| You've finally done it, you left your laptop at the | | | | by corporate, government and military organizations. |
| coffee shop, your cell phone at the supermarket or | | | | Those large companies, educational institutions, |
| your PDA on the counter at the office supply store. | | | | governments and the department of defense have |
| Maybe you forgot to pick up your iPod from the | | | | long put asset tags on property over a specified |
| ATM, where you put it down to answer your cell | | | | dollar value.You can see "fixed asset tags" on items |
| phone during a banking transaction. Several new | | | | ranging from street light poles to heavy machinery. |
| companies have launched with the express purpose | | | | Those items have long been tagged and labeled with |
| of helping us all find stuff we inevitably lose every | | | | unique ID numbers and bar codes printed onto them |
| day. Each are using the power of the web, plus toll | | | | to facilitate electronic scanning.More recently, |
| free phone numbers and a database of unique ID | | | | corporate and government entities have begun |
| numbers assigned to each item and registered to | | | | placing asset tags on more high value movable items |
| owners - on special "asset tags" or "property ID | | | | like laptops, PDA's, scanners and cell phones carried |
| tags".1,200 cell phones, 1,500 sets of keys and over | | | | by employees in their work. This facilitates the |
| 300 PDAs and laptops are turned into the Las Vegas | | | | identification and return of those "movable assets" |
| International lost and found department annually. - | | | | when they are lost on the job by careless or |
| McCarran Int'l Airport Security, July 2003140,000 | | | | distracted workers.The launch of companies like |
| items are found annually on Southwest Airlines flights, | | | | StuffBak, TrackitBack, Boomerangit show that |
| 50,000 items at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and 20 a day | | | | valuable electronic, digital items are being lost far |
| at some Avis Rent-A-Car locations. Despite best | | | | more often by consumers and they are seeking |
| efforts, fewer than 1% are returned. - The Wall | | | | ways to get their goodies back when they misplace |
| Street Journal, November 2003Several companies | | | | them. Asset tags for the masses may become |
| have launched to help return lost property | | | | popular enough to support consumer oriented |
| represented by web sites each company offering to | | | | companies to label consumer items.StuffBak has |
| help you recover lost valuables.An Irish startup has | | | | partnered with retailers like CompUSA and Sears, |
| launched based on that same concept of marking | | | | while BoomerangIt works product tie-ins with |
| expensive portable electronics, laptops, PDA's, cell | | | | Pioneer, Toshiba, Palm and Seiko Instruments, along |
| phones, MP3 players and other valuables with their | | | | with nearly a dozen bicycle manufacturers - (due to |
| asset tags (labels with unique ID numbers). That firm | | | | their roots as a bicycle recovery company). |
| also has a website and toll free phone lines where | | | | BoomerangIt is also working with the National Crime |
| items can be reported found. The Irish company is | | | | Prevention Council (Think McGruff the crime fighting |
| named and has a cute, black and white spotted | | | | dog and "Take a bite out of crime"). They also work |
| puppy dog as a mascot. The concept of the dog | | | | with local police departments in return of stolen |
| "fetching" lost items and returning them to you is | | | | goods with the tags. TrackitBack has partnered with |
| easy to understand. The company tag line is "The | | | | Staples and BestBuy stores - so all are agressively |
| Lost And Found Company" for obvious reasons.What | | | | marketing their offerings in the consumer |
| is not so obvious to most is the idea that many | | | | marketplace.Each offer business incentives for larger |
| people are honest enough that they would actually | | | | sales of ID tags exceeding 50 or more, with |
| turn in a lost valuable. Most of us assume that if we | | | | invitations to companies to contact them for volume |
| leave a laptop or an iPod on the bus or subway, that | | | | pricing.The movement of asset tags into the |
| we'd never see them again. But the companies cite | | | | consumer marketplace is an unexpected |
| several experiments done in the US by 8 local | | | | development that may be logically extended into |
| television news stations and one by a USA Today | | | | property insurance discounts and other unexpected |
| columnist, Edward Baig, to prove that if those | | | | areas. Asset tags are turning up on consumer goods |
| valuables are labeled with special "asset tags", that | | | | through national retailers and product bundling with |
| people will, more times than not, call the toll free | | | | cooperating "lost and found" companies to bring your |
| telephone numbers printed on the tags and return | | | | laptop, PDA or iPod back home when it is lost.Article |
| the expensive items. television stations had a 75% | | | | Copyright July, 2006 by Mike Banks Valentine is a |
| success rate in getting their "lost" items reported and | | | | recognized worldwide leader in the design and |
| turned in, while columnist Baig got back 4 of 6 | | | | manufacture of bar code asset tags, Property ID |
| purposely "lost" items (two thirds) in his experiment. | | | | tags and asset identification labels. CAMCODE |
| Baig mentioned in his column that it was the least | | | | provides durable metal bar code labels for harsh |
| expensive things that were never reported or | | | | environments including warehouse labels, |
| returned - a CD case full of music and a calculator.If | | | | work-in-process bar code labels and asset tags as |
| this trend takes hold and becomes popular in the | | | | well as polyester bar code labels for property |
| consumer market, it will mirror a concept long used | | | | identification. |