The hand-held scanner Ident-Ex® 01 and the BLE Beacon Loc-Ex® 01 for ATEX/IECEx Zone 1 (photo: ecom instruments)

ecom instruments, international provider of explosion-proof mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, is expanding its comprehensive mobile worker ecosystem with two new innovative peripherals – the hand-held scanner Ident-Ex® 01 and the BLE Beacon Loc-Ex® 01 for ATEX/IECEx Zone 1. The new enterprise mobility solutions help companies to substantially improve the way in which they operate, enforce security, provide safety and manage assets and workflows.

The Ident-Ex ® 01 is a powerful, intrinsically safe “All-in-One” barcode scanner and RFID reader for use in hazardous areas. With its unique modular design, the ultra-rugged Bluetooth capable Ident Ex® 01 can be specifically configured to a customer’s needs and requirements and can be operated with just one hand. The changeable head modules – RFID, 1D / 2D bar code – allow to read a wide range of RFID tags, 1D and 2D barcode types from every angle and different distances between 15 cm and up to 15 meters.

Thanks to various adjustment options even bar codes on highly reflective surfaces and poorly lit areas or in very bright sunlight no longer constitute a problem. In combination with GPS-enabled, connected devices such as the explosion-proof ecom smartphone Smart-Ex® 01 and the tablet Tab-Ex® 01, operating material and plant components can be quickly located. Workers, who often have to spend hours to inspect plants, can now assign assets more easily and accurately. Especially in emergency situations critical assets can be located more quickly, in order to swiftly and efficiently identify damage and prevent accidents.

As seen in the consumer sector, Beacon technology opens up completely new paths in hazardous work environments through innovation and efficiency. ecom’s Loc-Ex® 01 – BLE beacons are small radio beacons that use Bluetooth Low Energy signals at periodic intervals to provide proximity awareness. In combination with mobile devices (smartphone and tablet) they bring the ability to augment digital and physical data into a single, unified business intelligence unit to hazardous areas. Thus providing a low cost, basically maintenance free (battery exchange by up to four years) way to roll out and connect custom data to backend systems.

Due to their UV-resistant housing material the beacons can be used both, indoors – e.g. to complement GPS for outdoor positioning – and even outdoors. Loc-Ex® 01 – BLE Beacons are all about gaining insights to operations and asset information based on exact locations, such as log-in data, average dwell times, number of engagements, temperature measurement and other metrics. By recognising a user’s device and user data, beacons not only provide a secure physical access and guard control system, but also give mobile workers piece of mind that if any accident were to occur, they are registered and can be located and retrieved the fastest way possible via Lone Worker Protection (App Solution). This significantly reduces the workers exposure to risks, improving the overall safety of operations.

The Bluetooth standard ensures that the Ident-Ex® 01 (Bluetooth 2.1) and the BLE Beacon Loc-Ex ® 01 (Bluetooth 4.0) are fully compatible with the Mobile Worker core products from ecom, like the world’s first Zone 1/21 and Division 1 certified Tablet Tab-Ex® 01, the first intrinsically safe Android LTE / 4G smartphone Smart-Ex® 01 and the first intrinsically safe PDA with WWAN i.roc® Ci70 -Ex. Likewise, all other commonly available mobile devices are supported.

Tags: ecom instruments