RFind Systems, Inc. (“RFind”) of Kelowna, BC announces the acquisition of its business by the Trapeze Group (“Trapeze”) closed on June 19, 2012. The Trapeze Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc. (TSX:CSU).

“We’re excited to have found a new home with Trapeze,” said Sharon Barnes, CEO of RFind. “Trapeze has an outstanding reputation for innovation and experience in passenger transport solutions. The combination of our product offering with the Trapeze enterprise makes this an all around win for our customers, our employees and the passenger transport industry.” The first major transit project RFind landed was initiated in Calgary in 2010 on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. RFind’s technology will enable Trapeze to expand their transit enterprise solution offering with real-time location systems for vehicles and moveable assets.

Sharon Barnes and Marty Brooks founded RFind with the idea of developing a wireless Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Real Time Location System (RTLS) solution that would be scalable, affordable and would not require expensive infrastructure changes. The technology that RFind developed has been a leader in the automotive sector and has been deployed in yard and depot management, asset tracking, production sequencing and process control applications for transit, automotive and industrial manufacturing clients world-wide.

RFind is an Okanagan technology company success story. Founded in 2005 within the Okanagan Research and Innovation Centre (ORIC) Incubator in the White Lake Observatory, RFind has been able to grow and develop the technology locally using local talent. A significant contributing factor to the success of RFind was the timely investment and support provided by the Southern Interior Development Investment Trust (SIDIT) and Okanagan Innovation Fund (OIF). In addition, support from Accelerate Okanagan has ensured RFind has had access to the resources and experience necessary to position and grow the company.

It takes planning and process to secure a successful exit transaction. The sale was led by David Raffa of Valeo Corporate Finance, who served as RFind’s investment banker and advisor. “David managed the process for us from start to finish and was an invaluable resource. He understands technology companies and their value proposition to a buyer, and did a great job in negotiating the transaction,” noted Barnes.

Trapeze Group is based in Ontario, but will continue RFind’s operations and commitment to the Okanagan as they maintain an office in Kelowna and many of the current RFind staff.

About Trapeze Group

Trapeze delivers solutions that consider the full 360 degrees of passenger transport. Whether addressing the needs of a single department, an entire organization, or the community, Trapeze provides some of the most advanced software, intelligent transportation systems and mobile technologies in the industry. Hundreds of government and commercial organizations across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific have turned to Trapeze to realize efficiencies, enhance the quality and scope of their services, and safely transport more people with less cost. Find out more by visiting www.trapezegroup.com.

About RFind

RFind, Inc. is a leading edge RFID and RTLS manufacturer that provides wireless solutions that are scalable, affordable, and implementation does not require expensive infrastructure changes. Dedicated to building an efficient, turn-key RFID/RTLS solution, RFind’s patented Tag to Tag™ communication technology was developed in 2005. It offers a more cost effective and efficient means of implementing RFID/RTLS technology, overcoming barriers to deployment posed by the typical investment in infrastructure required by conventional RTLS. RFind solutions have been deployed in yard and depot management, asset tracking, production sequencing and process control applications for transit, automotive and industrial manufacturing clients world-wide.

Find out more by visiting RFind’s website at www.RFind.com.

The RBQ has a mandate is to ensure the quality of construction work as well as the safety of people in the fields of building, electricity, plumbing, gas, petroleum equipment installations, pressure vessels, elevators, passenger ropeways, amusement park rides and public pools and beaches. The RBQ sees to the enforcement of the Building Act and regulations thereto within the various technical fields encompassed by its jurisdiction in the province of Quebec, Canada.

The RBQ fulfills its mission by adopting standards with regard to building, safety, financial guarantees and professional qualifications, by issuing licences and permits conferring their holders with the rights of exercising, and by overseeing the application of the standards established through regulations.

The Centre is head quartered in Kelowna, BC, with branch offices in Vancouver and Victoria. Their mission is to be the leading business resource centre for women who are, or are considering, starting, purchasing or growing a small business in BC.

Sharon has long shared their vision and passion to empower women entrepreneurs to achieve their business success. As an entrepreneur who has successfully created, grown and managed diverse enterprises during her career, Sharon is well placed to offer guidance, support and mentorship to aspiring women entrepreneurs through the Women’s Enterprise Centre. Sharon looks forward to sharing more of her experience and knowledge with the members of the Centre during 2012.

