A session from the 2015 Institutional Web Managers Workshop at Edge Hill University (IWMW15) showcasing the work done at the University of Bradford using Beacons technology to enhance recruitment events.

1. (i)Beacons f0r
Recruitment Events
Claire Gibbons
Senior Web and Content Manager
University of Bradford
@planetclaire
Ben Butchart
Workgroup leader, Software Engineering
EDINA
@bbutchart
30 July 20151 #iwmw15 #A2

2. Welcome and intros
• Claire Gibbons
• Ben Butchart
• And you?
• Overview of Beacons Technology
• Beacons at Bradford
• Use cases: over to you
• Opportunities and barriers in your institution
• General feedback
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3. Beacons at Bradford
What we did!
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4. Bradford’s Beacons
• Background to the project
• What we did: technical and user-experience
• How it worked in practice
• Barriers to overcome
• Data and tracking – issues and DP
• Opportunities and future developments
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5. Background to the project: teams
• Mobile Technology Team
(IT Services)
• Web Team (central
Marketing)
• Recruitment Events Team
• Final year student project
– Implementing a Bluetooth
beacon system as part of a
Smartphone app
• App: About UoB = free!
30 July 2015 #iwmw15 #A25

6. Background to the project: aims
• To provide context-sensitive information and
messaging to visitors at recruitment events to make
their visit more seamless and engaging
• To gather data from visitors about their visit, including
locations visited and journeys around the campus
taken, to improve future activities (this is anonymous
data)
• To showcase the iBeacons and new technologies, our
student work and a collaborative approach to using
new technologies from colleagues across the
University
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7. Background to the project: pilots
• Applicant Visit Day –
March 2015
• Open Day July 2015
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8. What we did: technical and UX
• What beacons should we use
• Where should the beacons go
• How should the beacons be
managed
• What data should be tracked
• What content should be
pushed
• http://kontakt.io/
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9. Scenarios
• Tracking the beacon-user
interaction
• Pushing an alert message
(various types of
messages) to the user on
beacon interaction
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10. Beacon locations
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11. Challenges: technical
• Manual set-up
• Interference
• Permanent versus mobile beacons
• Android version
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12. Beacon dashboard
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13. Content – logic and creation
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14. Location recording
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15. So how does it actually work then?
• Beacon > BLE signal > OS > app API > push message
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16. Challenges: UX
• Content
• Users need the app
• Beacons are stealable
• Data and Data Protection
• Battery life
• Device requirements
– iPhone 4s or above or iPad 3 or above
– Bluetooth
– Wifi/3G connection (internet connection)
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17. Further developments
• Message sequencing and conditioning
• Checking In
• Scavenger Hunts
• Permanent beacons on-campus
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18. Over to you
• Use cases: ideas and
suggestions
• Museum in Antwerp
• Opportunities and barriers in
your institution (technical or
human)
• Next steps for you
• General feedback
30 July 2015 #iwmw15 #A218

19. Feedback
• Ideas
• Opportunities
• Challenges
• Barriers
• Your next steps
• General thoughts
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20. Thanks!
John Fairhall, Stephen Brown, Stefan Mangu

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