Intro to Asset Tracker – Knowledge Base

The Kio Asset Tracker app is a healthcare-focused solution designed to streamline the tracking and management of medical equipment and assets in real time. It enhances operational efficiency by providing visibility into the location and status of mobile equipment, ensuring optimal utilization and maintenance.

The Kio Asset Tracker app, one of solution-based apps within the Kio Cloud platform, leverages an AI-enabled, Real-Time Location System (RTLS) to enhance locating the right assets at the right time, and delivers insights into asset utilization.

Why Kontakt.io?

A fast-to-deploy, easy-to-use, and scalable cloud platform

Fast time to deployment: Implement quickly with minimal disruptions using Kontakt.io’s cloud-based platform and IoT devices. Our team of experts ensures swift installation and integration into your existing environment.
Easy to use: Intuitive features and interface for both staff and administrators, requiring minimal training and support.
Scalable: Easily expand coverage and functionality as your needs grow. The modular infrastructure ensures scalability by leveraging the existing BLE-enabled Wi-Fi infrastructure.

Features

Real-Time Location Tracking: Provides precise, up-to-date information on the location of mobile medical equipment (assets) within a facility. Reduces time spent searching for assets and ensures locating the right asset at the right time.
Inventory Management Helps healthcare facilities maintain an accurate inventory of assets. Simplifies the process of identifying available, in-use, down, or unavailable assets.
Rental Management Track rented medical equipment to optimize usage and avoid unnecessary rental costs. Provides insights into rental timelines and locations of rented assets.
Preventative Maintenance Supports scheduling and tracking maintenance activities. Can aid in ensuring equipment is maintained on schedule to minimize downtime and support compliance reporting requirements.
Utilization Analytics: Provides insights into asset utilization for purchasing and operational decisions.
Location Alerts: Notifies staff when assets enter or exit locations.
Alert Webhooks: Instantly send alerts to designated third-party systems for seamless integration.
Role-based permissions: Control access based on user roles, ensuring secure and tailored use of the system.

The components: a connected framework of IoT devices and apps

The Kio Asset Tracker solution consists of Kontakt.io IoT tags, infrastructure devices, and the Kio Cloud platform suite of apps - providing a robust, accurate, and reliable RTLS solution.

The following illustration highlights the framework and architecture.

Kontakt.io Kio Asset Tracker solution infographic

The physical world

This consists of IoT devices deployed to support the Kio Asset Tracker RTLS solution.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure devices are stationary devices deployed and installed using the Kio Setup Manager mobile app and assigned to their Smart Location installation location.

BLE-enabled Access Points: These devices leverage the Wi-Fi network you already have in place, such as Cisco Catalyst 9100s Access Points and Cisco Spaces, to enhance BLE connectivity and optimize deployment without the need for additional infrastructure.
Portal Lights (BLE to Wi-Fi Gateway): These devices aggregate data from Kontakt.io BLE devices and send the data to Kio Cloud over the Wi-Fi network. They also provide the over-the-air (OTA) device firmware and configuration updates for BLE-only Infrastructure and Tag devices.
Beam Mini: Adds room-level certainty with its built-in IR transmitter, ensuring 100% room-level certainty at low latency (< 3 seconds).

The Kio Cloud

The Kio Cloud is a suite of apps designed to manage Kontakt.io's IoT devices, the location topology, user access management, and the Kio solution-based apps shared components.

AI Location Engine: Computes accurate, room-level data for Kontakt.io's RTLS, occupancy, and indoor navigation solutions.
Smart Location: Manage the mapping of the physical locations where Kontakt.io solutions and IoT devices are deployed. Smart Location consists of the following:

Mapped location topology: A hierarchical mapping consisting of campuses, buildings, floors along with digital floorplans, and rooms. This topology is used by the AI Location engine that computes accurate, room-level data for Kontakt.io's RTLS, occupancy, and indoor navigation solutions.

Departments: Group rooms for use within the Kio solution-based apps.

Spaces: Group rooms or seats for use with the Kio Workspace Insights app.

Footfall: Locations that identify the floors where people footfall occupancy is measured by a Kontakt.io Portal Beam. For use with the Kio Workspace Insights app.
Company Settings: Manage the shared components for the Kio solution-based apps.

