Indoor location has always been a technological challenge. While another reliable solution rise, we decided to look into Bluetooth protocol.
In few words: the nearest Bluetooth beacon will communicate the GPS coordinates it received during its setup and will simulate an outdoor location for the mPost app, then displayed on Guardtek map. This feature activate itself automatically when GPS signal quality drops beneath a set threshold.
Supported Beacons
All Bluetooth beacons using Apple iBeacon protocol are compatible.
Encode your first Bluetooth Beacon
1. Go to Beacon Settings page under Settings menu.
2. Click on the Add Beacon blue button in upper right corner.
3. This will show a tile with several mandatory fields:
Name: displayed text on localisation map (floor +3)
Serial Number: unique number of beacon (1A2BCD)
UUID/MAC Adress: unique reference used by iBeacon protocol (A0:B1:02:03:C4:D5)
Latitude: Google Maps coordinates (-27.125812221587232)
Longitude: Google Maps coordinates (-109.27686436637225)
Next fields are all optional, only to precise beacon location and add a remark for configuration.
4. Finish by clicking the Save button in bottom right corner.
Import several Beacons
1. Click on the Import Beacons button.
2. Start by downloading the template file by clicking the Download Template link to get an empty file to fill.
3. Fill it in your table program (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets...) like you would complete it for 1 single beacon and save the file.
4. Go back to Guardtek and now click on the Select File button to search for your file and import it.
5. System will warn you if there's any problem in the file and if not, will list all beacons.
Prepare mPost for Bluetooth Beacons
3 simple requirements for your mPost app welcomes this feature:
1. mPost version must be equal or higher than 1.4.171 (visible on log screen).
2. Activate Bluetooth on your device (always).
3. Give mPost the permission to access device Bluetooth.