COVID-19 Healthcare Response: RTLS Solutions for Contact Tracing and Hand Hygiene Monitoring

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). In the absence of a vaccine or specific antiviral treatment, maintaining good hand hygiene and limiting contact with other people continue to be the most recommended course of action to be taken by the general public.

Penguin Location Services RTLS: Essential Tools for COVID-19 Response

Penguin Location Services real-time location system (RTLS) provides valuable tools to ensure comprehensive pandemic response capabilities for healthcare facilities and organizations. Our advanced RTLS technology delivers:

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Solutions

• Contact traceability between patients, visitors, staff and medical equipment
• Automated contact tracing documentation for infection control protocols
• Real-time tracking capabilities essential for pandemic response

Hand Hygiene Compliance Monitoring

• Hand hygiene compliance monitoring systems integrated with RTLS technology
• Automated tracking to ensure adherence to WHO-recommended hygiene protocols
• Real-time compliance data to support infection prevention measures during COVID-19

Healthcare Asset and People Tracking

• Comprehensive tracking of assets and people throughout healthcare facilities
• Visitor management systems for enhanced safety during pandemic conditions
• Real-time location monitoring for patients, staff, and essential medical equipment

Wi-Fi Infrastructure Integration for Healthcare RTLS

Penguin Location Services can integrate with existing Wi-Fi infrastructure including:

• Cisco wireless networks
• Meraki systems
• Ruckus wireless infrastructure
• MIST AI-driven networks

This integration capability provides a form of traceability and visibility which otherwise may not be available to healthcare facilities responding to COVID-19 challenges.

Why RTLS is Critical During COVID-19

During the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare facilities need immediate access to:

• Real-time contact tracing capabilities for rapid outbreak response
• Automated hand hygiene monitoring to ensure compliance with safety protocols
• Comprehensive asset tracking to optimize resource allocation during critical shortages
• Visitor management systems to control facility access and maintain safety

Supporting Healthcare Heroes During COVID-19

Penguin Location Services’ healthcare RTLS solutions provide the essential tools that healthcare workers need to maintain safety protocols while delivering critical care during the pandemic. Our technology enables healthcare facilities to:

• Respond quickly to potential COVID-19 exposures through automated contact tracing
• Maintain rigorous hand hygiene standards with real-time monitoring
• Optimize workflow efficiency during high-demand periods
• Ensure comprehensive visibility into facility operations

Penguin Location Services wishes everyone the best. Stay safe!

How Indoor Positioning and Navigation Solutions Make Shopping Easier

In this blog, we explore how indoor navigation systems and positioning solutions are reshaping the shopper experience. From mega malls to multi-level retail complexes, the demand for a smooth indoor navigation solution has become a top priority for IT and marketing teams.

With multiple options available in most cities, shoppers are more selective than ever. The experience matters most. Retailers and mall operators now focus on digital transformation to deliver seamless journeys—starting with parking, continuing with finding the right store or deal, and ending with stress-free navigation back to the car.

A study by ECE (a leading European shopping center operator) revealed:

• 2/3 of visitors check mall apps or websites before visiting.

• 85% of shoppers value arrival services and real-time venue information.

• A strong demand exists for parking guidance systems.

• 25% of visitors want 3D guidance, and 1 in 3 people under 40 expect digital indoor wayfinding technology.

This shift highlights how indoor navigation can enhance loyalty, improve satisfaction, and increase mall foot traffic.

Targeted Marketing

Personalized, location-aware marketing is a game-changer. With indoor navigation technology, shoppers receive promotions based on their position and interests, while retailers boost sales with timely offers.

Penguin Location Services also integrates loyalty programs—shoppers can earn points for visits, purchases, or sharing experiences, further enhancing engagement.

Indoor Wayfinding

Large malls can be overwhelming. An interactive map powered by indoor navigation systems ensures shoppers know exactly where they are and how to get to their destination efficiently, even across multiple floors.

