File tagging at law firm
Parisian law firm Lhermet, La Bigne & Remy (LLR) is using an RFID tracking system to manage its books and client files as they circulate throughout its office. After a one-year trial, during which LLR tagged approximately 10,000 files, the law firm is now working toward tagging all its books and files.
The RFID system is designed to allow lawyers to locate a file or book missing from a firms library, saving time otherwise spent trying to find the item.
LLR manages about 30,000 archived files each year, and 5,000 to 6,000 new files. On an average day, the firms 40 lawyers and their staff remove 80 files from the library. Using a pen-and-paper method to track which personnel checked out particular items made finding them a hardship. In many cases, no one wrote down who had a certain file or book, preventing staff from knowing who had taken it off the shelf and when. The new system reduces that search time.
When a file is created, an LLR staff member attaches a passive 13.56 MHz tag and uses a tabletop RFID reader to capture the tag’s unique ID number, inputting information about that file into the firms computer system. The tag ID number and file information are then associated with each other in LLRs office management software.
As the file is shelved in the library, it passes through a fixed reader at the door, which captures the files ID, as well as the ID of the tag embedded in the badge of the employee carrying the file. This keeps the software system updated as to which files are in the library, as well as who brought them there.
A lawyer looking to read a file or book presents an ID badge and the desired item at the checkout station, then presses a prompt on a screen to either check out the item, or to read it in the room. When the lawyer passes through the exit gate with a file in hand, the fixed reader captures those numbers and either approves that persons departure or flashes a warning, indicating the item must first be checked out.
The firm also has a handheld interrogator, which office staff can use for inventory checks. Data from the handheld reader is transmitted via Wi-Fi connection to the database, where the software compares the inventory search with its own records and lists any missing files or other discrepancies.
Suppliers: Tagsys and Ident
