For all businesses, employees are the main assets; however, employee tracking and management can be a nightmare, but it doesn’t have to be anymore.
Instead of wondering whether your employees are attending meetings, or doing the task or not, it’s better to start tracking and smartly managing them.
Here, an effective IoT solution can remedy this nightmare.
Because with only IoT, it’s possible to track and monitor assets accurately in real-time.
We recently wrote a blog about our manpower tracking system and have many queries related to employee time tracking. So here we are explaining the details of how we develop an employee tracking system.
Therefore, PsiBorg proposes an “RFID/RTLS-based Indoor Employee Tracking System” that provides real-time visual and tracking alerts and gives managers an overview of all events on-site. Automated analytics reports enable supervisors to improve employee productivity and achieve better business performance.
RFID-Based Employee Tracking System
Businesses can improve employee productivity and location management with RFID-based employee management systems.
In this aforementioned system, passive RFIDs (UHF) are used, and it consists of three main components:
1. RFID Tags
These passive RFID tags are worn by employees and contain “Unique Identifiers.”
2. RFID Reader
The RFID readers are strategically placed throughout the premises, they detect tags when employees come close.
3. RFID employee tracking software
The employee tracking app processes the data, displays employees’ whereabouts on the dashboard, and generates reports.
PsiBorg provides an end-to-end solution that consists of all the above components to roll out the system financially and quickly.
In What Way Does the Solution Work? An Overview
Let’s understand the workings of the system in steps:
- Assign smartcard/tag to each and every employee
- RFID-integrated readers are strategically placed in defined locations.
- Each reader is assigned an IP address and a map with their geographical location, which is recorded in the system.
- An employee database is created by importing data from the existing system together with their designation.
- As an employee enters the designated area, their RFID tags passively receive radio waves from the strategically placed readers. This activates the tag and transmits its unique ID back to the reader.
- Each reader is connected to a network that transmits the collected data from the tag to the central server.
- The server processes the data, identifies the employee, determines the reader’s location, and calculates the employee’s position within the designated area.
- The software display’s real-time location of the facility. The system stores historical data, allowing for reports on employee movement, and time spent on specific areas.
- The system is configured to trigger alerts for defined events, such as unauthorized access to restricted zones and employee inactivity for longer periods.
Features of Employee Tracking System
An employee Management system provides details of each and every employee on the office premises and thus comes with the following features:
1. Set Boundaries
Geo-fencing allows the supervisor to set boundaries. Here, it can be a circle around a specific point, representing sides and preventing employees from entering restricted areas.
2. Trigger an Alert
Whenever a person leaves the assigned area or, in the case of an emergency, an alarm is triggered to minimize the rescue time. Besides this, some other smart action-based alerts include- late arrival alerts, early departure alerts, authorized movement alerts, and start alerts.
3. Auto-attendance Reports
The IoT dashboard will provide a complete view of all the attendance details to generate instant shareable reports with a click.
4. Live location
Always have real-time updates about what your team members are up to using live locations.
5. Playback
Supervisors can play and rewind the team members’ activities anytime to monitor their overall progress and provide feedback.
6. Efficiency Calculation
Workplace efficiency is calculated by the total hours available divided by the total hours at the allocated workstation.
7. Real-time Dashboard
The dashboard shows the presence of the total number of members, category-wise, present in each location. The data is shown in the form of graphs, charts, and tables.
8. Shift Presence Panel
The shift presence panel displays the members’ presence and absence from an ongoing shift. As a result, timesheets will automatically be generated, and task execution will be controlled.
9. Visitor Location Monitoring
The above-mentioned feature will help control restricted access to areas or equipment and monitor suspicious activity around sensitive areas.
10. Covers all Industrial Verticals
IoT-based employee tracking solutions can be used in all industry verticals such as healthcare, pharma, chemical industries, shipping, and many more.
Why Passive RFID Tags?
There are some benefits to using passive RFID tags in an employee monitoring system, and that’s why it’s a first choice in such scenarios. So, the reasons to choose passive RFID tags are:
1. Budget-friendly
The passive RFID tags are comparatively cheaper than the active tags, so they’re a good choice for large-scale deployments with 100+ employees.
2. Durability
The passive tags are simpler in design, and unaffected by dust, extreme temperatures, and harsh environments, leading to a longer lifespan.
