[IP] 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
>



Esther Dyson              Always make new mistakes!

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