to Bluetooth-enabled devices like smart phones. Perfect for Retail stores and Marketing; brands can send messages to their users based on their proximity to a beacon.

Beacons aren’t just for marketing and retail. There are unlimited uses (and benefits) for Beacons.

Here are our top 5 ways on how to use Beacons:

Appointment Bookings: When a customer is near the location of their appointment, the business can be notified of their approach so they can organise the appropriate paperwork or resources. For the customer, they can be advised if their appointment time will be delayed or any other important information, like a new patient form that can be filled in from their phone.

Large Shopping Centre Carpark: Can’t find a park or you’ve lost your car in a major car park, with hundreds of parks and multiple levels? Receive notifications of available parks when you come within a certain proximity or be navigated back to where you parked your car.

Parent Notifications from Schools: Next time you drop the kids off at school, you could be pushed alerts for up and coming events held by the school or other education institute.

Intuitive Homes: Make your home Intuitive, not just Smart. Imagine this, walk through your front door (where you have a beacon located) and be greeted by Alexa or Google Home with prompts to turn things on or off. Perhaps your favourite Netflix show or the News. I would personally love my shower to turn on when I get home after my morning run!

Immersive Experiences: Picture this, you’re walking into Luna Park (or other venue/event) and as you pass a Beacon on the front gates, you’re pushed an Augmented Reality (AR) experience (think Snapchat hotdog filter), where a host greets you on your phone and explains what to expect or what to do next. Can you imagine the AR that could be created for Halloween. Gives me the chills just thinking about it!

Mobiddiction uses Beacons as part of the Sydney Royal Easter Show – learn more about them here. We also have use cases for outdoor and indoor use where you need a custom map with way-finding and beacons ping specific alerts based on the proximity of a user within a geolocation.

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