Keeping track of the things that make up your business is a fundamental part of running a small company. Logging and tracking inventory, accounting and payroll are all standard activities for many businesses. Others routinely track marketing data to evaluate audience engagement. Increasingly, business leaders are also logging and tracking work productivity and efficiency to identify areas for improvement.
It wasn’t long ago that tracking equipment was a matter of checklists and clipboards, and mistakes were common. This resulted in lost time while assets were located, and in some cases even worse consequences (like missing lifesaving devices like defibrillators). Technology has since become a much better solution, particularly for asset tracking where minutes can be the difference between saving and losing a life.
What is the best tracking technology?
There are a lot of different ways to track people and objects, but the most popular is probably location tracking. The most obvious form is the GPS that we all have in our smartphones. This system relies on a network of satellites to compare signals from multiple sources and can provide tracking positions with accuracies down to the square meter.
The same technologies are also used in many embedded tracking solutions like Bluetooth and WiFi. These systems are especially well-suited for places where data connectivity is difficult, such as underground or labyrinthine buildings. Most of these tracking systems work by sending identifiable information along with every request, which is either required by the underlying Internet protocols, such as an IP address, or by design, such as with cookies.