Family & Friends Finder

Shoppers may want to split up and reconnect later, or parents may want to keep track of children. Penguin Location Services’ indoor navigation solution includes Family & Friends Finder, allowing users to locate loved ones easily on the mall map.

Car Finder

Parking is a frequent pain point. With indoor wayfinding, shoppers can:

• Find vacant parking spots faster.

• Save their car’s location.

• Navigate to stores and back to their vehicle stress-free.

Tracking for Operators

Beyond shoppers, venue operators benefit from staff tracking and asset monitoring. Using indoor navigation technology, malls can:

• Track staff attendance and improve safety compliance.

• Locate security personnel instantly during emergencies.

• Monitor assets such as kiosks, displays, or shopping carts.

Conclusion

Indoor navigation solutions transform the retail experience by reducing shopper stress, enhancing engagement, and creating new revenue opportunities for operators. From targeted marketing to wayfinding, Family & Friends Finder, and Car Finder, the applications are wide-ranging.

📩 For more information, reach out at [email protected] or schedule a demo

I have never been a fan of theme parks and cannot think of anything worse than spending thirty minutes in a hot summer day waiting for the thrill of 67-second amusement park ride. Can you?

Last summer, I went to Dubai for a 5-day business trip. On my last day and under repeated concierge recommendations, I thought: come on, let’s give it a try. I succumbed to visiting one of the local theme parks and here it was déjà vu all over again with literally 100s of people ahead of me on many of the rides I wanted to try. With only eight hours left before my flight, I had this sense of urgency to ride what I could.

I thought to myself: won’t it be nice if I could figure out which rides had the least wait times or even better booked a time-slot during which I can show up and be shown to the VIP line? I wish if an insider accompanied me to show what the craze is all about. Thus far, I totally understand why others desperately leave the amusement park or don’t even visit.

Long Queue at Hogwarts Express (Source)

Theme Park Queue Management: Day Dreaming Solutions

Given that even many of the theme park restaurants had long wait times too, I certainly cannot be the only one wishing for a comprehensive theme park queue management solution. The need for mobile theme park solutions has never been more apparent. Possibly through my mobile app I can use it to book the theme park ticket and then schedule (yes schedule) the rides ahead of time using advanced mobile theme park solutions.

When it is my turn, the mobile application notifies me and even encourages me to try similar attractions but with short wait times or suggests numerous nearby restaurants, shows or special events without losing my spot in the queue. These suggestions could even be curated to my preferences based on past visitor behavior or guest profile.

Main Screen of Penguin’s Mobile App

Mobile Theme Park Solutions: The Wake Up Moment

The queue optimization solution exists! Penguin’s mobile-based positioning platform can be used for (hold your breath) Queue Optimization and enables theme park operators to push the boundaries of visitor’s experience by obtaining a bird’s-eye view over both the capacity and the flow of the queues. The less time one spends waiting, the more time they have to spend on rides, browsing gift shops and enjoying theme park restaurants.

Not only does Penguin provide visitors with better navigation guidance but it also provides operators the ability to more evenly spread people throughout the theme park. Penguin shares expected wait times and live videos of the rides along with status updates on delays or canceled shows or rides. This helps set visitor expectations and reduce guest frustration.

What’s Next in Theme Park Innovation?

Are you eager to learn more about Penguin’s solutions for Theme Parks and visitor experience optimization? Just follow this link and download our flyer to discover how smart queue management technology can transform your amusement park operations and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

The future of theme parks lies in intelligent crowd management, mobile-first experiences, and data-driven operational decisions. With the right theme park management software, operators can create memorable visits while maximizing operational efficiency and revenue per visitor.

Occupants and visitors of smart buildings expect sufficient intelligence to support profile-aware interactive services at different locations. This expectation drives the need for sustainable indoor positioning systems and advanced smart building technology. Venue operators who fall behind in adopting indoor positioning technology are likely to fall short of supporting use cases perceived as an integral part of the smart building era. Modern indoor positioning systems have become essential infrastructure for competitive advantage.

