News Briefs – Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Midwestern city invests in an advanced metering infrastructure
The City of Geneseo, Ill., has selected Cellnet as its advanced metering infrastructure provider. The company will deploy its wireless-mesh-network radio infrastructure, electric endpoints and host software in the initial phase of the project with water endpoints following in a subsequent phase.
RFID reader helps libraries track inventory
TAGSYS has developed a Wi-Fi enabled, item-level RFID reader for library inventory tracking and management. The handheld RFID reader interrogates multiple items (between 15 and 20 items per second). Data is then transmitted via Wi-Fi to the library’s host PC or to a PDA, according to the company.
City of South Lake Tahoe chooses Mobile Cop/FireRMS to improve systems
BIO-Key and CYRUN have been awarded contracts by the City of South Lake Tahoe to provide mobile data connectivity for the city’s police and fire departments. The city will incorporate the Mobile Cop/FireRMS family of products into their existing records-management system. A Mobile Rescue package also will bridge communication among participating first responders, according to BIO-Key.
Verizon Wireless supplies the Chaperone
Verizon Wireless released a new service to provide parents with tools to identify and locate their children via LG Migo phones. The Chaperone Child Locator is a fee-based service that activates a GPS locator built into the phone, so parents can track their offspring’s whereabouts through the Chaperone website.
Philadelphia’s water department selects wireless check verification technology
The City of Philadelphia’s Water Department has approved Pipeline Data’s subsidiary, Aircharge, as a wireless payment provider. The company will deploy its Aircheckz wireless check-verification technology to accept checks from municipal customers over compatible mobile phones on the Sprint Nextel network. This will help the city reduce payment-processing risks, according to Aircharge.
Texas county deploys NICE technology
Cameron County, Texas, purchased NICE Systems’ recording platform, NiceLog, which will capture countywide radio transmissions and trunked radio data from the Motorola SmartZone system. The solution is part of a multiphase initiative to improve interoperability among various jurisdictions within the 905-square-mile county, which encompasses 49 cities and towns, according to NICE.