A Dispenser Beacon is the Kontakt.io device that detects when a soap or sanitizer dispenser is used. The dispensers belong to your facility, and a Dispenser Beacon is what turns a dispense into data Hand Hygiene can measure.
Dispenser Beacons are the one device type used only by Hand Hygiene. Smart Badges, Beam Minis, and gateways are shared across the Kio Apps and may already be installed for another purpose. A Dispenser Beacon is installed for Kontakt.io's Hand Hygiene solution and nothing else.
The three models
Which model you have depends on the dispensers already installed in your facility. All three detect dispense events, report to Kio Cloud through a gateway, and are installed with the Kio Setup Manager mobile app.
| Model | Where it mounts | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| ES8 Dispenser Beacon | Inside the dispenser | GOJO PURELL® ES8 dispensers |
| ES10 Dispenser Beacon | Inside the dispenser | GOJO PURELL® ES10 dispensers |
| Universal Dispenser Beacon | Outside, on the dispenser housing | A wide range of other dispensers, manual or automatic |
What differs between them
The models divide into two groups, and the difference comes down to one thing: whether the Dispenser Beacon is connected to the dispenser.
The ES8 and ES10 fit inside a compatible dispenser and read dispense events from the dispenser's own module — the ES8 plugs in directly, the ES10 uses an infrared SmartLink connection. Because they are connected, they can also report conditions the dispenser itself detects, such as a communication fault. They are invisible once the dispenser is closed.
The Universal Dispenser Beacon mounts on the outside and has no connection to the dispenser at all. It detects a dispense from the motion it senses through the dispenser housing, which is why it works on dispensers that have no electronics to connect to — including manual pump dispensers. It reports dispense events and its own status, but it cannot report anything the dispenser knows about itself.
That single difference explains most of what follows:
- Only the ES8 and ES10 produce dispenser error codes. If your account shows statuses such as a distributor code fault or a hardware error, they come from these models. Those codes originate with the dispenser manufacturer and are passed along unchanged. The ES10 and the Universal Dispenser Beacon also report errors about the Dispenser Beacon itself: Dispenser Communication Error, Dispenser Communication Timeout, Accelerometer Error, and Invalid Configuration.
- The Universal Dispenser Beacon is calibrated per dispenser model, and its mounting position is fixed. Its detection is trained on the motion pattern of one specific dispenser model in one specific mounting position, so the installer selects the dispenser model during setup and follows the mounting position exactly. A Dispenser Beacon mounted higher, lower, or on the opposite side misses dispenses, or records ones that never happened.
Because the Universal Dispenser Beacon is calibrated per model, only tested dispenser models are supported. Four are ready to install: the GOJO FMX-12 and FMX-20, and the Ecolab Nexa Compact Manual (750 mL) and Nexa Classic Manual (1250 mL). Other models, including the GOJO LTX-7 and LTX-12 and the Ecolab Nexa Compact Touch-Free and Nexa Classic Touch-Free, are available only by special request to Kontakt.io. Dispensers from the same manufacturer can look alike and still not be interchangeable, so confirm the exact model before ordering. See About the Universal Dispenser Beacon.
Features common to all three
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dispense capture | Detects and records each dispense event and reports it through a gateway. |
| Refill level | Tracks how full the dispenser is, which drives the Low Refill status and Refill level Alert Rules. |
| Refill logging | Records a refill and resets the refill level. |
| Local hand hygiene reminder | All three models have a buzzer and can sound the reminder. For example, if a staff member enters a room and a real-time dispense event is not detected by the Dispenser Beacon - the Dispenser Beacon buzzes within 30 seconds. Reminders require the Dispenser Beacon to be paired with both a Portal Light and a room sensor (Beam Mini or Portal Beam) during installation. See below. |
| Over-the-air updates | Firmware and configuration updates are applied remotely. |
The Universal Dispenser Beacon also has an LED that signals device status and error conditions. It stays off during normal operation. See Reference: Universal Dispenser Beacon LED and button.
