Newsletter - June 2005

In this Issue:

1) Symposium Schedule Adherence System Helps Transit Client Win Prestigious National Award

2) Department of National Defense Employs Symposium’s Horizon EME to Provide Map-Based Alarm Monitoring for CFB Petawawa

St. John's Metrobus - Excellence in Innovation

The Canadian Urban Transit Association has chosen St. John’s Metrobus as a recipient of the 2005 Exceptional Performance/Outstanding Achievement Awards, based on the success of its highly innovative TimeTrack™ schedule adherence and route notification system. Metrobus is the transit authority serving the City of St. John’s and surrounding region – home to over 150,000 people and capital of Newfoundland province, located on Canada’s Atlantic seaboard. This system - powered by Symposium Technologies' Horizon EME - has enabled dispatchers, drivers, and riders to track the position and timeliness of city busses, simply and easily, and is the first of its kind in Canada.

TimeTrack™ utilizes Symposium’s Horizon EME as the heart of a highly integrated system that ties together GPS, radio network, in-bus mobile data, telephony and the Internet to distribute important information on the City’s 25 routes to users, all in real time. Using the system, drivers and passengers know instantaneously where each bus is in relation to where it’s supposed to be according to it schedule. This information is calculated by comparing the position of the bus as indicated by the onboard GPS device with where it’s supposed to be according to the schedule, and calculating how many minutes ahead or behind each bus is.

The information is then sent to the busses themselves, where a small mobile data terminal informs drivers how many minutes ahead or behind they are. Information is simultaneously sent to the Metrobus website (www.metrobus.com), where riders can click on the TimeTrack™ icon or at-a-glance notification, or by phoning in and using the Telephony IVR system for a real-time updated voice message.

At Metrobus’ command center, all routes and busses are displayed on the EME’s detailed map-based display, showing each route and bus, it’s schedule adherence status, and a range of other useful information (such as speed and bearing).

The system – which has been operational for over a year – is extremely popular. The website draws over 40,000 visits each month, and TimeTrack™ is the most requested page on the site.

Metrobus’ management was also very sensitive and adept in handling the concerns of staff about tracking technology, and worked closely with drivers and the union to ensure that everyone understood the purpose and benefits of the system in such areas as dispute resolution and driver safety.

Metrobus continues to be highly innovative in its use of technology as a way to improve client service and ridership satisfaction, with several new initiatives underway to build on the capabilities already in place. Symposium would like to congratulate the staff at Metrobus on their commitment to their customers, on their their foresight and vision, and on their success. Well Done!!!!

If you’d like to find out more about the EME’s schedule adherence capability or any other of the system’s other powerful features, please contact Symposium by emailing us at info@symposium911.com.

CFB Petawawa - State of the Art Alarm Monitoring

Canadian Forces Base Petawawa is a sprawling military complex located in central Ontario, and is home to the 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, comprised of over 10,000 soldiers and family members. Elements of the Brigade Group are routinely deployed overseas to such places as the Balkans, Afghanistan and Haiti, as part of Canada’s commitment to peacekeeping throughout the world.

Protecting such a sensitive installation is of key importance to Canada’s defense, and Symposium is proud to be providing Petawawa with a comprehensive map-based alarm monitoring software system to help secure the safety of the base and its personnel.

The system – installed and operational in record time - interfaces with fire alarm panels and receivers from ESC, and provides dispatchers with a real-time monitoring capability for each of the base’s 200-plus structures. Using remote on-site fire detection sensors, the system notifies users of the type of alarm, and displays it’s location on the map. The system also brings up detailed schematics of the building in question, providing dispatchers and responding personnel with important information about how best to take action.

The system also offers a full range of highly advanced alarm monitoring functionalities that enable users full and detailed control over all aspects of the system hardware directly from the dispatch center, thereby helping minimize false alarms and facilitate maintenance of in-field equipment.

The new system has already gained a number of kudos from those involved in the project. According to Gordon Duggan, ESC’s project manager, response has been very enthusiastic: “The new system is far beyond what they are used to, both in terms of capability and ease of use. And working with Symposium was excellent – they provided us with everything we needed to set the system up and train the personnel, quickly and efficiently.”

For its part, Symposium sees remote monitoring as an ever-more powerful tool for clients. As company President Robert Day puts it, “Alarm and other remote monitoring technology can notify responders of potentially dangerous situations, without requiring someone nearby to notice that something’s wrong and phone it in. This means that agencies can respond to events more quickly, safely, and effectively.”

The system is also highly scalable, enabling Petawawa to incorporate many more advanced functionalities, ranging from interfaces with other types of sensors (infrared, motion sensors, glass breaks, etc), digital video, web-based monitoring, GPS/mobile data, and much more. The result is the ability to deliver un-matched situational intelligence – what we call getting the right information in the right hands, at the right time.

For more information, or for those interested in seeing the system in action, please contact Symposium by emailing us at info@symposium911.com.

Next Issue

More contract announcements, new system enhancements, and lots of other great stuff!

Previous Newsletters : Dec 2003, Mar 2004, June 2004, July 2004, Oct 2004, Nov 2004, April 2005

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