Rfid-based personnel tracking

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for RFID-based personnel tracking. A method of tracking employees includes, in a first computer system, prompting a user for identification input, validating the identification input, receiving data from a first scan of a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag upon initiation of a task, receiving data from a second scan of the RFID tag upon termination of the task, and uploading the identification input and the data of the first and second scans to a second computer system for storage and correlation.

1 . A method of tracking employees comprising:
 prompting a user for identification input from a portable computer system;   validating the identification input on the portable computer system;   receiving, on the portable computer system, data from a first scan of a Radio Frequency Identification tag, associated with a fixed location, upon initiation of a task;   receiving, on the portable computer system, data from a second scan of the Radio Frequency Identification tag upon termination of the task; and   uploading, from the portable computer system, the identification input and the data of the first and second scans to a remote computer system for storage and correlation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the portable computer system includes a Radio Frequency Identification tag reader. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the portable computer system comprises a pocket personal computer with a Radio Frequency Identification tag reader plug-in. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the data from the first and second scans include data representing a date and time. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the data from the first and second scans include data representing a site identification. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 generating a report from a correlation of the identification input, the data from the first scan, and the data from the second scan. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising:
 transmitting the report to a report subscriber. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the report subscriber is an employer of the user. 
     
     
         9 . A method of tracking comprising:
 entering a user identification from a user into a portable computer system;   receiving, on the portable computer system, data from a first scan of a Radio Frequency Identification tag, associated with a fixed location, upon the initiation of a task;   receiving, on the portable computer system, data from a second scan of the Radio Frequency Identification tag upon the termination of the task; and   storing the user identification and the data of the first and second scans on a remote computer system.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising sending the user identification, the data from the first scan, and the data from the second scan to a remote computer system for storage and manipulation. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the portable computer system includes a Radio Frequency Identification tag reader. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the portable computer system comprises a pocket personal computer with a Radio Frequency Identification tag reader plug-in. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the data from the first and second scans include data representing a date and time. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the data from the first and second scans include data representing a site identification.