SOLID & TAGSYS Announces Latest Multi-Branch Library RFID System Deployment

Geneva City Libraries to Deploy e-connectware™ to Manage RFID Infrastructure

Cambridge, Mass. — January 22, 2008 – TAGSYS, the global leader in item-level RFID infrastructure, today announced a comprehensive RFID system deployment for all branches of the Geneva City Libraries (Bibliothèques Municipales de Genève – BM). TAGSYS also announced that BM is the first library network to deploy e-connectware™, TAGSYS’ innovative software for the remote, real-time management and optimization of RFID networks. Working with its Swiss partner SOLID, the system is a response to BM’s request for benchmark management of inventory and loans.

As one of the largest Swiss libraries network, Geneva City Libraries (BM) places users at the heart of its activities. In order to fulfill the user’s needs for information, culture and leisure, the BMs concentrate their effort to propose a free and a wide variety of collections (books, CDs, DVDs, etc.), events (exhibitions, conferences, etc.) and quality services.

The BM network is constituted of seven libraries (with spaces for young people and adults), one multimedia library, two discotheques, one library dedicated to sports, five bookmobiles, a prison library and home delivery service. BM represents 1.6 million loans per year, 7 600 new subscriptions each year and 500 000 annual visits. BM has purchased nearly 800,000 TAGSYS Folio™ RFID tags, with 600,000 embedded in books, 100,000 on CDs and 80,000 in patron cards. The library also has purchased 50 TAGSYS security gates and 50 circulation stations.

“The Geneva deployment is an excellent showcase for e-connectware’s power and adaptability,” said Elie Simon, president and CEO of TAGSYS. “BM is dependent on its RFID systems to track and protect hundreds of thousands of books, CDs and other valuable library material across many branches. Without e-connectware, BM would not have as high an assurance for quality of service and overall high performance of this system.”

e-connectware is a comprehensive set of management and administrative tools to remotely manage and optimize RFID system functions—in real time—to enable the highest quality-of-service levels and ensure data accuracy and integrity in item-level tagging. e-connectware is an ISO 15693-compliant, open-standard solution, and is a fundamental value-add for BM because of its ability to monitor occupancy via a people-counting feature at security gates. By better managing human and item traffic, the library can better allocate staff and security, ultimately rendering better service to patrons. To date, Geneva City Libraries have installed e-connectware in three branches, with all 8 others planning to come online by the end of the 2008’s first semester.

“We choose the TAGSYS concept presented by SOLID because monitoring system performance is critical to the success of this deployment,” said Kieran Pavel, in charge of the RFID project for the BM. “Because our network makes available an important variety of localization, documents and patrons, our MIS department must know at all times how the system is performing. We also have high expectations regarding e-connectware’s track-and-trace process. The RFID and the e-connectware could largely reduce the track-and-trace process.”

“For many years TAGSYS and SOLID have partnered to bring the very best RFID solutions to the most demanding track-and-trace scenarios,” said Yves Alimi, CEO of SOLID “The Geneva City Libraries house some of the world’s most valuable literary and historic tracts, and our RFID systems will ensure those items are safe and accounted for at all times.”

About Solid
Solid Solutions en identification SA is a Swiss company offering complete support and turnkey solutions around "Automatic Identification Technologies" to companies who wish to improve their traceability and the quality of their process. Among several accomplishments, Solid has developed an RFID decoder which allows simultaneous reading and writing to and from an RFID tag, barcode reading, label printing, I/O port control and offers the capability to communicate directly with any upper applications such as SAP, Oracle and many others. The company is headquartered in Geneva (Switzerland) with an office and software development center in Sao Paulo (Brazil). Solid has a certified partners network all around the globe. More information on Solid can be found at www.solid.ch.

About TAGSYS
TAGSYS is the global leader in item-level RFID infrastructure. TAGSYS provides RFID systems and tags for end-to-end item-level tracking that automates labor-intensive processes, authenticates and safeguards goods, and enables real-time inventory and asset visibility. With a proven track record of delivering Reliable, Accurate and Secure (R.A.S.) RFID systems and tags, TAGSYS has deployed over 100 million tags and 60,000 reader systems to over 500 customers in more than 40 countries. TAGSYS’ RFID solutions are currently being deployed in a range of highly specialized vertical markets that include pharmaceutical, fashion apparel, libraries, and textile rental. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts with offices and R&D Centers in France, in Pennsylvania and in Hong Kong. More information on TAGSYS can be found at www.tagsysrfid.com.