BT telecom monitoring tool a hit

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Esther Dyson [edyson () edventure com]
Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2008 12:25 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: Fwd: BT telecom monitoring tool a hit

> Big future forecast for ‘asset monitoring’ system
>
>
>
> <http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-news/2008/03/07/>Mar
> 7 2008 by Martin Shipton, Western Mail
>
> A SOPHISTICATED “asset monitoring” technique
> developed by BT researchers in Wales is expected
> to evolve into a multi-billion-pounds industry.
>
> From next month, the telecoms giant will start
> rolling out a number of business packages that
> will enable customers to access the new technology.
>
> Using a combination of fibre optic sensing,
> wi-fi, video image recognition, mobile and
> satellite positioning and radio frequency
> identification tagging techniques make it
> possible for constant tracking of many different
> things, including trains, track or roadside
> equipment, station platforms and road vehicles.
>
> So when a lorry travels through a city, it can
> be tracked with a radio tag or via cameras. In
> remoter areas, the versatile monitoring device
> on board may automatically opt to use global positioning system (GPS).
>
> The new technological developments mean that
> railway operators can more closely monitor their
> trains and the condition of line-side equipment,
> road hauliers can locate their lorries and
> containers with pin-point accuracy, and users of
> enhanced mobile devices need never be out of
> contact as the tracking technology seamlessly
> switches them from one network to the next, wherever they are.
>
> A small BT Global Services design team based in
> Cardiff developed the data platform – a series
> of modules which take in different types of raw
> location-based data and then merge it to provide
> a complete picture and a basis for applications.
>
> The complete picture may be the location of a
> moving asset to establish where it is and its
> current condition – information which is then
> sent to the client’s online monitoring centre.
>
> Or it could be an alert notifying intrusion and
> theft, or the position of a work team alongside a railway track.
>
> Often BT’s fixed or wireless network can also be
> used to solve problems by linking monitoring
> devices and relaying information back to a
> vehicle driver or to a remote control centre.
>
> Ian Drury, one of the senior BT researchers from
> the group’s Cardiff Data Centre who have
> developed the new system, said, “There is no
> limit to the kind of applications for which this
> could be used. Our starting point was the
> telecoms network with which we have been familiar for many years.
>
> “We now have systems that will alert us when
> there is something wrong with a network –
> essentially the broken element alerts us to come and fix it.
>
> “Now, in our 21st Century Network, we can apply
> this in many other situations affecting more conventional industries.
>
> “If there is something wrong with a pipeline or
> railway track, a message will be sent and lives could potentially be saved.”
>
> Mr Drury said other possibilities included the concept of ticketless travel.
>
> “If someone wanted to take a train from Cardiff
> Central to London, for example, they could
> register to pay their fare via their mobile,” he said.
>
> “It could also be used to automatically pay
> congestion charges in London or elsewhere in the
> future. Alerts about specific areas of traffic
> congestion could also be sent, giving
> individuals the opportunity to take alternative routes.
>
> “It could also offer the option of a park and
> ride, saving the driver the cost of the
> congestion charge, or book places in a city centre car park.
>
> “In coming years, this kind of service is going
> to become commonplace, and from our point of
> view it is important that BT get in at the very beginning.”
> John T. Mulqueen
> Editorial Director
> Spring O'Brien Inc.
> 50 West 23rd St.
> New York, N.Y. 10010
> (212) 620 7100 ext. 229
> (212) 620 7166 (fax)
> (914) 439 3807



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