Bluetooth® is an ideal method for wirelessly connecting devices to share data, but a scale with Bluetooth connection capabilities won’t necessarily be compatible with every other Bluetooth device. Specific software must be present to process the data, and not every device has the necessary software.  Because of the compatible software requirement, a smartphone with Bluetooth won’t automatically be able to connect to and receive data from a Bluetooth enabled scale.

What is Bluetooth communication?

Bluetooth is a wireless communication technology that allows data to be sent between devices over short distances using radio wavelength signals. Bluetooth devices are constantly sending out signals, waiting for a receiver to connect and process that signal. The signal receiving device must have a specific type of software to process the specific Bluetooth signal, otherwise, the data won’t be processed in a useable way. For example, a smartphone paired to Bluetooth headphones will send a signal for the headphones to process as sound. The smartphone will continuously send out a signal to connect to the headphones even if they are turned off. The headphones have software to process the smartphone signal data because the product manufacturers collaborate to ensure their products can connect through a shared Bluetooth signal.

How is BLE different than Bluetooth?

BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) works similarly to classic Bluetooth technology, sending signals through radio wavelengths, but with reduced power consumption. A BLE device enters “sleep mode” when not in use, ceasing to send out a signal and saving power. It will start sending a signal again when something acts on it, prompting the signal and a connection. A BLE device could be a bathroom scale connected to a fitness app on a smartphone. The scale is in sleep mode until someone steps on it, prompting the scale to send weight data to the phone to be processed. The fitness app paired with the scale is the software required to process the information the phone is receiving from the scale.

Do Rice Lake scales use Bluetooth or BLE?

Scales from Rice Lake Weighing Systems use either classic Bluetooth or BLE, though the type of scale determines the communication used. Classic Bluetooth can handle more data over longer distances and is frequently used in industrial applications. BLE is used in Rice Lake’s medical scales because it saves battery power and medical scales aren’t typically sending large amounts of data. Rice Lake’s medical scale software is designed to be compatible with Electronic Medical Records (EMR) or Electronic Health Records (EHR) software used by medical facilities to record patient weight data. Currently,  there is not an app available for download that allows users to receive and store the weight data from a Rice Lake medical scale. The one exception to this is the DHH-10 Digital Home Health Scale, which is available as a Bluetooth model that syncs with the AccuroFit app on Apple and Android mobile devices.