Thursday, 25 March 2021
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Dear Technet community,

I wanted to provide everyone with an update regarding available information resources on the Varo Android app as well as a separate software tool called Pogo LT that works with Varo to provide aggregated performance summaries.

The Varo Android application is a free tool that enables users to capture temperature data from widely deployed 30DTR loggers (e.g. Fridge-tag 2 and others) using only an Android phone and an inexpensive USB adaptor.

  • Varo creates an email report containing 30DTR data, GPS location, time stamp, and user-entered facility/CCE information.
  • Report emails are transmitted only to the user-defined destination, which is typically a Gmail account that users configure for the data collection activity, or directly emailed to an individual. The developers do not receive any data from the app.
  • Varo is available in English, French, and Spanish.
  • Watch this video on the Varo website to see how Varo can help get everyone working together to maintain CCE.

Several health systems have successfully implemented a free Varo reporting system. For example, Kenya’s National EPI program used the Varo app as part of an inventory exercise to capture reports from thousands of CCE units.  Varo is now being used for recurring data collection in a number of Kenyan Counties.  Example deployments are overviewed in a 2020 TechNet conference presentation available at this link.  You can download the Varo app on the Google Play Store.

As hundreds or even thousands of detailed Varo reports are received, it is important to have a simple way to review and process the associated 30DTR data without requiring a dashboard. For this purpose, we also developed the free Pogo LT desktop utility. This powerful tool aggregates data from numerous Varo reports and provides a single performance report showing all CCE units, highlighting those with alarms.

See the attached implementation brief for how the full Varo + Pogo LT toolkit can be deployed wherever needed to better utilize the wealth of 30DTR data that is already available. Learn more about Varo and Pogo LT at the links below.


www.varo-app.org
www.pogo-lt.org

Both Varo and Pogo LT are developed and maintained by New Horizons, a nonprofit group working to improve cold chain data usability.

If anyone has questions about the Varo or Pogo LT tools or would like to receive an example Varo email report, please reach out and I would be happy to provide additional information or set up a call to discuss.

2 years ago
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#6351

Thank you Brian, for sharing this development.

These free apps enable users of the Fridge-tags and their supervisors to make optimal use of the temperature data, and take data-informed decisions. These apps add value to the user of the Fridge-tag devices, as the apps work for the Fridge-tag 2, the Fridge-tag 2E and the Fridge-tag Ultra Low.

Furthermore the apps support all temperature ranges of the Fridge-tags: from -90 to -70C (Ultra Low), to the freezer range (-25 to -18C), to the refrigerator range of +2 to +8C.

 

2 years ago
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#6383

Hi Brian,

Any plans/timeline for an Iphone version of Varo.  Great tool.

Many thanks

Terry Hart

2 years ago
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#6387

Hi Brian,

Any plans/timeline for an Iphone version of Varo.  Great tool.

Many thanks

Terry Hart

Hi Terry, 

The user experience with iOS would not be as smooth and intuitive as it is with Android, since the iOS ecosystem puts some contraints on how data are downloaded from external memory. As a result, we haven't yet prioritized the release of an iOS version of Varo. 

It would be great to hear feedback on whether the value of a iOS version of Varo might outweigh a slightly less smooth user experience. Is there a specific geography or use case that you have in mind where an iOS version would be particularly valuable?

Thanks,

-Brian 

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