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Frequently Asked Questions
How wide an entrance can one pair of pedestals cover?
It depends entirely on the technology, and the published figure assumes ideal conditions that a real shopfront does not provide.
Acoustomagnetic systems cover the widest single gaps, which is why they are chosen for supermarket entrances.
Radio frequency systems cover less, so a wide opening needs additional pedestals in the aisle.
Metal in the floor, the shopfront framing and the ceiling all reduce the effective width, sometimes substantially.
Tag orientation matters too: a tag passing edge-on is harder to detect than one passing flat, and the published width usually assumes favourable orientation.
Measure the actual opening and have the supplier confirm coverage for that width with the intended tags, in writing.
What causes interference at the exit?
Refrigeration, lighting drivers, motors, escalators, other radio equipment and neighbouring EAS systems - and the entrance is where most of them cluster.
Switch-mode power supplies in modern lighting are a common and under-diagnosed source.
Refrigeration compressors and motorised doors sit close to entrances in many store formats.
A neighbouring retailer's system operating on the same technology can trigger or mask detection through a shared wall.
The consequence is usually reduced sensitivity rather than constant alarms, which is worse because it is invisible - the system appears to work and misses tags.
A site survey with a noise measurement before installation identifies this, and it is far cheaper than moving pedestals and floor boxes later.
Floor-standing, concealed or overhead?
Floor-standing pedestals for cost and performance, concealed systems where the shopfront design demands it, overhead where floor space cannot be given up.
Conventional pedestals are the cheapest, easiest to install and generally the best performing, because the antennas are close to the goods passing between them.
They also occupy floor space at the busiest point of the store and are hit by trolleys.
Concealed floor systems are buried in the entrance floor and are invisible, which suits designed shopfronts. They require building work and are difficult to relocate.
Overhead systems mount in the ceiling and keep the entrance clear, at the cost of detection performance on items carried low.
The visible deterrent matters as well as the detection. An invisible system deters nobody, which is why some retailers keep visible pedestals deliberately.
What extra functions can pedestals provide?
People counting, deactivation verification, metal detection for foil-lined bags, and alarm logging - usually as chargeable options.
Footfall counting comes almost free from hardware already at the door, and gives conversion rate and staffing data.
Deactivation verification flags a label that passed the antenna without being properly killed, separating a process failure from a theft.
Metal detection identifies the foil-lined bags used to defeat the system, and is a marker of organised rather than opportunistic theft.
Alarm logging with time stamps enables analysis by hour, by day and by till - the data that makes false alarms fixable.
Decide which of these are wanted before purchase. Retrofitting a counting module or a detection option is usually more expensive than specifying it initially.
How are pedestals powered and connected?
Mains power at or near the entrance, plus a data path if alarm logging or counting is used - and both are frequently the hardest part of a retrofit.
Getting power to the middle of a shop entrance means a floor box, a channel across the threshold or a feed down a shopfront mullion.
Pedestals in an aisle rather than against a wall need a buried route, which is civils work in an existing store.
Networked pedestals reporting alarms and counts need a data connection or a wireless link that works reliably at the entrance.
Multiple pedestals in one entrance are usually synchronised so they do not interfere with each other, which requires an interconnection between them.
Plan this with the shopfitting programme. Retrofitting a floor box into a finished entrance means closing it.
How is sensitivity set?
By tuning after installation against real traffic - too high and false alarms destroy staff confidence, too low and the system quietly misses tags.
Commissioning sets a starting point. The correct value emerges from a few weeks of real customers, real stock and real interference.
The temptation when false alarms are frequent is to reduce sensitivity until they stop, which converts a visible problem into an invisible one.
The right response is usually to fix the cause: un-deactivated labels, stock too close to the antenna, or an interference source.
Test detection periodically with a known live tag at several heights and orientations, and record the result.
Keep a note of the settings. A system re-tuned repeatedly with no record ends up somewhere nobody intended.
Do pedestals need maintenance?
Yes - detection performance drifts, physical damage is routine at an entrance, and nobody notices a dead antenna until stock has gone.
A pedestal that has stopped detecting looks exactly like one that is working. Only a deliberate test with a live tag distinguishes them.
Trolley impacts, cleaning machines and general knocks damage housings and can disturb the antenna inside.
A regular tag test - weekly is common - by store staff catches failures quickly and costs nothing.
Interference sources change as a store is refitted, so periodic re-checking is worth scheduling rather than assuming the original survey still holds.
Keep the alarm log under review as the primary health indicator: a sudden drop in alarms is as significant as a rise.