What is a LISNR Tone?

With the proliferation of mobile device usage, the life of consumers is more “on the go” than ever before. That means the ability to connect customers to places of business is easier than ever, and paves the way to facilitate frictionless commerce everywhere. LISNR sees this as the ultimate opportunity to connect with customers and get them buying using our ultrasonic data transmission platform. To help you understand how we do it, it’s important to explain a bit about our data packed “tones”.

What Is a LISNR Tone™?

LISNR Tones are core to a proprietary ultrasonic data transmission platform that powers connectivity and commerce between between devices, consumers, and places of business. Each LISNR Tone has data that is encoded into it, which can then be decoded to extract that data. To date, audio has typically been used simply as an “identifier” or a “trigger”.

For example, let’s say a tone with an encoded ID of 456 is produced. When a device hears the tone and decodes ID 456, it goes to a cloud server to retrieve the content associated with that ID. The tone itself only transmits the ID number – not the data associated with that ID – and needs to connect to a server to “find” the data. Shazam uses a similar technology to record a fingerprint of audio and then check the server to identify music.

LISNR Tones take a big step forward in complexity by allowing larger amounts of data to be encoded into the tone, thereby creating greater utility. With larger data payloads and faster transmission times, LISNR Tones can operate completely offline by transmitting data directly. Avoiding complex or expensive hardware requirements and using standard speakers and microphones means an increase in conversations and transaction opportunities with consumers. It’s a big win for everyone.

How Do LISNR Tones Work?

LISNR Tones send data over ultrasonic frequencies, turning any audio speaker into a beacon capable of connecting devices and triggering 2nd screen interactivity via their microphones. These tones are inaudible to the human ear, but capable of being detected by virtually every mobile device manufactured today with a speaker or microphone. Existing infrastructure – stadiums, indoor or outdoor venues, automobiles, mobile phones, and even TVs – outfitted with speaker or microphone equipment can transmit LISNR Tones, which makes the platform extremely versatile.

Once a smartphone hears a LISNR Tone through an existing mobile app, the necessary data is decoded from the tone and used to trigger an event, make a payment or a variety of other activities within an app. As an example, we can generate a LISNR Tone from a sporting or ticketing app to enable consumers to be quickly identified, submit an entry ticket or even pay for a hotdog at a sporting game.

Frequently compared to Bluetooth technology, the differences couldn’t be greater. LISNR Tones:

• Require minimal hardware (leveraging any device with a speaker and microphone)
• Don’t require Wi-Fi/cell service
• Utilize minimal power
• Are device neutral

All of these capabilities translate into incredible utility and efficiency.

How Are LISNR Tones Being Used?

When you think about the speaker and microphone infrastructure in the world around us, LISNR Tone applications are truly limitless. Here are a few use cases to consider:

• Powering mobile payment solutions across payment vendors, retailers, and peer-to-peer
• Authenticating users to enable mobile ticketing, in-automobile personalization, conference room connectivity, etc
• Sending relevant, location-based retail offers to consumers based on their geographic and in-store location

LISNR Tones are poised to become the new technology standard for real-time and hyper-focused customer engagement, peer-to-peer communication, and secure data transfer for connected devices. To find out how LISNR can help transform your business, contact us.