"}],"short_description":"Learn about new enhancements in ArcGIS IPS that improve beacon planning, deployment, and maintenance for indoor positioning systems.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Esri’s indoor positioning (ArcGIS IPS) puts a blue dot on indoor maps, allowing you to locate yourself and others inside a building with indoor positioning. It enables real-time location awareness inside buildings for wayfinding, operations, and safety workflows.<\/span><\/p>\n The release of ArcGIS Pro 3.7 brings updates to tools, and coordinated enhancements with the ArcGIS IPS Setup 1.9 mobile app and ArcGIS Maps SDK 300.0. These features augment beacon planning, deployment, and maintenance.<\/span><\/p>\n Planning\u00a0beacon\u00a0placement\u00a0within a facility is a necessary\u00a0step to\u00a0enabling indoor positioning\u00a0that requires balancing many factors.\u00a0Bluetooth beacons must be spaced appropriately to\u00a0ensure sufficient signal overlap\u00a0while\u00a0also\u00a0preventing\u00a0oversaturation. Large open areas\u00a0require\u00a0extra care to avoid dead zones, yet\u00a0buildings with lightweight walls\u00a0may\u00a0lead to excessive\u00a0signals\u00a0and\u00a0beacon redundancy.<\/span><\/p>\n With the ArcGIS Pro 3.7 release, the new Generate Beacon Placement Plan tool<\/a> does the work for you. This tool generates an optimized beacon placement plan, ensuring sufficient coverage and spatial distribution with the minimum number of beacons required to enable indoor positioning with ArcGIS IPS.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2965473,"id":2965473,"title":"GBPP","filename":"GBPP.jpg","filesize":41195,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-ips\/indoor-gis\/whats-new-in-arcgis-ips-may-2026\/gbpp","alt":"Geoprocessing pane for the Generate Beacon Placement Plan tool with its required parameters.","author":"423063","description":"","caption":"Geoprocessing pane for the Generate Beacon Placement Plan tool with its required parameters.","name":"gbpp","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2965465,"date":"2026-05-12 17:10:14","modified":"2026-05-12 17:11:21","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":433,"height":770,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP.jpg","medium-width":147,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP.jpg","medium_large-width":433,"medium_large-height":770,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP.jpg","large-width":433,"large-height":770,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP.jpg","1536x1536-width":433,"1536x1536-height":770,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP.jpg","2048x2048-width":433,"2048x2048-height":770,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP-261x465.jpg","card_image-width":261,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP.jpg","wide_image-width":433,"wide_image-height":770}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" The tool can account for the specifics of your facility, including the floor plan, walls, existing beacon infrastructure, and beacon strength. The tool uses the\u00a0Wall Features<\/strong> parameter value of your facility to determine\u00a0which wall segments are suitable for beacons, and places beacons on those segments. When the tool cannot achieve appropriate signal coverage, which can occur in large spaces, it highlights those areas on the map for faster problem solving. Additionally, the tool is compatible with a variety of BLE beacon brands and works with a range of RSSI values.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2965478,"id":2965478,"title":"GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces","filename":"GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces.jpg","filesize":241869,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-ips\/indoor-gis\/whats-new-in-arcgis-ips-may-2026\/gbpp_output_with_deployable_surfaces","alt":"Facility map with wall features, wall surfaces designating for deploying beacons, and beacon points, generated with the Generate Beacon Placement Plan tool.","author":"423063","description":"","caption":"Indoor facility map with wall features, wall surfaces designating for deploying beacons, and beacon points, generated with the Generate Beacon Placement Plan tool.","name":"gbpp_output_with_deployable_surfaces","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2965465,"date":"2026-05-12 17:12:53","modified":"2026-05-12 20:12:24","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1477,"height":801,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces.jpg","medium-width":464,"medium-height":252,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":416,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces.jpg","large-width":1477,"large-height":801,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces.jpg","1536x1536-width":1477,"1536x1536-height":801,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces.jpg","2048x2048-width":1477,"2048x2048-height":801,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces-826x448.jpg","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":448,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GBPP_output_with_deployable_surfaces.jpg","wide_image-width":1477,"wide_image-height":801}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" If you prefer more control over beacon placement and want to fully customize the plan, you can manually create a beacon placement plan or adjust any individual beacon in a plan provided by the tool.