Madrid Hospital Improves Employee Safety, Security With Real-Time Location System

  • Aug 04, 2008

Ekahau Inc., a provider of Wi-Fi-based Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS), recently announced that the 12 de Octubre Hospital in Madrid, Spain, has installed a Wi-Fi-based location tracking solution that is designed to improve security and safety of its emergency room employees.

The solution, deployed by Indra, is built on the Ekahau Positioning Engine, a software-based location server that leverages existing enterprise Wi-Fi infrastructure for location tracking.

"The Ekahau Positioning Engine helps hospitals capitalize on their existing Wi-Fi infrastructure," said Antti Korhonen, president and CEO of Ekahau. "Not only can they quickly and cost-effectively deploy new applications -- like the Indra's panic button application -- but new applications can easily be added to improve reporting, compliance and workflow within a healthcare setting."

With the deployment, the 12 de Octubre Hospital will provide its emergency room personnel with Ekahau Wi-Fi tags that include a "panic button" that can be pushed in the event of a security concern, such as assault or robbery. This panic button application will alert the hospital's security department, enabling them to know exactly where the incident has occurred and respond promptly.

The panic button application in use at 12 de Octubre Hospital is just one module of the Indra Localiza Suite, which is based on the Ekahau Positioning Engine. The solution also enables hospitals to use the same Wi-Fi infrastructure to create secure access zones within a building. By doing this, users can detect unauthorized access to restricted areas and track the location of assets to prevent loss or theft of critical equipment. Additionally, the Ekahau location tracking solution can be integrated with IP telephony systems, enabling users to receive alerts and manage the system from a Wi-Fi smartphone or dual-mode GSM/Wi-Fi phone.

"Ekahau RTLS provided our development team with one of the most powerful and flexible API software interfaces, enabling us to quickly and easily integrate the Ekahau Positioning Engine into our application layer," said Jose Antelo, responsible for Solutions Development in Corporate Networking at Indra. "Another advantage to partnering with Ekahau is that its solution provides the best level of accuracy available in the market over standard WLAN access points and requires no additional infrastructure deployment to track assets down to the room level."

Featured

  • TSA Introduces New $45 Fee Option for Travelers Without REAL ID Starting February 1

    The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that it will refer all passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly an option to pay a $45 fee to use a modernized alternative identity verification system, TSA Confirm.ID, to establish identity at security checkpoints beginning on February 1, 2026. Read Now

  • The Evolution of IP Camera Intelligence

    As the 30th anniversary of the IP camera approaches in 2026, it is worth reflecting on how far we have come. The first network camera, launched in 1996, delivered one frame every 17 seconds—not impressive by today’s standards, but groundbreaking at the time. It did something that no analog system could: transmit video over a standard IP network. Read Now

  • From Surveillance to Intelligence

    Years ago, it would have been significantly more expensive to run an analytic like that — requiring a custom-built solution with burdensome infrastructure demands — but modern edge devices have made it accessible to everyone. It also saves time, which is a critical factor if a missing child is involved. Video compression technology has played a critical role as well. Over the years, significant advancements have been made in video coding standards — including H.263, MPEG formats, and H.264—alongside compression optimization technologies developed by IP video manufacturers to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality. The open-source AV1 codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media—a consortium including Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Amazon and others — is already the preferred decoder for cloud-based applications, and is quickly becoming the standard for video compression of all types. Read Now

  • Cost: Reactive vs. Proactive Security

    Security breaches often happen despite the availability of tools to prevent them. To combat this problem, the industry is shifting from reactive correction to proactive protection. This article will examine why so many security leaders have realized they must “lead before the breach” – not after. Read Now

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”