BLE beacon technology made simple

What is BLE? What does it stand for?

BLE stands for Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE, and marketed as Bluetooth Smart).

BLE is a form of wireless communication designed especially for short-range communication. BLE is very similar to Wi-Fi in the sense that it allows devices to communicate with each other. However, BLE is meant for situations where battery life is preferred over high data transfer speeds. For example, say you want to broadcast marketing campaigns in the close proximity of a newly launched headphone. The amount of data you need to transfer to a visitor’s smartphone is extremely small, hence BLE compatible beacons do the job quickly without draining the battery. 

Most smartphones and tablets today are BLE compatible, which means they can seamlessly communicate with Bluetooth enabled wireless headphones, digital signage, car stereos, fitness trackers, smartwatches and hardware devices like beacons.

How does BLE technology work?

BLE data transfer is essentially a one-way communication. Let’s take an example of BLE beacons trying to communicate with a smartphone in close proximity – a Bluetooth Low Energy beacon broadcasts packets of data at regular intervals of time. These data packets are detected by app/pre-installed services on smartphones nearby. This BLE communication triggers actions such as, pushing a message or promoting an app.

To save energy and provide higher data transfer speed, the entire BLE communication framework consists of 40 frequency channels, separated by 2MHz. 3 of these channels are the primary advertisement channels while the remaining 37 channels are secondary channels, also known as data channels. The Bluetooth communication starts with the 3 primary advertisement

What is virtual BLE?

Instead of a physical beacon that needs to be deployed, virtual BLE is simply a beacon point that is added to existing Wi-Fi networks. The BLE broadcast functionality achieved through a BLE antenna is added to a Wi-Fi access point. This eliminates the need for beacons and batteries. Such virtual BLE networks can be leveraged for indoor navigation.

How is BLE technology used with beacons?

1. Proximity marketing

Shoppers hate promotional messages which are out-of-context. Therefore, businesses have to get smarter with their marketing campaigns. These campaigns have to be extremely personalized and relevant. This not just boosts the sales but also increase brand loyalty. Companies like Macy’s, McDonald’s, Walmart and Lord & Taylor are making their campaigns extremely relevant, thus useful, for their visitors. (Learn more about proximity marketing using BLE beacons)

 2. Hyperlocal check-in

BLE driven check-ins unlike Facebook or Foursquare, are highly targeted and enable visitors to point out accurately where they are in the facility. This feature could be used in conjunction with specific location-based promotions or reward-based games, like a scavenger hunt.

3. Retargeting Ads

BLE beacon solutions, like Beacons, empower businesses to reach out to visitors even after they check out of the store/property. Once a visitor engages with any in-store campaign, they are exposed to the same brand when they go online – Facebook or Google. (How to set up a Facebook retargeting ads using BLE beacon)

4. Asset tracking

This is another popular Bluetooth LE beacon use case. Instead of broadcasting IDs to mobile devices, the BLE beacon “listens” for the unique IDs of BLE tags attached to objects. Because these tags can be equipped with sensors—for things such as light, sound, movement and temperature—the applications are many, from tracking of wheelchairs and infusion pumps in hospitals to monitor the movement, speed and vibration of an airport baggage conveyor.

5. Indoor navigation

GPS works great for outdoors – but we have all seen GPS solutions go crazy indoors. BLE infrastructure works great indoors and outdoors! A combination of three indoor beacons is sufficient to find the accurate position of a smartphone. Indoor navigation using BLE systems offers turn-by-turn directions, marks the important venues and indicates the recommended route. This is especially helpful for multi-story stores, shopping malls and museums. 

Virtual BLE negates the need to have a physical beacon in this particular use case. By latching onto existing Wi-Fi networks, beacon points are able to create a range that resembles a beam of a flashlight. More energy is pushed in front of the beacon antenna compared to the sides. This energy forms a power distribution resembling an ellipse.

The location of a user is determined by assigning a probability weight to each point in the map. After calculating the expected signal strength and the measured signal strength, the location of the device (user) is determined with great accuracy.

BLE beacons in real estate

Real estate is one of those verticals where businesses have recently picked great interest in using BLE beacon technology to boost their customers’ experience. Realtors are leveraging beacons for spreading awareness about open house events, capturing leads by broadcasting information about available properties, and most importantly distributing digital business cards. 

For attracting buyers,

1. Mounting beacons on sale signs and lawn signs to give detailed information of the property
2. Broadcasting a list of available properties

For capturing leads,

1. Sending digital business cards
2. Enabling online booking for property visits
3. Sending a property quote in return of personal details

For in-property engagement

1. Virtual home tours
2. Sharing the property highlights and in-home options
3. Informing about amenities and neighbourhood

BLE beacons at events and stadiums

Proximity-aware event apps are found to be 235% more engaging than standard mobile apps at events. And given that, BLE beacons today do not require apps for broadcasting notification on Android, this engagement is much higher ( Event marketers are enhancing visitor engagement by leveraging beacons for gamification, frictionless registration, improved networking, auto check-ins and indoor navigation.

Other verticals making the best use of BLE beacons are hospitals, museums, airports, tourism and public venues, like amusement parks and train stations.