<\/span><\/p>\n Deploying beacons for an indoor positioning system can require important, but potentially tedious, manual data entry. For larger or more complex spaces that need many beacons, deployment time adds up, and there are opportunities for mistakes. In ArcGIS Pro 3.7 and ArcGIS IPS Setup 1.9 mobile app, beacons can be configured in advance to decrease manual data entry with the IPS_Beacons_Inventory table.<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0IPS_Beacons_Inventory\u00a0table is part of the IPS\u00a0data\u00a0model, which is generated by the Create IPS Data Model tool. It is an optional web map layer that is configured prior to beacon deployment and used by the\u00a0ArcGIS IPS\u00a0Setup app.<\/span><\/p>\n The table takes information provided by the vendor and stores the attribute information of beacons that will be deployed. During deployment, IPS_Beacons_Inventory acts as a lookup table. When a beacon\u2019s identifier is entered, the ArcGIS IPS Setup app automatically populates the IPS_Beacons feature class with that beacon\u2019s attribute information. The beacon identifiers can be either the beacon ID or MAC address. Additionally, as you type a beacon ID, the app can suggest known beacon IDs from the table.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2965488,"id":2965488,"title":"combined image","filename":"combined-image-e1778610924202.png","filesize":161429,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-ips\/indoor-gis\/whats-new-in-arcgis-ips-may-2026\/combined-image","alt":"Screenshot of the IPS Setup app. When you enter or select a beacon identifier, the app suggests known beacon IDs and automatically populates the beacon attribute information.","author":"423063","description":"","caption":"Screenshot of the IPS Setup app. When you enter or select a beacon identifier, the app suggests known beacon IDs and automatically populates the beacon attribute information.","name":"combined-image","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2965465,"date":"2026-05-12 17:29:56","modified":"2026-05-12 17:30:07","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":787,"height":824,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","thumbnail-width":191,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","medium-width":249,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":804,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","large-width":787,"large-height":824,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","1536x1536-width":787,"1536x1536-height":824,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","2048x2048-width":787,"2048x2048-height":824,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","card_image-width":444,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/combined-image-e1778610924202.png","wide_image-width":787,"wide_image-height":824}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" Configuring the\u00a0<\/span>IPS_Beacons_Inve<\/span>n<\/span>tory<\/span>\u00a0table\u00a0<\/span>minimizes<\/span>\u00a0manual data entry<\/span>, which can help speed up beacon deployment and lessen the chance of errors.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n After deploying beacons, you must maintain beacon equipment to ensure consistent performance of indoor positioning services. Beacons\u2019 batteries deplete overtime, devices can go offline, and beacons may be moved or damaged. Beacon scanning and maintenance functionality can be incorporated into native mobile apps with\u00a0ArcGIS\u00a0Maps SDK.<\/span><\/p>\n The recent release of Maps SDK 300.0 improved the process for scanning BLE beacons on Android devices to minimize the chance of Android OS shutting down during the scanning process. This can create a more consistent beacon maintenance workflow and decreases the chance of missing beacons that need attention. Seamless beacon maintenance can extend the reliability of your indoor positioning services.<\/span><\/p>\n These features in ArcGIS Pro 3.7, IPS Setup 1.9, and Maps SDK 300.0 streamline the planning, deployment, and maintenance of beacons for indoor positioning systems. By optimizing beacon placement and reducing manual data entry, organizations can implement ArcGIS IPS faster and with greater confidence.<\/span><\/p>\n For more information on ArcGIS IPS, review the following resources.<\/span><\/p>\nFeatures included with ArcGIS Pro 3.7<\/h3>\n
Features included with\u00a0ArcGIS IPS Setup 1.9 and\u00a0ArcGIS Pro 3.7<\/h3>\n
Features\u00a0included in\u00a0ArcGIS\u00a0Maps\u00a0SDK\u00a0300.0<\/h3>\n
\n