Michael Bettua, CEO and Co-Founder

Runway incursions remain one of the most critical safety challenges for airports, with incidents often stemming from unauthorized access by vehicles or personnel unfamiliar with airport layouts. Current manual systems are increasingly strained by labor shortages and high turnover, exposing vulnerabilities in safeguarding restricted areas. Adopting advanced real-time location technology can address these risks, ensuring proactive monitoring, precise intervention, and enhanced operational safety across the airside environment.

Ramsey Nuwar highlights how new micro-location tracking technologies, like the system developed by Volan, can revolutionize airline on-time performance by offering real-time visibility of ground operations. Traditional manual tracking methods have often led to inefficiencies and delays. With Volan's system, wearable devices for personnel and USB-connected trackers for vehicles provide precise data on the location and movement of resources such as fuel trucks, baggage handlers, and cleaning crews. This allows proactive delay prevention, optimized resource allocation, enhanced safety, and better accountability. 

Airport Improvement Magazine interviewed Brian Cobb, the chief innovation officer at CVG Airport, and Michael Bettua, CEO of Volan Technology, to delve into their collaborative project utilizing Volan’s Bluetooth-based tracking system for airport operations. The Volan Positioning System (VPS), which employs Bluetooth badges and a solar-powered wireless mesh network, enabled real-time tracking of construction workers and equipment. This system not only minimized the need for costly safety escorts but also provided valuable data for post-incident analysis. Additionally, VPS enhanced security by sending alerts when personnel entered restricted areas, significantly improving both operational efficiency and safety at the airport.

Ramsey Nuwar, an aviation expert and consultant for Volan Technology, discusses how post-pandemic passenger traffic has prompted airports to adopt technologies like micro-location to enhance operations and customer satisfaction. Micro-location technology, which accurately tracks the location of employees and assets within the terminal, can significantly improve the passenger experience by optimizing resources such as golf carts for assisting passengers, predicting demand, and reducing wait times and missed connections.

Imagine airport CFOs having a digital window offering complete transparency into contractor work hours on construction projects, eliminating reliance on self-reported time cards. Micro-location systems, like the Volan Positioning System, ensure precise tracking of contractor presence and movements, mitigating financial risk from potential overpayments. This technology aligns digital records with construction invoices, providing CFOs irrefutable proof of labor accuracy before payments, enabling airport leaders to optimize resource allocation and better anticipate labor demands.

In a bid to enhance safety, ensure FAA compliance, and reduce costs, one major U.S. airport is pioneering a groundbreaking solution utilizing smart badges and advanced geofence-based positioning systems. By equipping construction workers with these badges, one person can effectively monitor the location of 40 workers using just a laptop, eliminating the need for the traditional 1:5 escort-to-worker ratio. This innovative approach slashes projected escort costs by a staggering 82%, as illustrated by a detailed cost analysis.

Airports are taking a hard look at modern technology solutions to help meet the FAA's new extensive Safety Management System requirements. This 60-page ruling mandates that airports significantly improve their detection, analysis, data capture and reporting of safety incidents to maintain compliance. Volan has the answer.

One of the major challenges in airport operations post-April 2023 is ensuring compliance with increased FAA regulations mandating comprehensive reporting and data collection for all incidents. Volan positioning system can provide automatic data collection capabilities, seamlessly meeting these regulations.

Warehousing and fulfillment operations today are faced with more challenges than ever in seeking higher operational efficiency in an increasingly competitive market. Location intelligence is changing how warehouses operate, from optimizing profit margins to ensuring safety compliance. Location intelligence software can help your company improve efficiency, reduce unproductive hours and increase profits.

What is workforce optimization and how can it impact your bottom line? We explore what this means for all industries but specifically how it can transform manufacturing in a market climate that's becoming more competitive by the day.

RTLS is an acronym for real-time location system, which identifies the current location of assets or people. RTLS doesn’t necessarily refer to a specific technology, but rather it is a solution that may be achieved through various technologies. RTLS can accurately locate and manage assets, inventory, or even people and help companies to make informed decisions based on collected location data.

What is the difference between ultra-wideband and Bluetooth? Discover the pros and cons of each technology to find the best fit for your RTLS needs. Ultra-wideband is a low-power radio technology for transmitting data within the 3.1 to 10.6 GHz range. Bluetooth Low Energy is a radio frequency technology that transmits data in the 2.4 GHz spectrum band, specifically across 80 different 1 MHz wide channels from 2400 to 2483.5 MHz.

Geofencing is a system of virtual boundaries. Using GPS, radio frequency identification, Wi-Fi, and other data mechanisms, a geographical location carries a “geofence” that shows the specific location, and mobility patterns of people and their devices. Geofencing software provides real-time coordinates within the virtual fence perimeter. If the device goes beyond that perimeter, alerts—through a push notification or text message—will be sent to the user.

Workforce productivity is the sum of what employees do each day. Put simply, this concept denotes the total amount of goods and services produced through an understanding of an organization's biggest asset — its people. Payroll often ranks highest among company expenditures, sometimes using up to one-third of a company's revenue. With labor shortages impacting the supply of available workers and turnover rates, employers must hire the right people and ensure that they’re creating environments for employees to be able to work in the most efficient manner. Hiring, onboarding, and productivity standards are extremely important for businesses to invest in.