Mobile Telephony and the Internet Open Up Higher Levels of Service and Better Maintenance
Mobile Telephony and the Internet Open Up Higher Levels of Service and Better Maintenance Cellular phone technology is making it more cost-effective to open an automatic door. This is more secure than giving out keys or ID cards ("smart cards", transponders or escort memory) to each person who is authorised to enter. Above all, administration and maintenance are made easier. A new technique for communicating low bandwidth data via the Internet and the mobile telecommunications network is enabling this technology to be offered by door manufacturer Allhabo AB, a subsidiary of the Swedish public company, Cardo Door Group. The telematics of the system, i.e. the communication between one machine and another, have been developed by Unwire AB, a leading company in electronics and GSM technology. The police have also become interested in the prospects this application offers for better authorisation control. Just like cars, motor-driven doors in industrial premises, garages and the like require regular inspection and preventive maintenance to avoid problems. Automatic door manufacturers such as Allhabo of Sweden obviously have a large after-market to deal with. However, unlike car owners, who can check their mileage to determine when their vehicles are due for service, it's not so easy to check the amount of automatic door use. "A door that is opened 30 times a day actually travels the equivalent of 9 kilometres in 50 days; quite a distance," confirms Per Eric Vestman, Managing Director of Allhabo AB. With the aid of new technology from Unwire, a GSM-based intelligent terminal device is placed on the door to detect how many times the door has been opened and closed. When it's time for planned preventive maintenance, an order is sent to the assigned service organisation. In order to find out which service vehicle is nearest to the door requiring service, each service vehicle is equipped with a GPS terminal. By simply activating a computer loaded with digital maps, the Unwire system searches for the most suitable maintenance technician to direct to the automatic door needing service. "Both parties benefit financially. This new procedure saves a lot of time and work, since we can now concentrate our maintenance efforts on those doors which really need servicing. At the same time, the door fault rate is drastically reduced when maintenance is done at the right time," continues Per Eric Vestman Tighter security The other breakthrough concerns the security problem. Each door that is equipped with the GSM terminal can be opened by simply phoning to it. The door has a unique telephone number. By putting the access number on a Web page in an administrative computer, the operator or owner of the premises can decide which people or telephone connections will be authorised to enter. If the door's GSM terminal recognises the caller's signal, it will open the door. If not, the person calling will receive a short SMS text message denying entry. This simplifies matters for those responsible for security within industrial premises, car parks or garages. A Web page can administer an unlimited number of doors and connect these to mobile telephone numbers, permitting access only to those who are authorised. There are no keys to distribute, keep track of and collect when the authorisation runs out, no lost cards or damaged and unusable escort memories or transponders. There is no danger of unauthorised access to codes or cards getting into the wrong hands, or of devices just vanishing. Temporary authorisation to cover one-time entries, short authorisation periods or other limited access is easily facilitated. "New and approved user mobile telephone numbers can be added to the Web page just as easily and quickly as expired numbers can be removed when employees or tenants leave. Eliminating the need to go to each door and change the software again saves time and trouble for the person responsible for door security. At the same time, customers are happier with such a simple way of controlling door access," says Per Eric Vestman. The market leader Allhabo AB is the first in Sweden with this new telematics approach, and so far no other company in the industry has come so far, according to Allhabo. Great interest in the Unwire and Allhabo solution is not restricted to owners of industrial and private premises. The police are also keen to be able to activate and influence numerous functions via the telephone using Internet Web pages. This could relieve them from some of the many coded functions the police already use and must keep track of in their duties. Facts about Unwire: Unwire develops systems for positioning and supervision of mobile telephone networks and other wireless communications solutions based on GSM technology. Users include banks, industrial equipment manufacturers and other vertical segments with applications for supervision, remote control, cashcard loading and positioning. The company, a subsidiary of CellPoint Inc. a US public company, was founded in 1997 and at present has about 20 employees. For further information please contact Michael Wallon, Unwire AB Telephone: +46-8-446 64 00, e-mail: michael@unwire.se Per Eric Vestman, Allhabo AB Telephone: +46-19-20 98 00, e-mail: info@allhabo.se CellPoint Systems Telephone: +46-8-5947-4900, e-mail: info@cellpt.com Text and picture are available at www.ins.se ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/02/24/20000224BIT00490/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/02/24/20000224BIT00490/bit0002.pdf