TELEMETRIC COMMUNICATION
NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR B2B
ELECTRONIC AND NEW INTERMEDIARIES
A CROSS-INDUSTRY FOCUS
Electronic and new intermediaries in the telemetric communication sector vary by industry and application. The majority of this section will pertain to electronic and new intermediaries in the security industry. However, information on telemetric communication and the medical and metering industries is provided for comparision.
NEW INTERMEDIARIES IN THE SECURITY INDUSTRY USING TELEMETRIC COMMUNICATION
According to a consortium formed by Security Magazine, The Security Group and Cahners Business Information, this industry can expect growth in new and developing markets for Systems Integration, Home Systems and Emergency Response. Each of these sub-markets has benefitted from advances in telemetric communication and new intermediaries have arisen. Innovations in telemetric technology provide "open" access that will integrate more non-security systems into the protection function - asset tracking and clearinghouses for security data are just a few examples.
Security firms are attempting to diversify as well as specialize and carve out strong niche markets. Specifically, with the cellular phone industry, security systems are utilizing existing bandwidths and radio-2-way paging technologies along with other telemetric devices to increase their capabilities and services to consumers.
Systems Integration
SDM Magazine defined this market in 1996 as companies that earn more than half of their revenues from sales and installation of Access Control/CCTV-based integrated commercial systems. Expect traditional burglar alarm companies to expand into this market, especially as networks and dealer programs permit the incorporation of telecommunication and cable sectors to compete for security accounts.
Home Systems, Home Theater and Installation of Potentially Converged Systems
Another area of security market growth and specialization is emerging from the advancement of consumer electronics and home communication. Cable, direct broadcast satellite television and other emerging whole-house systems will be among features sought by new and trade-up homebuyers. Home systems that combine with alarm systems present new market opportunities for installation companies. Among them, digital home TV theater, home automation and whole-house audio will increase, as will closed circuit television (CCTV) as monitoring and surveillance system for nannies, day care, etc.
Emergency Response and Medical Monitoring
Closer alliances between the medical and security industries will increase due to the similarities in maintenance and support of its end users, the consumers. Both require 24-hour support and monitoring, efficient response time, and are technologically dependent. Therefore, it is no surprise that the security industry has begun and will continue to form verticals within its own industry and branch into other market niches in order to expand its service offerings. Alarm monitoring and security companies will expand, particularly where home health monitoring is medically prescribed and central station monitoring is already underway. According to the Cahners Business Group, "The convergence of manufacturers, the real integration of systems rather than just interconnecting boxes, is the industry's most significant advancement. As that trend progresses, we can truly reap cost savings of installing integrated systems, and we'll see a boom in use of those technologies."
THE NEW PLAYERS
Goeken Group
The Goeken Group is a consortium of prominent companies with a corporate philosophy of providing progressive solutions for your health, safety and security. This compilation of knowledge niches was formed by Jack Goeken, an entrepreneur who also founded MCI, the FTD Mercury Network, AIRFONE Inc. and In-Flight Phone Corporation. The Goeken Group provides a variety of products and services utilizing wireless applications; with all products addressing the consumers' needs on a global basis. The Goeken Group has established numerous relationships with manufacturers who provide their services to the consumers on a subscription basis. One specific products offered by the Goeken Group is the "Personal Guardian." This hand-held-unit utilizes the GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) and CDPD (Cellular Data Packet Device) technology. These technological devices transmit a message to Goeken's National Operations Center, which in turn sends a message containing all pertinent logistical information to the necessary law enforcement officials. The Goeken Group is joined by NAVSYS Corporation in their endeavors to provide outstanding security and emergency assistance. This corporation, founded in 1986, focuses on the development of the GPS (Global Positioning Satellites). The company has concentrated on new technologies to target emerging GPS niche markets where innovative designs have an advantage over more conventional GPS products. In conjunction with the Goeken Group, NAVSYS plans to leverage its technology bases through a combination of product sales, service operations and licensing of the GPS innovations.
NumereX Corporation
NumereX is a technology company comprised of operating subsidiaries that develop and market a wide range of communications and information products and services. The Company's primary focus is wireless communication and information products and services utilizing proprietary network technologies. Through its two major business units, the Company offers products and services in wireless communications (Cellemetry; and Data1Source) and digital multimedia networking (PowerPlay). These services enable customers around the globe to monitor and move information for a variety of applications, ranging from home and business security to distance learning networks. In addition, NumereX offers wire line alarm security equipment and services, as well as telecommunications network operational support systems, equipment and services. NumereX is now expanding to other vertical markets, such as monitoring communication lines, general mobile tracking, and vending and energy pipeline management. In addition, the company is concentrating marketing and research and development efforts in expanding basic horizontal markets represented by its strategic partners, Cellemetry Data Services and Data 1 Source.Regarding revenue models, the cost to add customers is minimal, therefore creating an enormous bargaining tool as new customers are added. In addition, NumereX's relationships with Cellemetry and Data 1 allow them to reap the benefits of having access to the technology without having to invest, resulting in a 100% contribution to the bottom line from their share of the revenues. Reports from first quarter earnings reflected that NumereX was in strong financial condition with over $21 million in cash and no long-term debt.
