InVault use case
RFID file and document tracking, from evidence to textbooks
InVault does RFID file and document tracking for case files, forensic evidence, ballot bags, results media and classroom textbooks: small items, lots of them, and every one accountable. It keeps a chain of custody for each item and turns the year-end hallway count into a routine check.
The problem
Paper trails can’t prove where the paper is.
Lose one case file, evidence bag or results stick and you have a compliance finding or a legal question. Lose a few hundred textbooks a year and you have a replacement bill nobody budgeted for.
Barcode audits need line of sight to every item. So agencies and schools count once a year with spreadsheets and volunteers, and the “location unknown” list starts growing again the next morning.
- Sensitive files
- Records that need an audit trail of who had them and when
- Evidence
- Forensic evidence and other priority items under chain-of-custody rules
- Election materials
- Ballot bags, results media, poll books and voting kits
- Textbooks
- Classroom and library books by ISBN, room and student
What changes
What RFID file and document tracking changes
- Classrooms, shelves and cupboards inventoried with a handheld reader: hundreds of items in seconds, even through backpacks and cabinet doors
- The contents of a sealed bag or box confirmed at every handoff without breaking the seal
- Textbook shortages reported by ISBN and classroom, and missing books by student, before the next purchase order
- Fixed readers at doors that flag items leaving secure rooms
In earlier deployments, InThing’s textbook tracking inventoried 35,000 books in more than 600 rooms within three days, picking up room numbers automatically as staff moved. It locates a book in less than 15 minutes, costs less than $0.50 per book per year and cuts annual spend on textbooks and education materials by 25%.
How it works
How RFID file and document tracking works
- CaptureRFID labels in books, files and evidence bags, location tags on rooms and shelves, handheld readers for audits and fixed readers at doors and secure-room portals.
- UnderstandTrapeze and Visium tie each read to an item, a location and a custodian, and for textbooks to the ISBN, classroom and student record.
- ActChain-of-custody history, missing-item and shortage reports, and audit exports in Visium Web and Visium Mobile.
Three kinds of accountable items
Where we use it today.
Evidence tracking and sensitive files
Each evidence bag or file gets an RFID label and a custodian. Every handoff is read and logged, a fixed reader at the evidence-room door flags anything leaving without a record, and an audit of a full room runs from a handheld instead of a clipboard.
Election chain of custody
Sealed bags of results media are read at pick-up and drop-off without breaking the seal, so the chain of custody is digital and timestamped. Philadelphia runs this on the same platform as its voting-equipment tracking.
K-12 textbook tracking
Books are tagged once and linked to the student information system. A teacher or librarian walks a room with a handheld, room numbers are picked up automatically, and the report lists shortages by ISBN and classroom and missing books by student.
Workflows this use case improves
Part of the InVault asset lifecycle.
Asset audits & compliance
Chain of custody and end-to-end audit trails for regulated items.
Workflow details
Reservations & checkouts
Books and files issued to named people and returned against their record.
Workflow details
Alerts & reports
Exceptions surface themselves.
- Missing books by student
- Shortage by ISBN and classroom
- Left a secure room
- Chain-of-custody gap
- Audit discrepancies
- Not seen since…
Technology fit
The right sensor for small, numerous items.
- UHF RFIDBulk reads of shelves, rooms and sealed containers without line of sight, and fixed readers at doors.
- Barcode & NFCLow-cost labels to start with. Add RFID where volume or movement justifies it.
Proof
Chain of custody in practice.
City of Philadelphia
Police officers and city officials use Zebra handheld RFID readers running Visium Mobile to inventory sealed bags of results media at pick-up and drop-off, without breaking the seal. The result is a tamper-proof digital chain of custody. Delivered with CDW and Zebra.
1,700items tagged for the November 2020 election
17,000items tracked in the November 2021 cycle
By vertical
Where document and textbook tracking matters most.
Agencies & elections
Evidence, sensitive files and election materials under periodic audit.
Government & Education
Questions buyers ask
Document and textbook tracking FAQ
Will RFID read textbooks in backpacks or cabinets?
Yes. Passive UHF RFID doesn’t need line of sight, so staff can scan hundreds of items in seconds through backpacks, shelves and cupboards, and missing items are flagged automatically. Read more about smarter K-12 inventory.
Can it connect to our student information system?
Yes. Textbook tracking links to the student information system to report missing books by student and shortages by ISBN and classroom. EAI-Bridge publishes events to other systems of record as well.
Is it secure enough for elections and evidence?
Philadelphia’s voting-equipment tracking runs on a government cloud. Visium supports role-based access control and single sign-on through Azure AD, LDAP, OAuth2, OpenID Connect and SAML, and the platform can also run on your own servers.
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Part of InVault
One asset tracking application for every asset class.
Documents and textbooks is one of four InVault use cases, alongside capital assets and equipment, plant tools and MHE, and returnable items. All four run on the same InThing platform.
Public-sector teams: see how to replace manual audit chaos with continuous assurance.
- Related use cases
- Capital assets & equipment · Plant tools & MHE
- Platform
- Trapeze · Visium · EAI-Bridge
Before your next audit
Bring your hardest chain of custody.
We’ll look at what you need to prove, where items change hands and which technology fits, from a single records room to a whole district.