Airport Business

MAY 2017

The airport professional's source for airport industry news, articles, events, and careers.

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BEACON BENEFITS 54 airportbusiness May 2017 By Dheeraj Kohli 4 Ways Beacon Technology Can Benefit Airports and Travelers Beacon technology provides valuable information in the age of smart phones. Mobile devices offer consumers more flexi- bility and entertainment options for their jour- ney, but our reliance on our smartphones – and the data generated by our usage – also presents a huge opportunity to airports. It has been esti- mated that 90 percent of the world's data has been created in the past two years; however, the vast majority of that data is unstructured, leaving many businesses, including airports, trying to figure out the best way to collect and analyze this data to better inform how they operate. The technology that can help airports lever- age our mobile reliance into tangible business benefit lies in beacon technology. Beacons are small wireless devices that broadcast a short- range Bluetooth signal, which is detected by an app on a mobile device as it comes in proximity to the beacon. The detection can trigger notifications, open web pages, or push advertisements directly to that mobile device. A passenger need only download an app, which most airports already have developed. Though it may seem trivial, the reality is anything but. Here are four ways that this tech- nology can benefit both airports and travelers alike: • Real-time Updates and Navigation: Airports can use beacon technology in con- junction with mobile apps to deliver real- time "day of travel" information directly to Beacons also generate information about passengers, airlines and baggage that can be key to effectively planning service capacity, resources and staffing. Unisys Corp. T oday, more people rely on their mobile phones than ever before and this is especially true when it comes to our travel experience. In the age of the smartphone, these devices not only allow us to download boarding passes and check in for flights in advance, but also to shop, surf and catalog our travel experience on social media.

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