3. Flexibility
Since they are smaller and lighter than active tags, they can easily be attached to employee badges or ID cards. It is flexible and adaptable to all shapes and surfaces.
4. Read Range
Its reading range is generally shorter than that of active tags, making it suitable for indoor tracking applications.
5. Power Consumption Monitoring
Passive tags have no battery, which means no charging needs and less strain on the central reader’s power supply, making them suitable for large-scale deployments.
So, in cases where cost, durability, and size are of utmost priority, passive tags are the best choice.
RTLS UWB-based Indoor Employee Tracking
Until now, we have only talked about passive RFID-based employee management systems. However, there are other solutions in IoT for indoor employee time tracking. There are several IoT based technologies for indoor tracking and monitoring, like radio-based, optical, magnetic, and acoustic technologies. Each of these technologies has its pros and cons based on their specific use cases.
And since we are writing a blog on indoor tracking, it’s only right to explain multiple solutions to the clients, as it will help them decide on a better solution for their requirements.
RTLS-based employee monitoring system tracks and monitors a person within a defined zone that is enclosed by an RF network.
It sounds similar to an RFID-based system, right?
To be more precise, the difference between both solutions is that the RFID-based tracking system brings accuracy only up to several meters, while the RTLS UWB-based system is best suited for use where positioning accuracy is a critical parameter.
UWB stands for Ultra-wideband, it is an RF communication technology used for fast and stable data transmission, either indoors or outdoors.
The RTLS UWB-based tracking system consists of mainly 3 components:
1. Tags
The tags are worn by employees. These tags send out UWB pulses. These short pulses move at the speed of light.
2. Anchors
The anchors are installed all over the workplace. These anchors act as receivers and pick up the signals sent from the tag.
3. Software
Furthermore, anchor data is processed by the employee tracking app to determine the employee’s location and display it on the dashboard in real-time.
Nevertheless, PsiBorg provides IoT product development services and makes solutions using technology that best suits the client’s requirements.
RTLS vs RFID: Which One is Best for Indoor Employee Monitoring?
The best way to compare two technologies is to understand their use cases in a real-life scenario.
1. In an office setting, an RFID system is used to track the entry and exit of employees and to make sure they are in specific areas during work hours. However, it’s not an ideal solution to pinpoint the exact location within the office.
2. In a large warehouse, tracking employees manually can be a trouble, especially in the case of emergencies. However, by using the RTLS UWB system, it’s possible to pinpoint the exact location within the warehouse, allowing for a faster response time.
| Specifications | RFID | RTLS UWB |
| Accuracy | dm-m | cm-dm |
| Presence Detection | Yes | Yes |
| Positioning Type | Absolute | Absolute |
| Power Consumption | low | low |
| Range (m) | 1-50 | 1-50 |
| Disadvantages | Low range and small coverage, unsecure communication | Large metallic objects can block signals. |
Thus,
- You should choose RTLS UWB for precise, real-time employee locations, especially in critical environments.
- Choose RFID if you need a low-cost solution that only requires general location and entry/exit tracking.
Now, The Choice is in Your Hands
An IoT based employee management system with an employee tracking app is best suited for remotely monitoring employees and ensuring productivity at all times. It is the best solution for maintaining workplace transparency.
PsiBorg develops an employee tracking system that can smooth the way businesses manage their employees.
Trust in our expertise in IoT to get smart solutions for your business.
Contact us today to discuss your requirements.
Meanwhile, also read about our indoor asset tracking system.
FAQ
The name explains itself, employee tracking means monitoring and managing employee activity. This helps prevent any costly data breaches, boosts employee engagement, and also improves workflows. The IoT based employee time tracking system allows businesses to optimize their employee performance and reduce its efficacy.
The employee tracking system comes with smart ID cards that can be attached to employees’ ID cards. Throughout the work area, smart relays are also installed. Upon entering the designated area, the ID cards are activated and send a signal to the installed relays. Data is transmitted from the smart relays to the central server, where it is processed and displayed on a dashboard.
The benefits of integrating an IoT based employee tracking system are: no need for biometric attendance, accurate location tracking, eliminating tailgating, improving organizational management, boosting employee productivity, offering transparency, and much more.
