You may not have heard of NFC, but if you’ve ever tapped your phone to pay for something then you’re already using it.
NFC, or near field communication, is the wireless protocol that allows two devices to talk to each other when they’re close together. A subset of radio-frequency identification technology (known as RFID), it allows compatible hardware to communicate with a chip-embedded, unpowered electronic tag using radio waves.
It’s best known for enabling contactless payments on your smart phone or watch through services like Apple Pay or Google Pay, but its functionality extends beyond consumer purchases.
How NFC helps our asset management
At yStop, we’re using NFC to revolutionise the way our maintenance team works in the field by adding NFC-enabled plastic tags, smaller than the size of your palm, to hundreds of our furniture assets – smart seats, shelters and bins – that we maintain across Perth.
“When we looked at the technology, we realised how we it would help our maintenance teams complete and report on tasks quickly and accurately,” yStop founder and director Len Luxford says.
“In the field, any team member just needs to hold their phone near the NFC tag and it immediately transmits information about the asset to our purpose-built mobile app. This enables them to carry out onsite reporting about the work they’re doing – like removing graffiti, installing or changing advertising panels, or general site upkeep – much quicker than manually entering data into the app.”
The combination of the NFC tags and MyStop app, developed by our in-house software team, may only save a minute or so at each bus shelter or seat. But with hundreds of maintenance jobs completed every week, this time-saving functionality means sites in each council area are kept clean and graffiti-free faster and more efficiently.
Implement NFC technology for your council
yStop has partnered with councils and local businesses for more than 20 years to enhance public spaces, support smart city targets and support community engagement.
We manage more than 2,000 sites across 70 suburbs at no cost to councils with our unique local business-funded model.
We have newly appointed service management teams in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and WA ready to demonstrate MyStop to your council or place management team. Contact us to find out more.
