can i make this beacon connectable with my android phone so I can use it as the smart lock trusted device feature on my phone?

As far as I know, no, you can’t use a beacon as a smart lock trusted device. Why not? Because smart lock works with a connection to a Bluetooth device, e.g. a device such as headphones. When the device is present AND connected to your phone, your phone will stay unlocked. Beacons, on the other hand, do not connect to your phone ever, unless you are configuring them (which you usually will only do once in the lifetime of the beacon). One idea: I can’t guarantee it, but I think one of those “lost keys/luggage” devices would work. I’m definitely not sure about this though, so do some more research first.

Can you use it to send a url?

Yes, but you should note that beacons can not cause messages to appear on nearby phones unless those phones have your app installed. Without an app, beacons broadcasting URLs will have no effect on nearby phones. If you are reading articles that say this is possible, those articles are two years out of date.

Could these be set up to track employees leaving and entering the building in lieu of clocking in?

Sure, that's one of the most common uses for beacons. Quite a few medical facilities are adding this feature to keep track of doctors, nurses, PAs, etc. and how much time they spend in each treatment room, etc. In this scenario, the employee would carry the beacon with them. The main challenge will be for you to set up a scanner to scan for known beacons and to log the time that they enter and then later exit. This type of hardware is called a gateway, e.g. BLE gateway. Gateways are not cheap and require some tech skills to set up, but it's all doable if you invest some time in learning the basics. Another much cheaper option is to make a DIY gateway using a programmable module such as a ESP32 or similar. You can contact me anytime on the Blue Charm website if you would like more info about this topic.

Can you recommend a usb ble 5.0 dongle to reading these beacons?

Wish I had a good answer for this one, but I have not spent any time working with BLE dongles yet. One thing to be careful of: There are many many Bluetooth dongles on Amazon, but nearly all of them are for connecting a bluetooth keyboard to your computer (or headphones to your computer or similar type of application). These will NOT read beacons. What you need is a BLE dongle specifically for reading/scanning beacons.

ASIN	B085XN9B7N
Batteries	1 Lithium Metal batteries required. (included)
Best Sellers Rank	#60 in Bluetooth Network Adapters
Color	Black
Connectivity technologies	Bluetooth 5.0
Customer Reviews	4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (91)
Date First Available	March 15, 2020
Item Weight	0.352 ounces
Item model number	BC011
Manufacturer	Blue Charm Beacons
Other display features	Wireless
Product Dimensions	1.42 x 1.42 x 0.2 inches

Blue Charm Beacons - Bluetooth BLE iBeacon (BC011-MultiBeacon) - Shows Battery Level in Broadcast - Long Range BLE 5.0

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