What to ask your RTLS vendor: a checklist

Published on November 7, 2026 · 7 min read

Why bring a list

In a demo, almost every location system looks good: the item shows up on the map and the conversation moves on. The differences appear later, in the coverage of the building, in how the signal is maintained and in what the system says when the evidence is weak.

Technology

The first group defines what will be located and with which devices.

1. Which technologies does the system use, and can they coexist? Each kind of item calls for a different technology, and a system with only one may leave part of the hospital out. SigaME has four, Wi-Fi, BLE, RFID and GNSS, and all of them can coexist in the same hospital, according to the cost and precision wanted.
2. Which device does each type of item have to carry? The device is part of the hospital's cost and routine. In SigaME, staff carry the eCom, equipment carries an eTag or BLE beacon, and boxes and kits carry a passive RFID tag, which has no battery.
3. Does the system use the Wi-Fi network the hospital already has? The answer shows what will have to be added to the building. In SigaME, Wi-Fi uses the hospital network, with anchors at known points as references.

Certainty of the answer

This is the group that weighs most, because a good-looking point on the map may have no evidence behind it.

1. What does the system show when it is not sure of the position? A system that always draws a point can send the team to the wrong place. SigaME shows the point on the map when it has evidence and, when it does not, only the room, only the floor or proximity.
2. Does the answer say how long ago the item was seen? Old information looks current when the time is missing. In SigaME, the answer includes “seen 40 min ago”, and the panel shows the battery and the last update.
3. Do RFID items appear as a continuous position? RFID has its own logic, and the proposal should say so clearly. In SigaME, RFID shows presence and passage at known places, and items identified only by RFID appear on the map at the reader's position.

Coverage and calibration

The third group deals with what sustains the quality of the location day to day.

1. How many anchors or gateways does the building need, and where do they go? The quality of the position depends on how they are distributed. In SigaME, the better distributed the anchors and gateways, the better the coverage. Ask for the layout for your building, floor by floor.
2. How is the signal map built and maintained? A map made once and never reviewed gets old. SigaME has the survey with the app, self-calibration among the anchors and recalibration guided by the quality dashboards.
3. How does the hospital see whether the location is good? Without a measure, quality becomes opinion. In SigaME, dashboards show coverage, error and heat maps, and the system warns when it is time to recalibrate.

Integration and devices

The fourth group shows the effort to get the system running and what it delivers afterward.

1. Does the system work without integrating with the hospital system? If integration is mandatory, it becomes a dependency of the project. SigaME works on its own, with all registration done in it, and integration with HIS, CCTV and email is optional.
2. Which rules and alerts does it offer? Location only helps operations when it becomes an alert or a task. SigaME has rules for entered, left, missing and stayed too long, minimum stock per unit and, with Flow, tasks such as cleaning a dirty room.
3. Do the devices hold up to hospital routine? A device that cannot take cleaning and use leads to replacements and downtime. In SigaME, the eCom, eCom+ and eTag are rated IP65 and accept cleaning with 70% to 99% alcohol and with quaternary ammonium and biguanide sanitizers.

After the renovation and the move

Hospitals change all the time, and the list does not end at go-live.

1. What happens to the location when the building changes? A renovation can alter the radio signal. In SigaME, changes to the building can alter the signal, which is why calibration and quality alerts exist.
2. What has to be redone after a renovation? The answer shows the cost of maintaining the system. In SigaME, the quality dashboard points to the area with the larger error and the installer runs a quick survey on that stretch.

How to use the list

Ask every vendor the same questions and record the answers in writing. Where the answer depends on your building, such as the number of anchors or gateways, ask that it be specific to it. Those numbers depend on each hospital.

Start with the problem that weighs most today. SigaME is for hospitals, works on its own and lets you start with one module and add the others later.