TelEvoke
TelEvoke was founded in 1998, in San Francisco, California. This company's automated web and telephony service permits its subscribers emergency notification, remote control over their possessions and asset tracking capabilities. TelEvoke has established several key partnerships with Aeris, Cellemetry, SecuraTrack, and GPS Skylink just to name a few. TelEvoke is currently in negotiations with major automotive, home security, alarm and public service companies to incorporate telemetries with their existing products and services. TelEvoke products allow for the efficient monitoring and quick response time needed during emergencies. Two products offered are the Automotive and Home Notification Services. TelEvoke's partnering with car alarm and vehicle manufacturers provides added value by keeping consumers connected to their vehicles at all times. Car owners are notified immediately when their car alarm is triggered. Additional options of notification are also offered, such as, phone calls, pages or an email. Security companies connect owners to their homes by utilizing TelEvoke alarm system. This security system immediately contacts the homeowner upon the triggering of an alarm. The signal is sent to the owner, while being sent to the operations center, which is then dispatched to the appropriate law enforcement officials.
Wireless Link
Dr. Hanid Najafi, PhD, an authority on data communications, founded Wireless Link Corporation in 1987. This company, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, was created to provide digital signal processing (DSP) based cellular and data technology to leading manufacturers of cellular phones, faxes and modems. Wireless Link has developed and licensed several cellular products and technologies to cellular phone manufacturers and other leading communications companies which have included: Philips, NEC, Mitel, Maxon, Ricoh, Samsung, Panasonic, Raytheon, Harris, VLSI, TRW, and Trimble Navigation, among others. Currently, Wireless Link is leveraging its cellular technology in addition to its relationships with its partners, Ionics Circuits, Magellan Corporation and ICCP Ventures, to manufacture and sell highly integrated, remote asset management products designed to meet the market demands for economical mobile and fixed cellular telemetry solutions. Wireless Link's products permit companies to remotely monitor their assets using the existing nationwide cellular network to transmit and receive business-critical data. They offer solutions for remote mobile asset management and "drop-in" cellular modem modules to facilitate integration by OEM developers into existing mobile and fixed asset management applications. The customer bases consists of large OEM companies and include automotive, commercial trucking, heavy equipment, rental car fleet, security equipment and utility meter manufacturers and suppliers. Wireless Link Corporation has acquired numerous patents and technologies in which to leverage and increase its products and service capabilities to its clientele. For example, they were the first to develop an Aeris MicroBurst cellular modem module, acquisition of Cellemetry software licensed to cellular modem manufacturer, comprehensive cellular test and debug software for cellular phone developers, cellular phone base station receiver hardware implemented in DSP, 900 MHz narrow band analog and frequency hopping cordless phone and cordless headset for major consumer products manufacturer, first to develop and market a GTE WIN4 SM compatible cellular/GPS tracking solution and OEM cellular modem module for application developers and TDMA/AMPS (IS-136) cellular phone reference design licensed to cellular phone manufacturers. Wireless Link, with its thirteen years of cellular DSP developments and cellular hardware experience, is actively working on products with technology integration at the board and chip level to decrease hardware costs to meet the "magic" price points of the industry.
INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
The security industry is expanding on a global scale. The international arena requires security systems, processes and technological tools to aid in its integration into the global economic and information forums. Foreign telecommunication firms are facilitating this process via the mobile phone. Multinational security corporations are expanding knowledge niches by integrating with telecommunication, cable and IT firms to extend into new vertical markets as well as increase their product and service offerings.
Wasp SA Ltd
Wasp SA Ltd., created in 1995, is a South African company specializing in wireless communications development. This company created the world's first GSM vehicle tracking positioning. Currently, this system is considered at the forefront of interactive theft recovery and fleet management. Wasp SA Ltd. has recently formed partnerships with Technor International Inc., subsidiary of Cellpoint Systems AB. This relationship takes Wasp's technology and combines Cellpoints expertise and market accessibilities to expand Wasp's GSM security and tracking systems. Cellpoint utilizes Wasp SA Ltd. technology to create a security alarm service user-friendly with the mobile phone. In an emergency, the consumer can push a button or a numeric code that sends both a voice call as well as transmitting logistical information to an operations center monitored by Cellpoint. The signal and positioning information (as well as specific predetermined information such as medical records) are then sent to the appropriate law enforcement agency (ies). Security in the Wasp System Personal Security is one of the Value-Added Services (VAS) based on Cellpoint's GSM positioning and Internet technology. VAS from Cellpoint Systems AB differentiates your network from competitors and increases revenues without additional infrastructure investments. The system is based entirely on existing GSM standards, therefore not requiring additional modifications to the network. The Cellpoint System uses information available in the GSM network, together with the known positions of the network's base stations, to calculate positions of mobil phones. This is the fundamental principle used by Cellpoint System's different Value-Added Services. While Cellpoint manages the operation and maintenance of the services, the network operator maintains control of Sales and Marketing, Customer Care and SMSC Operations. With this business model, the network operator can focus on increasing revenues.
