News

SafeTzone standardizes on SAMSys RFID technology

February 3, 2005

TORONTO - SAMSys Technologies Inc. announced an agreement to supply passive radio frequency identification readers used with SafeTzone Technologies' family locator system, according to a news release. The locator system is now installed at high-profile venues such as Steamboat Ski and Resort in Colorado, Wannado City in Florida, Paramount's Great America in California and Dollywood's Splash Country in Tennessee.

SafeTzone venues that have deployed SAMSys readers have as many as 36 units in various locations. These include the registration site where enrollment is performed, the LocationStation kiosks where members of each group can locate each other on interactive maps, and all facilities equipped with SafeTzone's cashless spending system.

The SAMSys readers work in tandem with special waterproof, RFID-enabled bracelets to identify family members at various locations around the venue. The bracelets also facilitate cashless transactions for the purchase of food, drinks and merchandise on the premises.

SafeTzone, which has been using SAMSys readers for 18 months, has just placed an order for 150 additional units and has now standardized on a customized version of the company's 134 KHz MP9112 model to meet its passive RFID needs.

SAMSys has modified the reader to incorporate an external antenna that increases the read range up to 8 inches, ensuring easy scanning by children and adults who fail to hold their SafeTzone Locator bracelets within the reader's normal one-inch to three-inch reach. SAMSys has also added a snap-in mechanism for the power supply to eliminate the risk of disconnects.

"RFID is virtually synonymous today with supply chain initiatives, but SafeTzone's system demonstrates the kinds of creative applications beyond product tracking that can be enabled by the technology," said Cliff Horwitz, chairman, chief executive officer and president of SAMSys Technologies Inc. "This project suggests that RFID will take the world into new places that no one has even thought of yet."