1.Introduction, Prerequisites and Intended Audiences

The Digital Matter BLE Provisioning Tool is used to manage and monitor DM Dot Tags, DM Dot Glows and DM Dot Sensors, with planned expansion to other Bluetooth devices. It supports:

• QR code scanning of DM Bluetooth tags
• Proximity searching (Nearby tags)
• Commissioning DM Dot Tags, DM Dot Glows and DM Dot Sensors
• Configuring and updating tag and sensor parameters
• Checking battery voltage
• Creating, managing and bulk applying parameter templates to devices
• Updating DM Dot Tag, DM Dot Glow and DM Dot Sensor firmware
   

Intended Audience

• Partners and resellers provisioning DM Dots in bulk
• Field techs provisioning, troubleshooting or updating parameters

Download

• Apple App Store
• Google Play Store

Prerequisites

1. Android or iOS phone/tablet, with Bluetooth enabled in the mobile device permissions.
2. App downloaded and installed.
3. An active Device Manager user account with:
   1. Two-factor authentication
   2. Device Manager permission
   3. BLE tags assigned to your DVC (Device manager account)
4. DM Dots within reasonable BLE range of the mobile device.

Typical workflows

You will generally choose one of three provisioning tasks:

1. Manual one-off configuration (single device)
2. Template-based configuration (multiple devices)
3. QR-driven bulk configuration (multiple devices)

2. Key concepts

2.1 What is a MAC address?

A MAC address (Media Access Control address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface (including Bluetooth radios). In BLE contexts, it is commonly used to:

• Identify a specific device in scan results
• Confirm you are configuring the intended physical unit
• Troubleshoot duplicates or “wrong device” selection issues

MAC address format: typically six groups of hexadecimal characters: 48:E6:C6:D0:0D:F8

In addition to the MAC address, the DM Dot Tag, Sensor and Glow all have a unique name for easy identification, starting with DM, followed by 000 and then the last three characters of the MAC address. For example: DM000DF8
 

2.2 DM Dot Parameters and what they do

Below is a practical explanation of the DM device parameters.

Tx Power

Tx Power controls how strongly the device transmits BLE advertisements (and/or responds during connections). Higher power generally increases range and reliability but increases energy consumption.

Operational guidance:

• Use lower Tx power for dense environments to reduce RF congestion and preserve battery.
• Use higher Tx power where detection reliability is more important than battery life.

DM Dots support a maximum Tx Power of 7 dBm.

Why Tx Power values can be negative? 

BLE Tx power is commonly represented in dBm (decibels referenced to 1 milliwatt).

• 0 dBm = 1 mW
• Negative dBm values are less than 1 mW (lower power)
• Positive dBm values are greater than 1 mW (higher power)

Converting dBm to milliwatts (mW)

Use: mW = 10^(dBm/10)

Examples:

• 0 dBm ≈ 1.00 mW
• -10 dBm ≈ 0.10 mW
• -20 dBm ≈ 0.01 mW
• +4 dBm ≈ 2.51 mW

 Advertising frequency

Advertising frequency (or interval) controls how often the device broadcasts BLE advertisements.

Shorter interval (more frequent advertising):

• Faster discovery and better time-to-first-detection.
• Higher battery consumption
• More RF airtime (potential congestion)

Longer interval (less frequent advertising):

• Better battery life
• Slower discovery
• More tolerant of congested RF environments in some cases

As a reference, the estimated battery life of the DM Dot Tag and DM Dot Glow is:

• 5 s advertising interval, 2 dBm: 10+ years
• 3 s advertising interval, 4 dBm: 7+ years
• 2 s advertising interval, 7 dBm: 5+ years

Note: Advertising intervals below 3 seconds significantly increase power consumption. Use them only where faster detection is essential. To estimate battery life for your configuration, see DM Dots - Battery Life Estimator.

Basic Parameters

The DM Dot’s basic status parameters are battery voltage and internal circuit board temperature. If the battery voltage falls below 2.7 V, the Dot reports a Battery Low status.

Shipping Mode

DM Dots are shipped in Shipping Mode to preserve battery life. In this mode, the Dot only broadcasts a minimal identification frame, so it can still be found in the app (shown with an orange truck icon). It does not sample or broadcast its basic parameters. Dots must be taken out of Shipping Mode before deployment (see Activating your DM Dots).

