Contents - Connect-World
Contents - Connect-World
Contents - Connect-World
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Location-Based Systems<br />
Locating everythingElectronic trackers<br />
by Chris Wade, Chief Executive Officer, CPS–Cambridge Positioning Systems Ltd<br />
New, highly accurate technology lets mobile operators accurately track users, even in<br />
crowded city centres and indoors. Device manufacturers and solution providers are now<br />
integrating standardised, high accuracy location technology into their phones, PDAs and<br />
other devices. The uses of this technology range from parental child tracking to fleet and<br />
workforce management. As both the cost and size of tracking devices drop, they will be<br />
increasingly used in laptops, cash boxes and other valuable assets to track their whereabouts.<br />
Chris Wade is the Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Positioning Systems Ltd. — CPS. Chris Wade<br />
joined CPSthen, a start-up venture capital funded companyand transformed it into a global leader<br />
in high accuracy mobile location technology. Before joining CPS, Chris was European Managing<br />
Director for network infrastructure supplier DSC Communications. Previously, he worked for Nortel,<br />
holding a number of senior positions in Norway, Turkey and the USA. Chris also acts as a telecommunications<br />
consultant and non-executive director to a number of leading venture capital companies.<br />
Picture the scene: a busy downtown<br />
in a major Chinese city. Couriers carrying<br />
important documentation are<br />
making their way between banking<br />
offices. Vehicles are delivering goods<br />
to a chain of stores. A businessman<br />
arriving at the railway station tries to<br />
find both a hotel and cash machine.<br />
A mother lets her child out to play<br />
with a warning not to leave the local<br />
area.<br />
All are seemingly unconnected<br />
events, but in the wireless world,<br />
there is now a common thread.<br />
Whether it is for the enterprise or the<br />
consumer, the ability to precisely and<br />
rapidly locate assets and peoplefor<br />
improved business efficiency, personal<br />
safety and securityis now a<br />
reality.<br />
Compelling new applications are now<br />
emerging which ensure companies<br />
can monitor safe delivery of assets or<br />
the arrival of their people at their destination.<br />
Turning to a mobile device allows<br />
individuals to place themselves and<br />
the services they want, using a variety<br />
of devices. Families can monitor<br />
their childrens whereabouts and<br />
even set virtual limits on where they<br />
can play from the handset or PC.<br />
Location is a logical, intuitive extension<br />
to the mobile experience and one<br />
that operators are now exploring and<br />
exploiting as a platform for new compelling<br />
services.<br />
So why should be this be the case<br />
After all, as sceptics point out, location-based<br />
services have been hyped<br />
for years without delivering on their<br />
promise. However, new drivers have<br />
emerged to ensure location is now<br />
very firmly on the map.<br />
First, new location technologies are<br />
now available which, for the first<br />
time, combine high accuracy, low cost<br />
and all-environment coverage<br />
seamless solutions that are easy to<br />
deploy at the network and device<br />
level. In short, they deliver what<br />
users expectfast, accurate locations<br />
where people want services to work,<br />
like city centres and indoors.<br />
As analysts, Frost and Sullivan confirm:<br />
"Ultimately, increased adoption<br />
of location-based services is expected<br />
to hinge on the availability of low<br />
cost, reliable solutions, which can be<br />
speedily implemented and can leverage<br />
existing network assets"<br />
(Location-Based Services Report,<br />
May 2004).<br />
Secondly, operators seeking new revenue<br />
opportunities but facing<br />
increasing competition are looking<br />
for new ways of capturing and retaining<br />
customers with innovative new<br />
services.<br />
The potential for low cost, higher<br />
accuracy location and user profile<br />
data to effectively filter out irrelevant<br />
content provides a far more personalised<br />
customer experience and offers<br />
considerable potential when coupled<br />
with a broad range of services.<br />
Critically, enterprises are now turning<br />
to location technologies as a<br />
means of managing their workforces<br />
or vehicle fleets more effectively.<br />
The increased need for staff and asset<br />
security also drives adoption. Where<br />
enterprises were previously turnedoff<br />
by the performance and usefulness<br />
of low accuracy technologies, the<br />
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