[05/21/09]
RF-iT Solutions, the specialists for RFID software and services from Styria, Austria, prove their power of innovation to the benefit of the customer. Within a pilot project with the Slovenian IT partner SELEKT, the first RFID system which is tailored to the requirements of libraries and based on EPC standards has been implemented.
This is setting the course for the use of RFID-labeled books by the manufacturer in libraries in the future. The objective of the project is to make borrowing and returning books and other articles at the library of the northeast-Slovenian town of Velenje easier and faster, while at the same time minimizing errors.
Self-service and protection against theft
Library customers will be given the opportunity to actively perform the borrowing and returning process themselves in the future. For this purpose, all books were equipped with RFID chips, and RFID-based workstations and security systems installed at the library. Overall, two RFID desktop readers and two anti-theft protection readers with UHF-technology and touch screens are currently in operation. At this station, customers can register their selected or borrowed books. This can be done in staples in one step, rather than book by book as is the case with the barcode. All information becomes visible to the customer on the touch screen. The customer is then given the option to actively influence the borrowing or returning process, which is as such fully automated, for instance to extend the period of a borrowed book.
An important additional function of the system is its active anti-theft protection. Should a book not have been registered by means of an RFID reader, a warning signal sounds at the exit check of the library, which points out to the customer and staff that a registration is missing. Books can therefore no longer be taken from the library unnoticed.
The UHF technology - Ultra High Frequency - on microwave basis ensures that the entire process works without contact and also at larger distances. In particular, the EPC UHF Gen2 allows conducting inventories or book searches very rapidly with hand-held readers. Technically, the RFID solution by RF-iT-Solutions is based on the middleware You-R OPEN, Version 3.4. An additional Sip2 feature makes it possible to synchronize the local system with the central library database, which stores and manages all relevant data and histories of all books nationwide. Sip2 is the most widely spread protocol in library systems today.
Parallel to the pilot project in Slovenia, RF-iT Solutions is implementing similar projects in Europe. RF-iT Solutions Managing Director Dominik Berger is convinced that this system innovation will change library
management on a sustained basis: "A future-proof system, anti-theft protection and improved security, finding books faster, simple recording of inventories, minimization of error sources caused by manual data entry, relief of library staff that is now freed up for other tasks, as well as a gain in convenience and time for customers are arguments that speak for themselves!"
About RF-iT Solutions GmbH
RF-iT Solutions GmbH, Graz, Austria, a company operating in the area of RFID software and services, was established in 2005 through a management buy-out of the "RFID Software and Solutions" business unit of Infineon AG. RF-iT Solutions is the market leader in the strategic segments of the fashion and the automotive industries. The company provides RFID middleware and technology consultancy, devising comprehensive communications solutions to link together business processes, RFID technology and IT. With a staff of 36, the company focuses on the marketing and continued development of You-R OPEN, a scalable Auto-ID software product and the world's leading RFID OPerating ENvironment, which serves as a platform for system integrators, software manufacturers and operators. RF-iT Solutions provides system integrators with comprehensive technology consulting, serving them as a technical backbone, so that business processes that have been optimized in theory will also work when implemented in practice. In combination with the knowledge of industry experts, You-R OPEN enables partners to provide global RFID solutions quickly, with the necessary expertise, thus allowing them to focus on added value for their customers. At its location in Graz, the company operates the "RFID/EPCglobal Test Center" for customer-specific RFID test in cooperation with GS1. The company was awarded the valued European Auto-ID Award in the category of RFID in 2006 for the convincing features of You-R OPEN, including its functionalities and capacity for integration; it also received the German Innovation Award in 2007.
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