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COMPLEMENTARY TECHNOLOGIES: LoRaWAN ® & BLUETOOTH www.lora-alliance.org 7 GetWireless Deploys Option Bluetooth Badge Solution to Create Contact Tracing SITUATION: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Digi-Key, an electronic component distributor, has managed the unexpected surges of the disease and has committed to maintaining a safe and clean work environment. To balance the need to quarantine with the need to continue work processes, Digi-Key sought a means to create more precise contact tracing. PROBLEM: While Bluetooth badge solutions seemed to be an obvious choice for contact tracing management, a few issues made it not exactly the right solution. The size of the Digi-Key facilities, plus the layout incorporating both office space as well as warehouse spaces made the use of Bluetooth quite problematic. First, the warehouse had lots of metal racks that interfered with the Bluetooth signal if used as a backhaul. Second, the sheer number of Bluetooth devices that would need to be mounted around the facility was logistically prohibitive both from an initial deployment perspective as well as the ongoing battery changing perspective. SOLUTION: GetWireless deployed the Option Safe Distancing solution that partners Bluetooth badges with a LoRaWAN network. By using LoRaWAN, Digi-Key was able to use just a few gateways to cover the entire set of facilities and still have badges be able to communicate proximity events back to the cloud. Bluetooth was still used between badges to detect proximity, but it was the LoRaWAN capability that allowed employees to roam freely and do their normal jobs without concern for being near a Bluetooth access point. Bluetooth was still used between badges to detect proximity, but it was the LoRaWAN capability that allowed employees to roam freely and do their normal jobs without concern for being near a Bluetooth access point. BUSINESS IMPACT: • Rapid deployment: 2,500 active badges deployed to employees and visitors over a 2-week period • Reduced the number of employees requiring quarantine from 23 to 4 (83% reduction) in one case and 19 to 3 (85% reduction) in another • Results kept 35 additional employees performing critical functions in shipping and warehouse operations, thereby shipping 20,000 additional orders • Safe Distancing solution paid for itself after only 5 positive test results

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