The right technology for each asset, one platform behind them all.
Bluetooth and UHF RFID cover most of what our clients track. This page sets out how each works, where each performs best, and how every read is processed within uCAAT 2.0.
- Tested
- On your own assets, during the site survey
Strengths and limitations
Most sites use one or both. The final selection is made on site, through testing with your own assets.
Compact battery-powered tags, detected by a gateway in every room, providing continuous visibility of where each asset or staff member is located. Staff ID badges use the same technology.
- Good for
- Continuous room-level visibility, environmental monitoring, and staff badges with an emergency call button.
- Where it struggles
- Batteries require replacement every few years, and the tags are larger than labels, making them better suited to equipment than to smaller assets.
Battery-free labels, energised momentarily by the reader's own signal. A handheld reader counts an entire room in a single pass, and doorway readers record every asset that passes through.
- Good for
- Inventory counts, doorway control, and high asset volumes.
- Where it struggles
- Metal surfaces and liquids, unless purpose-made tags are used. Assets are read at doorways and during counts, rather than continuously.
Also availableFor specialised requirements we also deploy battery-free Bluetooth tags, which draw power from surrounding radio signals and suit very large volumes of low-value assets, and UWB, which locates a tag to within approximately half a metre for vehicles, large halls and hazardous areas. Many common readers and tags already in use are compatible with uCAAT 2.0; we assess yours during the site survey.
One read, from the doorway to your report
Consider a crate moved from a stockroom to the loading dock, where the doorway reader detects its tag. The processing that follows within uCAAT 2.0 is identical, whichever technology made the read.
Tag
The tag carries a single identifier and nothing more. What the crate is, and where it belongs, is held in the platform.
Reader
The doorway reader detects the identifier and transmits it with a timestamp and its own identity, often several times per second.
Collected
Every read is stored exactly as received, preserving an original record for verification.
Checked
Repeated reads are consolidated into a single movement and matched to "Crate 0417". An unregistered tag is flagged for review, never assumed.
Ready
A verified record: Crate 0417 left the stockroom and entered the loading dock at 14:02. Only verified records reach your dashboards, alerts and reports.
What you see
The crate's record now shows the loading dock. If a rule prohibits its removal today, an alert is issued, and the movement is included in the weekly report.
Battery-free Bluetooth tags involve one additional step: their signal is first decoded by the manufacturer's service, then returned to uCAAT 2.0, where it follows the same path from step 3.
Hosted or on-premises
Most clients use uCAAT 2.0 as a hosted service. We manage the servers, updates and backups, and your staff sign in through a web browser or the Windows application.
Some sites cannot depend on an internet connection, such as restricted areas that must alarm without exception. For these, the entire system runs on a server within your facility, on your own network, with identical functionality.
What clients ask before a site survey
What is the difference between Bluetooth and RFID tracking?
Bluetooth (BLE) tags carry a small battery and are detected continuously by a gateway in each room, so the location of every tagged asset is always current. UHF RFID labels have no battery; they are read in bulk by a handheld reader or as they pass a doorway reader. Many sites use both.
Do RFID labels need batteries?
No. A UHF RFID label is powered for an instant by the reader's own signal, which makes it thin, light and suited to large volumes of assets.
How long do Bluetooth tag batteries last?
Several years, depending on how often the tag reports. uCAAT 2.0 alerts the responsible staff when a tag reports a low battery, before it stops reporting.
How precise is the location?
Bluetooth and RFID locate an asset to the room or zone, which suits most facilities. Where the exact position matters, ultra-wideband (UWB) locates a tag to within about half a metre.
Do tags work on metal and near liquids?
Standard RFID labels perform poorly on metal surfaces and near liquids. Purpose-made tags address both, and the site survey identifies where they are required.
Can the system operate without an internet connection?
Yes. uCAAT 2.0 can run on a server within your facility, on your own network, and the application retains its latest data and synchronises once a lost connection is restored.
Can we use the tags and readers we already own?
Often, yes. We assess existing equipment during the site survey and recommend reusing it wherever it meets the requirement.
Where is our data held?
On a server within your facility, or hosted by us. In either case your data is held separately from every other client and remains yours.
See it proven on your own site.
The site survey is where we test tags on your own assets and establish what will work. Outline what you need to track, and where.
Or email contact@avnisynapse.com