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Are Bluetooth Beacons safe to use in Hospitals?

Hospital with Bluetooth Beacons

“I am worried about interference with other Bluetooth and WiFi reliant devices in our hospital” – This is a question we have been asked a number of times when looking to install Bluetooth Beacons in hospitals. The simple answer is no and thanks to Philip Madeley from Bluecats.com who supply all our beacons for the following answer.

“Don’t be worried.  Whilst our beacons broadcast Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) advertisements using the same 2.4GHz spectrum range as traditional Bluetooth and WiFi, using BLE will not interfere with any devices that use these signals. 

Why?  BLE is broadcast in a different way to traditional Bluetooth, using both different modulation and channels within the 2.4GHz spectrum (2403 MHz to 2480 MHz).  This means that BLE and traditional Bluetooth are incompatible and prevents cross communication of devices.  If your device is designed to connect over Bluetooth, it will not be impacted by BLE broadcasts and vice versa.  Devices scanning for BLE (such as smart phones) only listens to the specific BLE channels of the spectrum.”