With a flick of the wrist, John unlocked the office door and strolled down the hallway. As he passed by a conference room, a notification popped up on his smartwatch – “Sales meeting starting in 5 minutes.” Without breaking stride, John ducked into the break room to grab a coffee before the daily briefing.
Moments like these illustrate the potential of Bluetooth beacons. These small wireless transmitters broadcast signals that provide a new dimension of location awareness and interactivity to the world around us.
So how do these innocuous devices enable such useful functionality? It boils down to the power of proximity. Beacons emit short-range wireless signals with a Bluetooth identifier. Mobile apps detect when these signals move in and out of range, allowing them to sense a user’s proximity to a beacon-enabled location.
Apps can then trigger customized experiences based on this location context. From reminding you about an upcoming meeting when you arrive at work, to sending discounts when you’re near your favorite store at the mall, the possibilities are endless.
Hardware-wise, beacons are elegantly simple. About the size of a deck of cards, they have four main components – a Bluetooth transmitter, battery, antenna and casing. Companies like Estimote and Kontakt offer turnkey beacon packages that are ready to deploy out of the box.
You can stick these discreet devices just about anywhere – behind a picture frame, above a doorway, under a table. Their potential lies in filling our spaces with an invisible mesh of wireless interactivity.
While young, beacon technology seems poised for massive growth as it offers clear utility to both consumers and businesses. On the consumer side, beacons create opportunities to streamline everyday tasks and remove annoyances. Services we don’t even realize we want yet, like an app that reminds you where you parked, become possible.
For businesses, beacons provide a new channel to digitally engage customers on their own turf. Imagine grabbing a cup of joe at your local café, and getting a push notification for a free pastry. Delivering hyper-contextual offers like this builds loyalty.
Do Bluetooth beacons live up to their promise today? In many ways, yes – the base technology already enables game-changing functionality if applied creatively. At the same time, we’re still early in realizing the full disruptive potential of location-based engagement. As with any new technology, there’s a phase of discovering the “killer apps” that make beacons indispensable. But the journey looks bright.