RFID Support within RentControl
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) applies an RFID tag to an asset for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. Tags are small, durable (they can be attached to linen and will withstand washing), and can be read from several meters away. Tagging assets with RFID tags is not dissimilar from barcoding, but has advantages over barcoding. One being that RFID tags can be read without having to visually locate the tag. This makes them useful for reading all the tags in a plastic bag full of linens, for example. If the linens were barcoded, each barcode would have to be individually scanned.
RentControl has built-in facilities for working with RFID-tagged items:
You can put items
into inventory either by scanning each item's RFID tag or by adding a number of items to inventory
and asking RentControl to add RFID numbers to each according to a specified sequence.
You can assemble an
order by reading RFID-tagged items.
You can check
in an order by reading the RFID-tagged items.
RentControl Satellite
To make it possible to track orders to and from the customer's location, RentControl offers a Satellite program that can be used remotely (i.e., without a connection to the RentControl databases). The Satellite PC (usually a laptop) is first loaded with all orders ready for delivery or pickup. Then each driver uses the Satellite program from the delivery vehicle to confirm the exact contents of orders that are delivered to a customer at rental start or picked up from a customer at rental end. The information that is acquired can be reflected by delivery or pickup tickets and later, automatically transferred to RentControl to correctly reflect the check-out or check-in status of any orders.
When the RentControl databases are accessible to the Satellite program, the Satellite program
has a number of utility processes meant for use with RFID tagging, including the ability to assign scanned tags
in bulk to a selected category and type; the ability to list items whose tags are missing from among the
scanned tags in a category and type; and the ability to transfer the RFID tag numbers of both assembled and checked in orders.
Assembling an order by reading RFID tags can also be done directly through RentControl.