How refill level is tracked
Every dispenser in Hand Hygiene shows a refill level, and drops to Low Refill when that level falls below the Low Refill Threshold set under Settings. How the level is computed differs by model.
The ES8 and ES10 read the level from the dispenser's own module and detect a refill automatically. Nothing is required of the person refilling.
The Universal Dispenser Beacon counts instead. It tracks activations since the last refill, and the reported level falls as they accumulate. Because it cannot see the reservoir, it has to be told when a refill happens: triple-click the Dispenser Beacon's button while refilling, which records the refill and resets the counter. A refill that is not logged this way leaves the dispenser reading low when it is actually full.
The Universal Dispenser Beacon also has a maintenance mode so that handling is not miscounted. A single press pauses detection for 30 seconds, and the Dispenser Beacon enters it automatically during installation and refills — so opening or bumping a dispenser is not recorded as a dispense.
The local hand hygiene reminder has dependencies
All three Dispenser Beacon models have a buzzer and support the local hand hygiene reminder.
Having the buzzer is not the same as having the reminder. It is easy to assume the reminder works everywhere the Dispenser Beacons are installed. It does not. Two things have to be true, in each dispenser location individually:
- A Portal Light and a room sensor in range of the dispenser. The room sensor is a Beam Mini or a Portal Beam. The reminder is not supported by Bluetooth-compatible Wi-Fi access points — everything else in Hand Hygiene works with either gateway type, and the reminder is the exception.
- The Dispenser Beacon is paired with both of them. The installer does this in Kio Setup Manager while installing the Dispenser Beacon, as two steps in turn: first the Portal Light, then the room sensor (Beam Mini or Portal Beam).
Both pairings are needed. A Dispenser Beacon paired to a Portal Light but not to a room sensor does not sound the reminder.
Pairing is available only in Kio Setup Manager — not in Hand Hygiene, and not in Device Management. It is not limited to first install: a Dispenser Beacon can be paired, or its Portal Light and room sensor changed, at any time by completing the installation again on that Dispenser Beacon.
To see whether a dispenser is paired, and to what, open Smart Location, select the Dispenser Beacon on the floor plan map, and view its device details, which list each paired device by its ID under Paired devices. This is the only place the pairing is visible, so a dispenser can read as entirely healthy in Hand Hygiene while its location has no reminder.
Dispenser Beacon install
New Dispenser Beacons ship powered on but unconfigured and are required to be installed on-site with Kio Setup Manager.
During the install, the following is configured:
- Assigned to its install location
- Assigned to the dispenser
- Paired with the nearest Portal Light and room sensor (Beam Mini or Portal Beam), which is optional but required for the local reminder
- Testing a dispense event to validate the install
How dispense events reach Hand Hygiene
Dispenser Beacons report dispense events through the gateways installed throughout your facility — Portal Lights, or Bluetooth-compatible Wi-Fi access points. Each gateway receives the dispense event and sends it to Kio Cloud, where Hand Hygiene matches the event to the Smart Badge and to the patient room visit it falls within.
A Dispenser Beacon becomes meaningful only once it is assigned to a Dispenser in Hand Hygiene. From then on, every dispense it reports counts as activity at that Dispenser, in its assigned room location and its department. The assignment is made during installation, where Kio Setup Manager creates the Dispenser and assigns the Dispenser Beacon during the install workflow. See About dispenser management for creating Dispensers in the web app instead.
Choosing a model
You usually do not choose. The dispensers are already on the walls, and the model follows from them:
- Dispensers are GOJO PURELL® ES8 or ES10 — use the matching model, which fits inside and gives you dispenser error reporting as well. The ES8 Dispenser Beacon fits only ES8 dispensers, soap or sanitizer; see About the ES8 Dispenser Beacon.
- Dispensers are anything else on the supported list — use the Universal Dispenser Beacon.
Device details and installation
Full specifications and features for each model:
Installation, by model:
- Install an ES8 Dispenser Beacon
- Install an ES10 Dispenser Beacon
- Install a Universal Dispenser Beacon
All three need the same Kio Cloud setup before installation begins. See Hand Hygiene Implementation guide.