3. Logging In, QR scanning y Nearby

Below is a brief guide on the purpose and use of each function.

3.1 Logging In

1. Download the BLE Prov tool app from the respective App store and installed. Apple App Store / Google Play Store
2. Open the Provisioning Tool.
3. Login using your Device Manager credentials and OTP authentication.
4. Add biometrics security options if prompted by your device.

3.2 QR code scanning

When to use QR scanning? 

All Digital Matter tags are labelled with QR codes, and the BLE Provisioning Tool includes a built-in QR scanner to support both single-tag identification and bulk workflows (for example, scanning a shipping carton).

In a typical bulk provisioning flow, you would scan the carton QR code to add all associated tags, then apply a pre-configured template. This creates a targeted commissioning list and reduces the risk of selecting the wrong DM Dots from a potentially crowded ‘Nearby’ results list.

How to scan a QR code (Bulk Shipping Carton example)

1. Open the Provisioning Tool and login using your Device Manager credentials and OTP authentication.
2. Navigate to and click on the QR icon.
3. Click on the QR icon on the far right and allow camera access if prompted.
4. Center the QR code in the frame until it is detected. A message will display ‘Loading, processing bulk QR code…’, followed by ‘QR Codes Found, Bulk QR Codes Processed.’
5. The user can repeat the exercise by clicking on ‘Scan More’  or click on 'Done'.
6. A list of the scanned tags is presented to the user. 
7. Individual tags can always be scanned, with the process being similar.
    

8. From here there are a number of options, configure an individual tag or apply a template by clicking on the ellipsis (Three dots stacked vertically) of that tag, or click on the ellipsis at the top right of the screen for bulk actions. 
9. Clicking on the ‘bulk’ actions ellipsis, you can:
   1. Apply a template (Step 9).
   2. Export the list as a CSV.
   3. Clear the list.
10. See the Manual one-off configuration further below.
11. See the Applying a Template to an individual DM tag further below.
     

Common QR scanning issues

No detection: improve lighting; avoid glare; clean label; steady the camera.

Tags not listed after scanning: check that the Dots are assigned to your DVC in Device Manager. Only Dots assigned to your account are shown in the app.
 

3.3 Proximity searching

Nearby results list overview

The Results list shows the DM Tags discovered nearby during ‘Nearby’ tag scanning. When a DM Tag is discovered, the following data is returned per tag in a list view format:

• Tag Name
• Mac Address
• RSSI
• Tag status
  • Shipping mode (Orange truck icon)
  • Provisioned (Battery icon)
• Internal Battery Voltage (Basic Parameters, only displayed when tag provisioned) 
• Internal circuit board temperature (Basic Parameters, only displayed when tag provisioned) 

3.4 Proximity Searching (Nearby Tags)

Use the ‘Nearby’  function when you need to locate the closest device or isolate a target in a dense environment.

How to use Nearby

1. Select the BLE icon at the bottom of the app screen. 
2. A list of nearby devices will be returned, ordered by strongest to weakest signal. RSSI becomes less negative as you move closer, example: 
   • -85 dBm is further away 
   • -55 dBm is closer
3.  As you move physically closer to the device, the target device readings should become stronger.

3.5 Searching or filtering the Nearby or scanned QR code results list

Filtering reduces errors by limiting visible devices to those that match your deployment scope.

1. Use the Search icon (Left most icon on the bottom tool bar) and enter the unique portion of the DM Tag name, i.e. DF8 from DM000DF8.
2. Note that when filtering the scanned QR code list, the result returned is from the scanned tags only.
   
   
    
3. Use the filter icon, to filter between Active, Shipped or All. 
   
   
   
    

3. Select the device from the ‘Nearby list’ or from the filtered list by clicking on the ellipsis (Three dots stacked vertically).
4. This opens the configuration page of the DM Tag. 

4. Configuring Tags and Sensors Manually

You can configure devices either manually (one-off) for special cases, or via template for consistency and speed.
 

4.1 Manual one-off configuration

How to configure manually

1. Select a device from the Nearby results list by clicking on the row, or if in the ‘QR Code Scanned tag List’, click on the ellipsis (Three dots stacked vertically) of the tag found in the list. 
2. The configuration page will open.
3. Adjust required parameters and settings.
4. Apply/Save.
5. Verify results. Once the device has rebooted, connect to the device and validate the parameters are set as required. 
    

