Beacons Use Case

[Boundless]

Hi guys,

I have been asked by a customer to find info regarding a use case he would like to implement. He wants to track assets by implementing beacons on equipment and use the beacon antenna integrated in his meraki APs.

Is it possible?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best,

Boundless

[NolanHerring]

Here are some links to get you started:

https://community.meraki.com/t5/Solutions-APIs/Meraki-compatible-RFID-tags/td-p/4485
https://meraki.cisco.com/lib/pdf/meraki_datasheet_location.pdf
https://meraki.cisco.com/technologies/bluetooth-low-energy
https://meraki.cisco.com/blog/2015/09/putting-beacons-to-work/
https://meraki.cisco.com/blog/2015/01/the-benefits-of-integrated-access-point-beacon-technology/
https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Bluetooth/Bluetooth_Low_Energy_(BLE)

[jdsilva]

It is possible. But as @NolanHerring's post implies, you have some work ahead of you. The framework is in the dashboard to do this, but you're either going to have to build your own application to do all the actual work, or find a third party who does this and procure their services. 

[BrandonS]

I've seen these third party tracking applications that integrate with Meraki: https://create.meraki.io/build/rtls/#how-to-integrate-with-stanley-aeroscout

It will depend on what kind of assets and if you plan to purchase tags, I suppose, but it is technically possible.

[PhilipDAth]

MapWize have some nice software.

https://create.meraki.io/build/wayfinding-mapwize/

You'll need 3 to 4 APs coveraging each location you want accurate location tracking in.  One AP is not going to cut it.

[wey2go · Accepted solution]

Some demos:

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology has enabled Bluetooth badges and other small form factor beacons, to become affordable. Using the Bluetooth radio and Meraki Scanning API, this demo shows a live example of what can be built.

https://create.meraki.io/build/bluetooth-tracking/

Investigo is Latin for track or trace out, investigate. Investigo is a bot for Spark, Cisco’s unified communications service, which enables customers to use wireless infrastructure to locate Wi-Fi capable assets. The Investigo is a mash-up bot that uses several solutions: Spark, Tropo and Meraki wireless access points, spanning from the enterprise to the Internet of Things world.

https://create.meraki.io/build/investigo-spark-bot-with-meraki-scanning-api/