Indoor navigation needs indoor positioning

Indoor maps available on mobile phones are becoming essential for any large building or event. But without an indoor positioning system, the user experience just doesn’t match Google and Apple maps outdoors.

Buildings are often as hard to navigate as a maze
Choosing an indoor wayfinding solution comes down to four questions: how accurately it positions a visitor, how much infrastructure it needs to cover the whole building, whether it works on both iOS and Android, and which mapping provider it integrates with. Crowd Connected supplies the positioning layer that sits underneath your map, accurate to two to three metres, running on battery-powered beacons that fit any building with no cabling and no calibration walks. If you want the background on how wayfinding works before comparing suppliers, start with our guide to indoor wayfinding.

All large buildings need indoor navigation

Critical appointments

In hospitals, lost people lead to real inefficiency as well as anxiety. Hospitals could save up to $1 million per building by improving wayfinding.

Product location

Retailers are experiencing a 3-5% loss in revenue relating to unlocatable products. Help shoppers navigate your offer using indoor maps and indoor positioning.

Enhanced discovery

Exhibitions can deliver 20% more value to visitors and exhibitors by improving wayfinding and discovery, so that visitors are able to find all the exhibitors they're looking for.

Airport wayfinding

Up to 80% of delayed flights are due to passengers boarding late or not at all. And late flights cost the US economy $33 billion annually.

Our mapping integrations

Our 'blue dot' technology means an indoor map opens at the user's location, follows them while they navigate, and reroutes them when they take a wrong turn. Just like Google and Apple maps. We integrate with all the leading indoor mapping providers.

Indoor positioning has always been hard

Apple IMDF Fingerprinting

Apple IMDF Fingerprinting is free. But it isn’t accurate enough, and leaves out Android users.

WiFi solutions

Cisco Spaces positioning isn’t cost effective once the Spaces licence is taken into account, and the accuracy and latency aren’t sufficient for good navigation.

Our next generation solution

Self-calibration

We use advances in smartphone hardware, machine learning and cloud computing to achieve the best accuracy, but without the calibration and fingerprinting. Every single phone auto-calibrates to ensure optimal accuracy, all the time.

Works in any building

No requirement for specific access points, or specific beacon locations, works in any building.

Works with any iBeacon

Our own smart beacons have many advantages. But our indoor positioning works with any iBeacon compatible hardware.

Works with WiFi access points

Modern access points have Bluetooth Low Energy radios that can be configured to transmit iBeacon signals. Which means they can be used as the infrastructure for our indoor positioing solution. No additional overlay required.

Simple to integrate SDK

One single platform that not only provides navigation, but also includes location analytics and customer experience tools.

Easiest installation process

Self-install option is quick and simple. Or our global network of partners can do the installation for you. Either way, we have the quickest and simplest installation process in the market.

Millions of users across the globe

Our positioning software has been downloaded by tens of millions of phones. Our solution is used by leading mapping providers, systems integrators, well know buildings, and event organisers across the globe.

Choosing an indoor wayfinding solution

Most wayfinding projects fail for one of three reasons. The positioning isn’t accurate enough to be trusted. The infrastructure is too expensive to cover more than the main entrance. Or visitors are asked to download a second app they don’t want. Getting all three right is what separates a wayfinding deployment that gets used from one that doesn’t.

We supply the positioning layer, not the map. Our SDK embeds in the app you already publish and integrates with MapsPeople, MazeMap, Mappedin, Visioglobe, and ExpoFP, so you keep the mapping provider you’ve chosen. Positioning is accurate to two to three metres, which is what turn-by-turn wayfinding needs. For the technical background on how indoor positioning produces that blue dot, see our guide to indoor wayfinding.

Unlike fingerprinting-based systems, Crowd Connected’s wayfinding requires no calibration walks and no manual signal mapping. Our patented self-calibrating algorithm adjusts to each building automatically, which means deployment takes hours rather than weeks. The beacons are battery-powered and wire-free, so there’s no power or cabling to worry about, making it equally practical for permanent installations in hospitals and universities, or temporary deployments at events and exhibitions.

Wayfinding across multiple buildings and campuses

A campus is harder than a single building. Visitors move between sites, floor numbering rarely matches from one building to the next, and estates teams want one system rather than one per building. Our beacons form their own mesh and report through a single gateway per building, so covering another building means installing more beacons, not commissioning another network or moving up a licence tier. Canterbury Christ Church University, Buckinghamshire New University, and Oulu University all run multi-building deployments this way.

Wayfinding in workplaces and offices

In offices the driver is usually desk and room finding in a hybrid workplace, guiding visitors to the right meeting room, and showing which spaces are actually free. The same beacon network that delivers wayfinding also produces occupancy analytics, so workplace deployments often start with wayfinding and add occupancy counting later without new hardware.

Indoor wayfinding that works like outdoor maps

Visitors expect indoor navigation to feel as natural as Google Maps. Our positioning technology delivers that experience - accurate blue-dot wayfinding across entire buildings, with the simplest deployment in the market.

Find out more about our platform

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Frequently asked questions

What should you look for in an indoor wayfinding solution?
Four things decide whether a wayfinding deployment gets used. Positioning accurate to two to three metres, so visitors can trust the blue dot. Infrastructure cheap enough to cover the whole building rather than just the main entrance. Support for both iOS and Android. And integration with the app and mapping provider you already have, so visitors aren’t asked to download anything new.
Does indoor wayfinding work on both iPhone and Android?
Yes. Crowd Connected’s positioning SDK supports both iOS and Android. The blue-dot experience and turn-by-turn wayfinding work identically on both platforms.
How long does it take to set up wayfinding in a building?
Beacon installation for a typical building takes a few hours. The beacons are battery-powered and self-adhesive, so there’s no cabling, no power points, and no specialist tools. Map integration depends on your chosen mapping provider (we integrate with MapsPeople, MazeMap, Mappedin, Visioglobe, and ExpoFP) but can be completed within days.
Can indoor wayfinding cover a multi-building university campus?
Yes, and campuses are one of our most common deployments. The beacons form their own mesh and report through a single gateway per building, so extending wayfinding to another building means installing more beacons rather than commissioning another network. Canterbury Christ Church University, Buckinghamshire New University, and Oulu University all run multi-building campus deployments.
How does indoor wayfinding work in a hospital?
Hospitals are the clearest case for wayfinding, because getting lost carries a measurable cost: up to $1 million per building per year in missed appointments, wasted staff time, and patient anxiety. Blue-dot wayfinding guides patients from the car park to the right department inside the hospital’s own app. The same beacon network also supports asset tracking for mobile equipment, so one installation covers several needs.
Can indoor wayfinding work in offices and workplaces?
Yes. In workplaces the usual drivers are desk and room finding in hybrid offices, guiding visitors to meeting rooms, and combining wayfinding with occupancy data to show which spaces are free. The same beacon network delivers both, which is why workplace deployments often start with wayfinding and add occupancy counting later.
Does indoor wayfinding work in airports and transport hubs?
Yes. Airports are large, multi-level, and time-critical: up to 80% of delayed flights are caused by passengers boarding late, often because they couldn’t find their gate. Our positioning covers whole terminals from battery-powered beacons with no cabling, which matters where installation windows are short and airside work is tightly controlled.
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