Entity Management: Manage Entity Types (staff roles, asset types) and Entities (staff, assets). Staff Roles and Staff are used by the Kio people safety and workflow apps. Asset Types and Assets are used by the Kio RTLS apps, such as Asset Tracker, IV Pump, and Wheelchair Manager.

Room Management (shared with all Kio solution-based apps): Define room types, set room type rules by entity types for automated statuses by rooms, and match Smart Location rooms to their room type. Room Types also provide the PAR level management for the Kio IV Pump and Wheelchair Manager apps.
Entity Manager: An associated app to Company Settings with limited access to entity (staff and assets) management.
Users: Manage who has access to the Kio Cloud platform's suite of apps.

User permissions are role-based, with each role having a specific permissions. If a user is not assigned a role within an app, the app is not available to them from their Kontakt.io Launchpad.
Device Management 2.0: Manage Kontakt.io IoT devices.

This includes claiming Kontakt.io orders, managing device settings, getting insights into device inventory, and keeping devices up-to-date with the latest firmware.
Device Health: Monitor the health of Kontakt.io IoT devices.

Get alerts when devices may need attention. The alerting features include three available alert types, optional alert delivery mediums, and elective monitoring of devices by specific devices, device types, or by locations.

The Kio mobile apps

Kio Setup Manager: A mobile app used to install Kontakt.io infrastructure devices, including the Portal Light, Portal Beam, and Beam Mini. It also offers device troubleshooting capabilities.
Kio Entity Manager: A mobile companion to the Kio Cloud Entity Manager web app, providing users a method to assign tags to assets.
Kio Proximity: A mobile app that locates nearby Kontakt.io BLE Tag devices commonly attached to tracked assets or worn by people. Using Bluetooth signal strength (RSSI), it determines the proximity of a tag to your real-time location. The app is especially useful for locating tags that may be out of range of a Kontakt.io Portal Light or other BLE-to-Wi-Fi gateway device.

Asset Tracker concepts and terminology

The Kio Asset Tracker app is designed for scalability and ease of use while providing a comprehensive tool for administrators, stakeholders, and staff needing to locate and manage tracked assets.

The following provides an overview of the concepts and terminology unique in the Asset Tracker app.

Asset Types

Asset Types are how assets are categorized to deliver metrics and apply to many of the Asset Tracker locating features.

Each asset is required to be assigned to an Asset Type and assets can only be assigned to one type.

Asset Types can be also managed from the Company Settings app, where they are identified as Entity Types.
Assets

Assets are the tracked equipment inventory. Kontakt.io Tags are assigned to and attached to each asset - allowing staff to locate assets by their real-time location.

Each asset has a unique profile that includes its settings, assigned tag, and location details.

Assets can also be managed from Company Settings and the Entity Manager apps, where they are identified as Entities.
Asset Groups

Groups provide an additional method to segment assets. Assets can assigned to one or multiple groups and users can search and locate assets by group. In addition, groups can also be assigned to Alert Rules.
Alert Rules

Alert Rules provide a method to notify staff when an asset enters or exits a location. For example, you want to know when a high-value asset exits a floor or building.

A rule includes the location condition (enter or exit), the assets that can include by asset type or specific assets, and who receives notifications when an alert is activated. Notifications can be delivered via email, SMS text, or integrated with third-party systems using Webhooks. Webhooks are managed from Company Settings and assigned to Alert Rules.
Alerts

Are the location alerts activated by Alert Rules when the monitored conditions set in a rule is met.
Room Types and Room Matching

Room Types and Room Matching are features that enable automated asset status updates based on their real-time room locations. These configurations are managed within Company Settings and are shared across the Kio solution apps.

Room Types categorize different spaces within your facility (e.g., Clean Storage, Patient Room). Each Room Type can have predefined status rules for various Entity Types (Asset Types). This setup allows the system to automatically assign statuses to assets on their current room location.

Room Matching involves associating your facility's Smart Location rooms with their Room Type. By matching rooms to their corresponding Room Types, the system can accurately apply the appropriate status rules to assets as they move throughout a facility.
Users

A User is someone with access to the Kio Cloud platform suite of apps. User access is managed from the Kio Cloud Users app, which employs role-based permissions to ensure appropriate access is granted to users based on their responsibilities.