Since they came out in 2021, Apple’s compact AirTag trackers have quietly assisted countless travelers. Now, a significant update promises to make them much more useful for business event professionals balancing complicated logistics.
With Apple’s Share Item Location feature that was released on November 11, users can now share live coordinate tracking with other users through maps. Tagging items such as passports or check-in baggage allows others to track their real-time movements. This feature is particularly useful for urgent freight items such as shipping crates tagged as crucial or vital for a trade show booth.
New Device Functionality for Meeting Experts
Shipping high-value marketing apparatus to exhibit centers across America comes with some extra insurance now. AirTags are self-contained tracking devices and once attached to an item, they no longer need to be monitored by the device owner. Now tracking can be done by third parties such as freight companies, venue coordinators, or customer service agents.
In case a critical shipment fails to arrive or goes missing, an event organizer can create and send a location-sharing link to a shipping partner or contractor. With the link, they can view the item’s location on a live map within the “Find My” Apple ecosystem. Once the object is returned to the owner, tracking and location sharing cease automatically. Users have the autonomy to stop manual sharing at any moment too.
Airlines to Adopt Feature for Lost Luggage
Significantly, Apple announced that it is entering into collaborations with 18 major airlines to support the new sharing feature, emphasizing why it is critical for air travelers. In the upcoming months, passengers will be able to send location links of their missing bags to airline customer service, which may enhance retrieval as well as reduce passengers’ post-flight frustration at baggage claim.
From Apple’s side, the participating carriers include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling.
Such advancements may change the interaction that travelers and event professionals have with airlines when a bag is lost. Passengers can now provide clear, direct, digital proof of a bag’s current location instead of relying on verbal description and parts of claim tickets.
Bells and Whistles that Matter
An AirTag is 1.26 inches in diameter and has the shape of a silver button. Each tag can be purchased for 70 dollars in packs of 4. They can connect to Apple’s enormous “Find My” network that anonymously pings nearby Apple devices for updates on location information to be refreshed. Each tag has a replaceable battery that lasts around a year.
Through the use of AirTags, Apple has limited the access to the location of the item only to the owner. If someone else wanted to assist in locating the item, the process would be much more difficult. With the introduction of item location sharing, Apple has broadened the utility of the device, which is useful in collaborative environments such as meetings, conferences, group travel, and trade shows.
Transforming Event Logistics
This change will probably be welcomed by stakeholders in the meetings and events sector. Shipping and handling for large-scale conferences usually requires the transportation of hundreds of boxes, banners, displays, electronics, and other equipment. Losing even a single item can create considerable stress for event coordinators.
Event coordinators can now allow for third-party tracking, which enables them to track shipments of items and share the burden of locating them. This cuts down the coordination between the airlines, the logistics vendor, and event organizers and eliminates the need for a single point of contact, easing communication flow.
More Than a Travel Gadget
While originally aimed at helping consumers locate wallets, keys, and other personal belongings, AirTags now seem intended for use in enterprise applications and logistics geared towards businesses. Share Item Location increases the number of fields that can be targeted by these small devices, especially those industries that involve extensive real-time coordination.
With technology enablers for efficiency in place, AirTag partners with airlines and can become indispensable not for the forgetful users but for professionals who have multiple complex itineraries to manage.
With the recovery of international events and travel, Apple’s updated AirTag could prove to be vital for maintaining logistics on any global trip.