Is Indoor Positioning Really Needed?
In many cases, the location requirement may be served well enough by occupancy sensors. However, there are many use cases where accurate indoor positioning is required to (1) better serve the occupants and visitors and (2) develop an in-depth understanding of the traffic and ultimately usage pattern of the building. These use cases drive the need for accurate and sustainable indoor positioning that is owned and potentially monetized by the venue operators themselves. Indoor wayfinding is an example use case applicable in mega venues (e.g. shopping centers) where people will get lost, lose their cars and struggle to find what they are actually looking for.

Read more about PenguinIN Indoor Wayfinding

Is it just Indoor Wayfinding?
Albeit the most obvious, indoor wayfinding is not the only use case built on indoor positioning. Value-driven use cases will vary by venue type:
In hospitals, the return on investment (RoI) of indoor positioning is primarily composed of two use cases: (1) wayfinding to reduce lost appointments and (2) asset tracking to reduce asset loss and time wasted looking for assets.
In airports, the RoI is primarily motivated by the reduction of late passengers causing delayed flight and heavy airline penalties.
In shopping malls, indoor wayfinding and proximity-aware advertising are the key use cases.
For the education sector, driving efficiency thru automated attendance, asset tracking, and even occupant tracking for safety reasons are the most obvious use cases.
Once deployed, indoor positioning platform can further augment the performance of occupancy sensors touted today for many standard smart building use cases as well.

 

 

Is the Technology ready?
There are many challenges for delivering an indoor positioning solution including continuously changing environments such as those in open and configurable office spaces and specialized infrastructure that is usually outside the realm of IT department expertise (e.g. various sensors, magnetic field etc.). Moreover, we face a lack of standardized technology and varying KPIs which are driven by the use cases.

However, there are many vendors today providing mature solutions. PenguinIN is one such provider who decided to distinguish itself by providing a turn-key managed indoor positioning solution where location of things is offered as a service. In this model, IT departments will not have to worry about infrastructure setup and maintenance and will offer the technology to internal stakeholders via API and SDKs. Maintenance will include periodic site surveys with calibration performed by our local support teams. This ensures that an accurate and stable position continues to be available long after initial system deployment.

Why not let others do it?
It is very tempting for venue operators to allow the likes of Apple and Google to provide and own the indoor positioning solutions in their venues. They are provided at seemingly no cost and no doubt a ubiquitous solution from Apple or Google may have its benefits particularly for the end user.

However, the issues which linger include those of data ownership, solution monetization, security/ privacy and accuracy KPIs.
Client data is a key asset for venue operators particularly when their marketing department – amongst others – are trying to develop data-driven insights to help with the decision making process. These insights may be offered to venue tenants and others who are interested to sell products and/or services to visitors of this venue.
In addition, venues may be liable especially that they are providing either the infrastructure or the connectivity links to harvest user data. This is particularly true with many jurisdictions mandating privacy regulations. Providing sensitive areas such as airports and hospitals, and any other industry where security is business critical need to prioritize security and privacy. Finally, such solutions may require a complete Wi-Fi and/ or BLE (Bluetooth low energy) infrastructure revamp.

Venues must actively pursue their own enterprise-grade solutions instead of going with Google and Apple for indoor wayfinding. The analogy is too stark with cellular carriers who have built multi-billion-dollar networks in the past and are struggling today to generate revenue while Apple and Google are using these same networks to monetize in innovative ways. Brick-and-mortar venues will suffer a similar fate to cellular carriers if control is relinquished to the likes of Apple and Google.

In an upcoming post, we will discuss the key elements in selecting an indoor positioning solution and introduce some of the KPIs that venue operators should look for before selecting their solution.

Let me know: what do you think about letting Apple or Google in? Do you have any other thoughts?
Please comment below or feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]