In this Issue:

1) Symposium Technologies’ Horizon EME to Provide Monitoring For Canadian Forces Base Edmonton

2) GPS/Mobile Data Gaining Traction

Symposium Technologies’ Horizon EME to Provide Monitoring For Canadian Forces Base Edmonton

Symposium Technologies continues to make inroads into the defense and homeland security market with the announcement of our latest installation, Canadian Forces Base Edmonton.

CFB Edmonton is home to Land Forces Western Area, which provides command and control for all army formations in western Canada. It is also home to a number of highly-decorated units, including the 1st Mechanized Brigade Group, 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry, Lord Strathcona’s Horse (artillery), 1st Combat Engineer Unit, 408th Tactical Helicopter, and 1st Field Ambulance.

Elements of many of these units were part of Canada’s response to the events of 9/11, seeing combat in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda, and subsequent deployment to Kandahar as part of the ongoing process of bringing peace and stability to the region. Personnel from CFB Edmonton have been highly active in any number of other peace keeping operations in such high-risk theatres as Bosnia and Kosovo.

CFB Edmonton is largely an urban base, with facilities scattered throughout the City of Edmonton and surrounding area. Its infrastructure is considerable, consisting of numerous administrative offices, barracks, armories, motor pools, training facilities, and a runway so large it’s designated as one of the official alternate landing facilities for the space shuttle. Providing effective alarm monitoring to this facility is key to helping ensure Canada’s defense, enhancing the safety of military personnel and their families, and preventing potential acts of terrorism.

Symposium’s Horizon EME is well suited to this installation because of its powerful features, its flexibility, and its outstanding track record at other military facilities across the country. Going forward, the ability to extend the system to provide dispatch, mobile data, GPS, and integration with CCTV and digital radio provides CFB Edmonton with access to the latest technologies in a seamless system that provides comprehensive, end-to-end incident detection and management.

The EME alarm monitoring system at CFB Edmonton integrates with alarm panels and receivers from Electronic Surveillance Corporation, and can accommodate a full range of sensors including fire (smoke, heat), security (infrared, motion, door/glass break, etc.), CNB (chemical, nuclear, biological), and other more specialized systems. The EME also enables base personnel to perform remote diagnosis and control of integrated sensors, providing the highest levels of real-time control and system management.

CFB Edmonton is the latest in a long line of military facilities to employ Symposium’s Horizon EME, with many more expected to adopt the system as the company continues to expand its operations throughout North America. According to company President Robert Day Symposium Technologies is the right company, in the right place, at the right time: “We are the only company with a system able to provide comprehensive end-to-end incident detection and management across the full range of potential threats, at a time when the vulnerability of critical military and civilian infrastructure is front and center in the minds of decision makers. Our proven ability to deliver complete solutions economically, on time and on budget, combined with the power of the system, really sets us apart.”

GPS/Mobile Data Gaining Traction

St. Johns Metrobus customers are able to receive live bus schedule adherence and position updates via the internet with technology powered by the Horizon EME

Symposium continues to help clients develop new ways to save lives and deliver services more effectively by adapting cutting-edge technologies to each client’s unique mission and goals. This is nowhere more evident than in the area of mobile data, as agencies in fields as diverse as public safety, transit, military, and security become more aware of the profound impact that access to real-time anywhere and any-when information can have on their operations.

With mobile data, clients have the ability to put the right information in the right hands at the right time, instantly sharing updates and enhancing real-time situational awareness, and delivering more effective results. The key however, lies in the details. What is the RIGHT information? What are the RIGHT hands? When can this information be put to best use and make the most impact? The answers to these questions depend on the specific needs of each individual client, and delivering systems that meet these needs across a broad spectrum of government agencies and private sector industries requires uncommon levels of system intelligence and versatility, supported by a company that thoroughly understand needs and operations through the eyes of the customer.

These are the principals that Symposium Technologies is built upon, and which in turn have allowed us to break new ground in terms of the effectiveness of our mobile data applications. A recent example of this involves a major upgrade to the mobile data provided to St. John’s Metrobus, which has resulted in more timely and detailed information being made available to transit customers.

Symposium provided Metrobus the foundation to develop a powerful and cutting edge schedule adherence system – TimeTrack - that provides transit dispatchers, drivers and the ridership with real-time updates of each bus’s schedule status. Using GPS, the Symposium system compares each bus’ actual position with where it is supposed to be in relation to its schedule, and then distributes this information via monitoring station, mobile data terminal and website to keep everyone fully up to date and aware. Dispatchers can better monitor driver and passenger safety, drivers can adjust speed to better stay on schedule, and riders can access the web to see whether they can expect their bus to be on time or not and, if not, what degree of delay they can expect.

Now however, Symposium and Metrobus have further refined and extended this capability by making the map-based information formerly accessible only to dispatchers available to the ridership, complementing the schedule status information already posted to the Metrobus website and automated telephony number. Now, riders can not only see exactly how far ahead or behind their bus is, but can also the exact location of the bus, giving them a much better idea of where the bus is in relation to their stop.
 

Clicking on the Metrobus TimeTrack link on the Metrobus website brings up a list of all active routes, their current schedule status, last time and location of position update, speed, and direction. Selecting on the Click to View Bus link in turn brings up a map window that shows the current map-based location, thereby enabling riders to better gage how far the bus is from their stop. The improvement in information detail and availability has in turn resulted in improved service and rider satisfaction.

Other examples of the right information in the right hands at the right time involve how Symposium’s security and fire monitoring systems for military bases and industrial complexes offer a mobile data component that lets in-field personnel access floor plans and premise information for buildings and rooms where an alarm has been tripped; Still others involve map-based systems for public safety that display incident type, location, the real-time location of responding units, query premise information, update and monitor the status of other responders.

Responding units are able to receive real time event info using the new EMMobile

In all cases, the common element is how targeted and unique information, geared towards different users with different needs, is made available in different ways and at different times, to do the job better. In addition to the sheer richness of functionality available, another of the most exceptional features is that ALL these different clients and applications are accommodated in one system, customizable to reflect any requirements in any situation. Another is affordability - with a pricing scale that enables us to work with clients of all sizes, Symposium has been a trail blazer in making mobile data and other high functionality technologies available to a wider range of agencies than has ever before been the case, enabling even those with modest budgets to greatly increase their capabilities.

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!

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