4.2 Templates 

A template is a saved set of configuration parameters that can be applied consistently to one or many devices.

How to Create templates

1. Click on the ‘Hamburger’ menu option (three stacked horizontal lines) at the top left of the screen. 
2. Select ‘Manage Templates’ from the menu.
3. Select 'Configure' to create a new template, defining the following:
   1. Template name.
   2. Advertising period. Intervals below 3 seconds significantly reduce battery life (see Advertising frequency above)
   3. Tx Power.
   4. Shipping mode. Set to Off to activate the Dots for deployment. When On, the Dot stays in a low power state and does not sample or broadcast its basic parameters.
   5. Basic parameters sample period. This is the frequency which the tag battery voltage and circuit board temperature are sampled and returned. 
4. Click on 'Create' to save the newly defined template. 
    

4.3 How to Delete existing templates

1. Templates can be deleted by clicking on the ‘Hamburger’ menu option (three stacked horizontal lines) at the top left of the screen. 
2. Select 'Manage Templates' from the menu options. 
3. Click on ‘Manage’.
4. Select the template to delete.
5. Click on 'Delete Template'  to remove this template. 

4.4 Applying a template to an individual DM Tag

There are two methods to apply a template to the DM Tags. In the ‘Nearby list’ or 'QR Code scanned tag lists', select an individual tag to configure/apply template by clicking on the ellipsis (Three dots stacked vertically), or using the ‘Apply Templates’ option, found in the ‘hamburger’ menu top left. 

4.5 Applying a Template to an individual tag

1. Select ‘Apply Template’ 
2. Choose the template to apply.
3. Review the template parameters to ensure these are correct and click on apply.
4. Click on Confirm. 

5. Click on OK

4.6 Applying a Template to bulk tags

After discovering your tags via the ‘Nearby’ or ‘QR code scan’ functions:

1. Click on the ellipsis (Three dots stacked vertically) at the top right of the screen for bulk actions. 
2. This allows you to:
   1. Apply a template.
   2. Export the list as a CSV.
   3. Clear the list.

8. Click ‘Apply a template’ .
9. Select ‘All’ or only the applicable tags.
10. Confirm the target count and click on ‘Bulk Apply Template’.
11. Select the template required.
12. Scroll down in the modal and click ‘Apply’.
13. Wait for completion status per device - this could take up to several minutes depending on the quantity of devices. 
14. When the provisioning has completed, a modal will display the number of successful and failed tags, with a retry option. 

5. Firmware updates

DM Dots are shipped in Shipping Mode to preserve battery life. Before deployment, they must be activated by applying a configuration with Shipping Mode set to Off.

1. Update the Dots to the latest firmware (see Firmware updates below).
2. Create a template with Shipping Mode set to Off, and the advertising period, Tx Power and basic parameters sample period required for your deployment (see How to Create templates).
3. Apply the template to a single Dot, or to multiple Dots using the bulk actions (see Applying templates).
4. Verify the Dots are active. In the Nearby list, the status icon changes from the orange truck (Shipping Mode) to the battery icon (Active), and the battery voltage and temperature are displayed.
5. Confirm that your gateway is reporting the Dots before installing them on your assets (see DM Dot Family - Integration).

6. Firmware updates

Firmware updates matter because they can change how a device behaves and what it supports. A new firmware version may alter BLE advertising performance, introduce or modify supported parameters, impact the accuracy of battery reporting, and affect whether existing configuration templates apply cleanly and consistently across devices. Be sure to update to the latest available firmware when provisioning your devices.
 

How to update firmware

This is currently only supported on a per-device basis. Bulk firmware updates will be introduced soon.

1. Select a Dot from the Nearby results list by clicking on the row, or from the QR code scanned list by clicking on the ellipsis (three dots stacked vertically).
2. The configuration page will open.
3. Click on Update Firmware.
4. Wait for the update to complete. The Dot will reboot.
5. Reconnect to the Dot and check that the firmware version and parameters are as expected.
6. The Dot resumes advertising and appears in scan results.

Read More 

• DM Dot Tag 
• DM Dot Glow 
• DM Dot Sensor 
• DM Dot Tags - Integration