Available for an ArcGIS organization licensed with the ArcGIS IPS extension.
The ArcGIS IPS Setup app provides features for monitoring the status of deployed Bluetooth beacons. After deploying beacons, it is important to occasionally maintain the deployed beacons to ensure consistent performance of indoor positioning services. Some issues that require maintenance include batteries depleting, devices going offline, and devices being moved or damaged.
You can use the IPS Setup app to review status information for beacons directly on-site by scanning the beacon network, capturing the current battery value for each detected beacon, and storing collected maintenance data in the attribute table of the IPS_Beacons layer.
Regular beacon maintenance can extend the reliability of indoor positioning system (IPS) deployments by preventing interruptions in indoor positioning services caused by unpowered or nonfunctioning beacons. It is recommended that you schedule maintenance sessions periodically depending on the scale and importance of the deployment.
Prerequisites for beacon maintenance
Beacon maintenance requires certain data specifications to be met. Review the following requirements before starting beacon maintenance:
- The signed-in user must have editing permissions for the selected IPS-aware map.
- Editing capabilities must be enabled on the selected IPS-aware map.
- The map must contain an IPS_Beacons layer that conforms to the ArcGIS IPS information model, with the following fields populated:
- Beacon ID
- UUID
- Major
- Minor
- MAC address
- LevelID
- Transmitter ID
Note:
Beacon maintenance functionality currently supports only Kontakt.io beacon networks. Support for other beacon vendors will be added in future releases of the IPS Setup app.
Monitor beacon network status
To begin a beacon maintenance session, complete the following steps:
- Open the IPS Setup app, and sign in if necessary.
- Select the IPS-enabled map containing the IPS_Beacons layer.
- Tap to open the options menu, and tap Beacon Maintenance.
- Walk through the IPS-enabled facilities represented on the map, while the IPS Setup app scans for nearby beacons.
During the scan, the app receives signals for battery values and last seen date from each detected beacon. Ensure that all IPS-enabled areas and beacon locations are visited during a maintenance session to capture status information for each active beacon.
Tip:
You can enable labels for beacon ID features in ArcGIS Pro to provide additional context during the facility walkthrough portion of the workflow and provide insight into which beacons have been appropriately registered and which beacons may be missed.
- Optionally, review the list of detected beacons and battery levels.
Note:
Occasionally, the battery status information for a detected beacon may not be captured successfully with the first scan. If this occurs, remain in the vicinity of a beacon for a few moments to allow the device to receive another status signal from the same beacon to ensure that battery status information is recorded.
Tip:
You can tap a beacon in the list to highlight the selected beacon on the map.
- After completing the scan, review the beacon maintenance summary.
The beacon maintenance summary provides an overview of beacon status throughout the facility. The Undetected category indicates beacons that may have been powered off or out of scanning range, and the Warning category indicates issues such as low battery or missing data.
- Tap Submit Results to record the collected beacon status data in the attribute table of the IPS_Beacons feature class.
After finishing a beacon maintenance session, you can use the collected beacon status results to identify the beacons that may require maintenance.