In 2012, Portable Technology Solutions, LLC (PTS) launched ClearStream RFID software and put enterprise-class RFID systems within the reach of any business. Now ClearStream 3.0 makes it easier than ever for businesses to see how RFID technology can work for them, with a Virtual Site Survey that can make costly on-site surveys a thing of the past.
ClearStream's new Virtual Site Survey enables users to quickly construct a graphical representation of their own floor plans, place virtual RFID readers and antennas where desired, and see how inventory and assets are scanned as they move through the drag-and-drop environment. Inventory and asset data is actually recorded to the relevant database (compatible with Microsoft Excel, text files, or any ODBC-compliant database) for each room in the floor plan, just as it would be if using physical readers—making for seamless conversion to an actual production environment.
ClearStream RFID software is the only user-configurable fixed RFID software that can be set up in minutes for applications such as room inventories and audits, entry-point check-in and check-out for items and persons, and corporate event attendance tracking.
"With ClearStream 3.0, we've addressed a number of specific needs our customers have expressed for RFID, while staying true to ClearStream's core user-friendliness and cost effectiveness," says Brad Horn, PTS CEO and co-founder. "The Virtual Site Survey is very much a part of this approach, as is the Public API feature."
The Public API in ClearStream 3.0 allows for remote management of up to thousands of RFID readers, using any web browser. Now RFID readers can be turned on and off from a PC or laptop—and even Android or iOS smartphones and tablets. "This is a solution we developed for businesses with thousands of locations to manage, and the desire to do it centrally," says Howie Heckman, PTS Lead Developer. "This kind of truly networked RFID system is something that we believe will open up endless possibilities for users."
Also included in ClearStream 3.0 are additional new features designed to make fixed RFID work better for any business, including:
New single-reader, multi-destination architecture—enabling tag information to be sent to multiple data sources simultaneously.
Readers can now scan the TID and user memory banks of a tag.
New reader-collected fields, including TID and user banks, and "read start event," which records how a reader was started.
ASCII conversion of EPC, and reading of user memory as tags.