The first of the two kits made available is the new low cost “Sales Demo Kit” which provides 2 Asset tags, 4 Reference tags, all required ancillaries, plus an easy-to-use demonstration software application for less than US$ 700. It offers an easy, no-wires set-up for sales demonstrations of the highly flexible, scalable and adaptable RTLS offered by RFind. The kit was developed with an eye on assisting RFind’s partners and customers with early business development activities and simple demonstrations of the multiple location and identification methods that RFind can offer in one system. It’s “RTLS in a Box”.

The “Technical Demo Kit” is offered as a full-featured demo kit, with 4 asset tags, 16 Reference tags and all required ancillaries. It includes a demo version of RFind’s Expeditor 2D software, which contains the full RFind RTLS location engine, mapping & display functions, full hardware configuration capabilities and common reporting functions. This kit is designed to be used for more extensive ‘real-life’ demonstrations, short-term proof of concept uses and technical use for activities such as site surveys and RTLS architecture design, which are usually required further along in the sales cycle. Full training is included for using RFind’s Expeditor 2D software.

“Our unique, simple, infrastructure-free location system architecture, based on our patented Tag to Tag™ communication offers multiple RTLS location methods, and a user-configurable degree of location accuracy, using the same set of basic hardware components. This offers our customers a highly cost-effective and pragmatic solution to their asset and equipment location tracking needs” said Sharon Barnes, CEO of RFind. “By introducing our new low cost ‘Sales Demo Kit’, resellers, integrators and customers can easily experience the basic location methods in any demo environment. They can then experience the full power of RFind’s RTLS solutions through the ‘Technical Demo Kit’ which can handle full-feature demonstrations and trials.”

To find out more about the kits, or to get a quotation, contact RFind today.

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Ray Little, Warren Scott and Barb Howard attended to share information about RFind’s innovative RFID based real-time location solutions (RTLS) for mass-transit applications at Trans-Expo 2011. RFind supports modern CAD/AVL systems with real-time location data for rail and bus fleets, and bus garage parking management tools. As such,

RFind’s solutions are a key tool that help improve customer experience and service, help provide real-time passenger information, and assist with gathering vital operation data from across the transit network. These are all key to enabling transit systems to attract greater ridership and operate more efficiently.

Held annually in conjunction with the CUTA Fall Conference, Trans-Expo, Canada’s Transit and Bus Exhibition, attracts more than 1,000 management decision-makers in the transportation industry. This exhibition features over 60,000 square feet of exciting products, vehicles and services from manufacturers across North America and abroad.

Trans-Expo is held every year together with the Canadian Urban Transit Association’s Fall Conference. Find out more about this year’s upcoming show here.

Warren Scott, Technical Sales Specialist, represented RFind at the conference. While there, Warren met other delegates and shared information about RFind’s innovative RFID based real-time location solutions (RTLS) for mass-transit. RFind supports modern CAD/AVL systems with real-time location data for rail and bus fleets, and bus garage parking management tools. As such, RFind’s solutions are a key tool for creating intelligent transportation systems that help improve customer experience and service, help provide real-time passenger information, and assist with gathering vital operation data from across the transit network. These are all key to enabling transit systems to attract greater ridership and operate more efficiently.

RFind’s RTLS also has proven application in commercial transport and logistics applications, notably automated yard management, for identification and location finding of containers, stillages, large equipment, trailers, and vehicles.

More information on the ITS Canada conference can be found by clicking on this link.

The conference theme was “Accelerating a New Customer Orientation” and covered topics centred on how transit systems can focus on, and address,  the modern expectations and need of their  customers. Improved customer experience and service has a key role to play in encouraging the growing cultural shift towards using mass-transit over private vehicles.

Warren Scott, Technical Sales Specialist, represented RFind at the conference. While there, Warren met other delegates and shared information about RFind’s innovative RFID based real-time location solutions (RTLS) for mass-transit. RFind supports modern CAD/AVL systems with real-time location data for rail and bus fleets, and bus garage parking management tools. As such, RFind’s solutions are a key tool that help improve customer experience and service, help provide real-time passenger information, and assist with gathering vital operation data from across the transit network. These are all key to enabling transit systems to attract greater ridership and operate more efficiently.

More information on the CUTA annual conference can be found by clicking on this link.