VTAP products are tailored to fitness industry needs
At Dot Origin, we don’t believe in a ‘single size fits all’ approach. Indeed, we actively search out new approaches to solving the needs of our customers, now and into the future. We continually develop our products based on our experiences, and we collaborate with increasing numbers of software and hardware partners, maintaining our unique position as an independent, trusted and reliable technology provider specialising in NFC Wallet. In the fitness industry there is a large ecosystem of management software, mobile app, gym equipment and access control providers. They are not always well integrated with each other, leading to inefficiencies such as having multiple IDs for a single customer, or slow permission updates for new sign-ups. Yes, it all works, but when it comes to introducing a new digital technology such as NFC Wallet, it’s worth taking a step back and looking at how everything hangs together and whether this can be improved to help reduce costs and friction. Our approach is to discover what you have in place and then to help you work out the simplest and most cost-effective route to a future where gym-goers identify themselves everywhere using a mobile wallet NFC pass.
Why NFC Wallet?
NFC Wallet has become recognised as the best and most suitable technology for fitness membership ID applications due to its simplicity, swiftness and security. Here are some key reasons:
- NFC Wallet passes are stored in the native wallet apps on Android and iOS. The functionality is managed by Apple and Google, so you don’t need to develop or maintain this within your app. Your app can push passes directly into wallet using an ‘Add to Wallet’ button or via other channels such as web, email or SMS. The pass can display any data you want – name, membership level, loyalty points – and can be updated over the air. Passes can link to your app and can also receive notifications, making them a powerful new companion in your mobile strategy, improving the user experience without taking anything away from your existing ecosystem.
- A VTAP NFC reader tells the phone which membership pass it’s looking for. The user doesn’t have to run any app or pre-select any pass – they just tap their phone, and the member ID is sent, just like the Apple Pay or Google Pay experience. It all works offline – no internet coverage is required – and there are no charges for usage.
- NFC Wallet passes can’t be easily copied or cloned. Unlike QR codes, there is no visible ID that can be easily replicated, and NFC Wallet passes can be tied to an individual Apple or Google account making them highly secure. NFC passes are also secured using encryption keys that prevent any other readers from reading your passes without your permission.
VTAP is more than just technology
Rather than offer you a complete, closed, solution, we want to leave you with the tools, knowledge and partnerships that you can leverage to improve your business performance as well as your customer experience. Use what you already have and add in some new magic to delight your customer base and make them stick around.
Some fitness operators, particularly some franchises, see technology as their core asset, whereas others simply want reliable systems to operate all aspects of their business allowing them to focus on customer service and experience. We adapt to your characteristics and your technical resources, and we offer solutions to suit. This consultative approach has worked well for us over the past few years and has resulted in major accomplishments including the rollout of NFC Wallet at some of the world’s largest and most prestigious brands.
We are also licensed and trusted technology partners of Apple and Google which enables us to see and adapt to future trends and opportunities, and to feed back into their own product roadmaps.
Key questions to help work out gym deployment options
Some of the initial questions we typically ask of fitness operators include:
- What kind of membership ID technologies do you currently use? This might be classic RFID cards/fobs, printed barcodes or in-app QR codes.
- How do you currently use these IDs? For front-desk check-in, for physical access control and/or for access to other services within the gym?
- Which member management system (MMS) do you operate? Does the software have any NFC features already, and what APIs are available?
- If you already have physical access control, whose readers/scanners, door controllers and software do you use? How is this synchronised with your MMS? Does it leverage your MMS user IDs, or use a different ID method (for example a PIN, a separate RFID tag, a QR/NFC tag being scanned at the door..)?
- If you have a mobile app, did you create this yourself or are you using one of the industry app providers? Do they have NFC capabilities already?
- Which gym floor equipment manufacturers do you use and are you offering any of their systems/apps for workout management and data collection? If so, what ID technology is used for that (same or different RFID wristbands)?
