Frequently Asked Questions

While hardware-free solutions exist, such as WiFi or geomagnetic-based fingerprinting, they often require frequent calibration and struggle to maintain accuracy. 

At Pointr, we offer hardware-agnostic solutions, meaning Pointr Indoor Location (Blue Dot) offers a reliable approach by leveraging your existing infrastructure (like WiFi access points or smart lighting) alongside our low-maintenance Bluetooth beacons  (5 years battery life) that we procure from our 3rd party partners.

To learn more about why you shouldn’t consider hard-ware-free solutions, read our dedicated blog to explain why and which infrastructure you should choose to best fit into your solution.

Pointr offers quick and easy installation process. We carry out the beacon deployment with our team or partner (3rd party applicable) depending on your requirements.

Different buildings have different installation time frames, depending on their ages, sizes and complexities. The estimated hardware installation timescale for 100,000 sqm is 4-8 weeks. A train station with 18 platforms can be done within a single night working after hours. 

The new beacon configuration process is generally done with the Pointr Guru App, Pointr team configures beacons for specific placement prior to installation to ensure error-free deployment. For existing beacons, beacon configuration can be done directly in Pointr Cloud. Pointr conducts complete on-site tests to ensure all beacons operate normally and blue-dot performs within specification. Which means any BLE blindspots can be identified and rectified by adding beacons as necessary.

Not at all! Beacons are low-cost devices. The batteries in the beacons will last approx. 5 years with very few maintenance required.

Our highly-trained professional team can install beacons efficiently to help you cut down operation cost.

We source beacons from trusted partners. We guarantee 4 years of battery life (but expect 5+ years). Powered options (such as BLE beacons from WiFi or Smart Lighting) don’t have such an issue.

One beacon is normally around 5cm x 3cm x 2cm. The compact size allows you to deploy the beacons in the least visible locations or lighting systems, blending functionality with your interior design.

Pointr is hardware agnostic and we source our beacons from 3rd party providers. You can either source them directly or through us, we offer flexible solutions to help you finish your project without a hassle. Two of our highly-recommended providers are Kontakt and GCell.

The maximum range of Beacons is around 70 meters (230 ft). However, Pointr Deep Location™ recommends 20 meters (66 ft) apart per Beacon placement to ensure the accuracy and stability of the system.

For Beacon Installation, a good beacon positioning is the key to high accuracy deployments. It is recommended that every 30-40m beacon is installed in a corridor. In a large open space, we arrange beacons in 5-beacon constellations and every 180 - 200 sqm for one beacon. 

Pointr SDK only needs to receive BLE signals. Thus, Pointr can work with both iBeacon and Eddystone with the same accuracy and performance.

The only main difference is that: Eddystone doesn't support apps working in the background on iOS. However, if a client wants higher security and doesn't need background capabilities on iOS, we recommend using Eddystone.

In most cases, yes! Pointr Indoor Location (Blue Dot) works with most Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons set up for iBeacon. However, for the best accuracy, we recommend consulting with your assigned Project Manager at Pointr. You can also check our "Existing Hardware" policy for more details.

Yes, Blue Dot works with virtual beacons in the sense that it can leverage zone-based locations similar to what some virtual beacon solutions offer.  

However, it's important to clarify a common misconception. Virtual beacons advertised by some competitors (like Juniper Mist's WiFi AP solution) don't truly replace physical beacons. Virtual beacons often refer to a concept called "geofencing," which allows for location awareness within specific zones. This functionality is already supported by Pointr Indoor Location and Geofencing, so you can achieve similar results without physical beacons in certain situations.

For the most precise location tracking, however, physical beacons are still recommended.  We recommend consulting with your dedicated Project Manager to determine the best solution for your specific needs.