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Joint technology partnership reaps rewards

The joint software/hardware venture between security companies Evolving Management Solutions (EMS) and Wavetrend, continues to pay dividends for both companies in the field of asset management.

The iTrac range of asset management products have been improved through the technologies provided by both EMS and Wavetrend resulting in systems that are easier to install and have advanced tracking abilities.

A new radio frequency identification tag (RF-ID) -active - produced by Wavetrend and integrated into iTrac - significantly enhances the transmit range. "Until now signal transmission distances of RF-ID tags have been severely compromised in cases where the tag is mounted directly onto the metal casings of assets," says Mike Victor, MD at Wavetrend. He explains that the locally produced asset tag is not compromised and is the only tag in the world that will transmit off a metal surface without suffering from significant attenuation.

Joint venture: Steve Mason and Stuart Pickering from EMS with Wavetrend’s Mike Victor on the right

"This is especially appealing to the IT industry where most assets are metal based. The tag sits flush on the surface and is aesthetically pleasing," says Stuart Pickering, MD at EMS.

Reader/tag intelligence

Another area of technology that Wavetrend has patented is that of reader/tag intelligence.

"For a reader to recognise individual assets we have introduced an ageing algorithm. From the time an asset tag is programmed into the system it initiates an age counter which increments with each transmission. This makes the tag almost impossible to duplicate," says Victor.

"We know exactly how many transmissions a tag can make in its lifetime and when it approaches that threshold, the system flags a warning to say the tag will 'die' in about three months' time and needs replacing."

In addition to several strategic installations in SA, the technology has been adopted by a number of locations in the UK such as the Sunderland Art Gallery, Lords Cricket Ground and Manchester University.

Steve Mason, EMS

011 462 2633

Mike Victor, Wavetrend

011 807 0911

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