Create proof-of-concept for your business ecosystem
Typically, we will draw some pictures to help us all understand the players, systems and integrations already in place, and propose a ‘proof of concept’ project with you that will aim to work out and demonstrate some or all of the following:
- Generating NFC Wallet passes. Someone needs to do this task, enabling a smooth ‘Add to Wallet’ experience for your users. It can be Generating NFC Wallet passes. Someone needs to do this task, enabling a smooth ‘Add to Wallet’ experience for your users. It can be your own developers, one of your existing software providers, or a new one. We do not offer this service ourselves, apart from for demo purposes. We focus on manufacturing readers and prefer to work with everyone in the market, not compete with them. Creating NFC Wallet membership passes using Apple Wallet and Google Wallet is not technically difficult. Around half of the larger enterprises that we’ve worked with have done it themselves and completed the integration with Apple and Google in a matter of a few weeks. Others have relied on independent pass providers who have built platforms to do this, or on industry players such as the MMS or app providers who are adding this facility to their own feature list.
PLEASE NOTE – any traditional access control supplier who tells you that you can’t use Apple NFC Wallet membership passes for access control into gyms, and that you must use Apple’s more secure (paid-for) corporate access control credential solution is wrong. We are happy to introduce you directly to the team at Apple in your region who will explain the exact rules on what you can and can’t do with their (free) VAS wallet protocol in fitness. They will also explain how they will help and support you in launching this technology to your customers. Equally, Google is quite happy for you to use their (free) Smart Tap protocol for this purpose. Of course, you can use paid-for NFC credential services from both Apple and Google if you want, and our readers are compliant and certified for that too, using the popular DESFire and MIFARE2Go protocols. - Enabling front desk check-in. This classic task is often performed by a barcode/QR scanner plugged into a PC, or sometimes another kind of reader. With our VTAP technology you can usually just plug in a VTAP USB reader, and it will look and behave just like the old optical scanner. We also have software to help with web browser integration. Our VTAP PRO readers have a few other tricks up their sleeve – they can broadcast a Bluetooth beacon that automatically prompts iOS users as they approach the gym, and they can connect to a cloud service to enable the translation from one ID to another. This is particularly useful if you are sourcing your NFC passes from a gym technology company (such as EGYM) and want to interoperate with a legacy MMS (such as ABC) that is unaware of anything changing.
- Enabling access control. If you already have an access control system, then often we can identify suitable new readers that you can simply swap out at the door and turnstiles, using standard wiring protocols. Our VTAP readers can read a wide range of existing RFID technologies which provides a migration path and a backup for users without NFC phones. And they can work alongside an optical scanner in various ways when needed. If access control is a new requirement, we might suggest an alternative approach to the traditional architecture, where an IP-connected VTAP PRO reader can act as a door controller, reducing the need for more expensive infrastructure. This approach also avoids delays and complexity around database synchronisation, by integrating the readers directly with a membership database for real time decisions and reporting.
- Enabling gym equipment log-in. Cardio and strength manufacturers are starting to roll out enhanced products that can read NFC Wallet passes as well as the more traditional RFID cards and wristbands. In the case of EGYM, every machine is now supplied with this facility, while others are starting to offer this as an option. Similarly, we are working with R&R, towel locker and vending providers, to enable our ‘wall to wall NFC’ vision. This is enabled through our VTAP NFC reader boards and modules which enable easy upgrades for equipment manufacturers.
- Other applications. The possibilities are endless! You might want to consider using NFC Wallet passes to enable class check-ins, for example. This can be done over IP using our PRO readers, or they can connect via Bluetooth to an iPad. Or how about loyalty stamps at the café/point of sale. We do that too! Our NFC reader boards and modules also enable you or others to build your own readers, kiosks and mobile devices. Let us know your ideas – we’re up for any challenge!
Talk to our expert team and we’ll share our knowledge
You’ll get help, advice and guidance based on our collective experiences. You won’t get pressure – we’re not pushing a single product, vendor or solution, we’re just all incredibly enthusiastic about implementing NFC Wallet projects that leave our customers, and their end customers, happy.
Just ask Anytime Fitness (in USA & 30 other countries), David Lloyd (in UK/Europe), Keep Cool (in France), Third Space (in UK), Viva Leisure (in Australia), Lifetime Fitness (in USA), EoS (in USA) and many more..!