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In
this Issue: |
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1)
New Schedule Adherence System for Public
Transit Debuts at CUTA
Conference |
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2) Symposium Technologies
Teams up with FIREHOUSE Software®
at New England Association of Fire Chiefs Conference |
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Symposium Technologies New Schedule
Adherence System Plays Prominent Role at Annual CUTA Conference |
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For the Full Project Overview
Document please
CLICK HERE
(Adobe PDF Format) |
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Dispatcher Tracking Transit
Vehicles Using HorizonEME
Click Here to
See More Images
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Members of the Symposium
team were on-hand at this year’s Canadian Urban Transit Association
meeting in St. John’s for the official unveiling of the powerful new
Schedule Adherence System that the company designed and implemented
for conference host, St. John’s Metrobus.
This fit in very well with the theme of the conference - “Connecting
in Real Time” – which was centered on exploring how Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS for short) could be put to use in
improving service delivery, and helping simplify the day-to-day
management of busy, complex transit systems.
Symposium staff participated in the conference’s inaugural session,
wherein Mark Chancey of Metrobus gave a presentation to delegates
from across both Canada and the United States on the project, and
the benefits it has provided to St. John’s, a medium-sized city of
150,000 that operates a fleet of 54 busses.
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The new system – called TimeTrack – uses GPS technology to monitor
the position of each bus in real time. What really makes the
TimeTrack system exceptional however, is that unlike conventional
AVL systems that just plot and display position, TimeTrack processes
this data intelligently, and makes it available to the riders,
drivers, dispatchers and administrators in ways that provide a
timelier, more effective and stress-free transit service.
The system compares the position and timestamp of each bus' GPS
signal with where it's supposed to be in accordance to its assigned
route schedule, and notifies dispatchers of any notable deviations.
A simultaneous alert is sent to the drivers and displayed on a small
data terminal mounted in each bus that indicates how many minutes
ahead or behind the bus is, thereby enabling the driver to speed up
or slow down as required.
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The system also makes this information
available in real time to the ridership, via the Metrobus website (www.metrobus.com),
which displays up-to-date information on each bus' status via the
TimeTrack interface located on the main page. In addition, the
system enables administrators to compile reports on historical bus
and route information, resulting in better resolution of client
complaints, and the ability to perform more in-depth service
analysis and improvement.
And there are more advances in the works. Symposium Technologies has
finished work on an interface that will enable integration with
Metrobus' automated telephony system, so non-net-savvy users can
have the same access to the up-to-date schedule information by
simply dialing in and listening to a dynamically-updated automated
message.
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Display Mounted in Bus Showing Schedule Adherence
Information |
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Click Here to
See More Images
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CUTA Conference Highlighting Our New Technology
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to See More Images
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As Mark Chancey, Manager of Marketing
and Information Services for Metrobus put it, "The whole idea behind
the TimeTrack project was to not only collect data, but put in place
systems that would turn it into meaningful service-improving
information, and to make it easy to access. We're very happy with
the results - it's reliable, powerful, non-intrusive, and
easy-to-use. And Symposium has done an excellent job in putting the
solution in place, quickly and affordably".
Symposium President Robert Day agrees:
"There are a lot of technologies out there right now that present
agencies like Metrobus with raw data that doesn’t really reflect
their specific needs and goals, or integrate effectively with other
technologies.
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We’ve learned from our experience in
public safety, military security and other markets that in order to
deliver a truly useful solution, it has to conform to the way the
client operates, integrate seamlessly with their other systems, and
solve their problems simply and powerfully. By taking this approach,
we’ve been able to provide St. John’s with the most advanced and
fully implemented schedule adherence system in the country, on time
and on budget. This is something that everyone here is very proud
of.”
The Metrobus project is also a
good example of how working pro-actively with other vendors to
deliver solutions can provide far better results to the client. In
this particular case, Symposium built on strong relationships with
both Maxtel Communications
(who provided the radio systems), as well as
ELM Technologies (who
provided the GPS equipment) to ensure that the whole – when fully
implemented – was much greater than the sum of its parts.
Response from the public has been extremely positive, with the word
"fantastic" popping up frequently when riders are asked about the
new service. Judging from the equally-positive comments of the
large numbers of transit industry professionals who took the time to
see the live system in action at Metrobus’ Dispatch center,
expectations are that the buzz surrounding ITS and Symposium will be
getting a lot louder in the coming months.
For the Full System Overview PDF
Document please
CLICK HERE
For more information, or for those interested in seeing the system
in action, please contact Symposium by emailing us at
info@symposium911.com. |
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Symposium Technologies Teams up with FIREHOUSE Software®
at New England Association of Fire Chiefs Conference |
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NEAFC Show Apparatus
Parade
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Thousands of Fire and EMS professionals from all over the Eastern
United States were on hand in Springfield Massachusetts recently for
New England FIRE/RESCUE/EMS, one of the region’s premier public
safety conferences.
Based on the success of our ongoing collaboration and partnership,
Symposium Technologies and FIREHOUSE Software®
participated jointly,
meeting with representatives from many fire departments looking for
powerful, fully integrated and affordable emergency management
solutions.
The conference – co-hosted with the New England Division of the IAFC,
and the New England Fire Apparatus Maintenance Association –
featured over 200 exhibitors, a wide range of educational seminars,
and an impressive apparatus parade that drew over 100 vehicles from
a myriad of departments far and wide.
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The conference was an excellent
opportunity for Symposium to increase its exposure in the Northeast,
where our recent installations have created a big stir. Not least
among those impressed with this work is FIREHOUSE Software®. With
over 12,000 installed systems, FIREHOUSE is the premier Fire RMS
provider in North America. Says FIREHOUSE representative Peter Eleftherakis,
“Symposium has a great system, one that provides an unprecedented
level of integration with FIREHOUSE, and adds a lot of value. I
wanted them here, so my clients could get a first hand look at the
type of synergies that are possible when the best technologies out
there come together in one package.”
Another important factor that came up with many visitors to the
booth was the whole issue of consumer choice. It’s a story
Symposium’s Jeff Connors has heard before: “Nowadays
interoperability is key, and the big thing people throw our way is
that they absolutely need their systems to talk to one another. At
the same time they don’t necessarily want to have to go to one
vendor for everything because it limits choice, and they can end up
getting locked in to a situation where they can’t change one thing
without changing everything. By designing our system to be so open,
we can work with an unlimited range of other vendor solutions, and
integrate so tightly as to provide a superior level of capability.
Bottom line, clients get the best of both worlds – full integration,
full choice, and no headaches.”
After all, it’s about making the technology work for you™, not
vice-versa.
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Next Issue |
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More contract announcements, new system enhancements,
and a discussion of migrating your old data to a new system, quickly
and painlessly. |
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Previous Newsletters :
Dec 2003,
Mar 2004,
June 2004 |
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| Please Note: You are
receiving this newsletter based on previous contacts between your
agency and Symposium Technologies. If you have received this in error
or wish to unsubscribe, please send an email to
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Copyright 2004 Symposium
Technologies Incorporated, all rights reserved | |
