Product 101: Contact Tracing

May 11, 2020
3 min read
By: Cara Hueston

Learn about Mappedin's new Contact Tracing solution, how it works, and what data is collected to help keep your employees safe.

Mappedin is focused on providing accurate and easy-to-use indoor mapping solutions for venues of all types. We’ve helped people around the world find where they need to go. But what’s the path forward when the unexpected happens and we’re faced with a new reality?

The solution

In today’s world, it is crucial that indoor spaces have a safe way for their employees and guests to navigate. Hospitals, campuses, stadiums, and airports, to name a few, are complex venues that have thousands of visitors every day. Not only can these spaces benefit from easy-to-use indoor maps for the general public, but extensions of that digital map asset can be used for solutions to help keep employees safe. This is the premise of Mappedin’s Contact Tracing solution. 

How it works

Our contact tracing solution can help make your workplace safer by identifying when workers have come within close proximity to each other. To do this, Mappedin relies on employee devices and indoor positioning systems (IPS). A native mobile app uses location services to gather positioning data within the workplace and generates a device ID to monitor contact instances. This application can be simple, standalone, and provided by Mappedin, or integrated with an existing employee app. 

Mappedin works with Apple to provide hardware-free indoor positioning on iOS devices and a variety of partners for Android devices. Or, if beacons or other positioning hardware is installed at a venue, we can integrate with that in order to pick up device locations.  

As location data is collected, Mappedin leverages spatial and temporal analysis to determine when contact events have occurred. We define a contact event as: A device that has come within 5 meters of another device, for 5 minutes or longer, in the last 5 days, inside the specified venue

Real-time data

Mappedin’s Contact Tracing solution includes a dashboard to display key information that can be used in identifying higher-risk personnel. The dashboard allows certain permission levels to view a summary, including time and length, of each contact event. The collected data reports at the device ID level and can be used to notify personnel at the employer’s discretion. 

The dashboard also includes:  

  • Detailed list and map views

  • Aggregated contact events as the user zooms out 

  • Dispersed contact events as the user zooms in

  • When an event is selected, a summary of that event is displayed

  • An event is placed at the location where the interaction started 

In addition to the above, Mappedin’s Contact Tracing solution collects data over space and time, giving workplaces access to valuable information that can help in describing patterns or predicting future outbreaks. 

Are you looking for ways to help keep your employees safe? Particularly in uncertain times, having information at your fingertips can help to make informed decisions. To learn more about Mappedin’s contact tracing solution, contact us today. 

Read the press release here