FloBLE use case example.

[StacyParticipant]

Here is what I’m trying to do. The best way to explain is to give an example.

I would like to start by having 5 people in different locations around a campus at various meetings. Each person would have a FloBLE device. At each of the 5 locations there will be hundreds of people. Each of them will have an NFC tag with data (name, address, etc.) on them. If the person with the FloBLE is interested in the person with the tag, they will tap the device. Once it is tapped, I want the data to update a SQL backend database with simple information. It is my understanding that I can do this by using the SDK. I also assume the transaction would be immediate. Meaning the person taps the FloBLE, the FloBLE contacts the moble device and the mobile device connects to SQL and writes to the table. I hope I can get that all to work, but it seems like people do similar things already. If I can get that to work, I would be over the moon happy.

To add icing to the cake, I would like to know what happens when I do not have a connection to the device. Lets say I’m in a meeting and I want to get the information off 3 tags, but all I have is the FloBLE device, not WiFi, no iPhone, no computer. I assume I cannot have the FloBLE “store” the tags to download later. If That works I will or can figure out a way to do my second part, I will be extremely excited. I hope my example explains what I need.

I’m so excited to try and get this to work.

Stu

[RichardKeymaster]

Hi Stu, yes the FloBLE can address the use case you’ve described. This is a common application built and requested by our customers. Most of the challenges come in during the association portion of such a deployment. In other words, when you need to associate the 100s of people to NFC tags and store that metadata in your SQL database. Things like people loosing their NFC tags or new comers wanting to be associated on the spot generally can make for more friction than event organizers are willing to handle.

As far as your “icing on the cake” request, the FloBLE is definitely able to store tags scanned when the host device (iPhone, computer, etc) is not available. That said, this would require custom firmware and will be limited in how many NFC tags can be stored offline based on the available internal memory of the FloBLE (in the other of kBs). The FloBLE comes in 3 flavors, two of which are in production (Plus and EMV) and one that’s still in development (Mini). Costs to build custom firmware can vary wildly depending on which flavor you choose and the volume you will end up purchasing. From a high level though, you’re looking at thousands of dollars of engineering.

best,
Richard

[Author]

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