Other Electronic Intermediaries in the Telemetric Security Industry:
Aeris.Net
AlarmX.com, Inc.
Atronic Alarms
Biometrics 2000.com
Cellemetry
COP-USA, Inc
CRN Telemetry Devices, Inc
Crow Electronics Engineering
Digicom Corporation
Digitize, Inc.
DPS Inc.
EMERgency 24
Entel Technologies Inc.
Goeken Group
IAD
JR Security System
KP Electronics Inc.
LDI Wireless
Rokonet Industries USA
Safe Link Corporation
SCC Communications Corp.
SECO-LARM USA, Inc.
SG Wireless Communications
S&S Security Systems
SecureNet Alarm Systems, Inc.
TechPatrol
Telemetry Technologies
TelEvoke
TrackIT Corporation
Wireless Link
ELECTRONIC PLAYERS AND NEW INTERMEDIARIES IN THE MEDICAL SECTOR USING TELEMETRIC COMMUNICATION
As explained in the traditional intermediaries section, radio telemetry is expected to ease the need for constant patient monitoring by nursing and other medical personnel. The telemetric solutions will change the paradigm such that patients now alert nurses when their medical condition worsens through electronic notification. Because telemetry is a relatively new concept and until recently many health care providers may have been hesitant to use telemetry due to the questionable integrity of a signal pertaining to life or death situations, the competition is only beginning to develop. Agilent is one company in the forefront of medical telemetry. Recently, Agilent won the Frost and Sullivan award for innovation. Agilent's success is in no small part due to its beneficial partnership with Hewlett-Packer, which provides the financial backing for research and development that other start-ups cannot match. Many telemetry companies are hesitant to enter into the medical field due to the compounding regulations that often inhibit innovation because of the years that it takes to obtain approval for use. This explains why not many competitors exist presently and why it remains unclear whether this market will ever mature to a state of true competition.
NEW INTERMEDIARIES IN THE MEDICAL SECTOR:
Agilent (backed by Hewlett-Packer)
Advanced Telemetry Systems, Inc
Austec Electronics, Ltd.
AVM Instrument Company, Ltd.
B and R Ingernierorgesellschaft
Biosonics
Biotelemetrics
Yaesu
Biotrack Ltd
Bytel Communications, Ltd.
Custom Telemetry Co.
Data Sciences International, Inc.
GTF
Johnson's Telemetry
Lotek Engineering, Inc.
Magenta Products, Inc.
Sonotronics
Telemetry Solutions
Telemetry Systems, Inc.
Titly Electronics Ptn. Ltd.
FURTHER DISCUSSION OF MEDICAL TELEMETRY
Reducing the escalating cost of health care remains at the forefront of political debate and social commentary. Telemetry offers the health care industry a dual reward by reducing the need for health care providers while maintaining the same level of service to the patients. Telemetry provides the medical community with a means to patients from remote locations through machine-to-machine communication. The need for visual monitoring of the patient's information at the patient's location, i.e., bedside is thus reduced dramatically. This capability will improve the efficiency of the employees by reducing time spent traveling from room-to-room to investigate the status of each patient. More efficient workers will allow hospitals to eliminate a number of positions and lower the hospital-staffing budget.
For many patients, mobility is an integral part of their treatment and/or recovery. Telemetry allows patients to ambulate safely without the constraints of wires and monitoring devices, but at the same time, it does not jeopardizing the integrity of the data that the medical personnel need to review in order to successfully treat them. For instance, obstetric patients often need to progress labor by walking the halls of the hospital. Both doctor and patient can rest assured that any irregularity will be picked up by the telemetric monitoring device, and this message will be transported to the appropriate personnel while the patient transverses the hospital. In many instances, telemetry has been used to monitor the progress of cardiac patients who are also known to benefit from ambulating after a cardiac incident. Hospitals that have adopted telemetry often monitor ECG rhythm, Oxygen level in the blood, blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and respiration of cardiac patients. These measurements are now taken at regular intervals and transferred to medical personnel even as the patient exercises without the need for room visits or troublesome wires. Further, telemetric devices also allow for simpler patient transport within the facility.
Telemetric solutions are inherent flexible and can be customized to meet the specific needs of the health care provider. For instance, Methodist Hospital Central in Memphis, Tennessee utilizes telemetric monitoring through their nursing staff. When a nurse begins his/her shift, s/he clicks on each patient's name from the computer workstation, which tells the system to alert the nurse if the patient's stats reach a designated level. The monitor in the nurse's station telemetrically communicates with a pager that the nurse wears while on duty. If the designated event occurs, an alarm sounds on the nurse's pager. The pagers have three alarms: an intense pitch for the most serious conditions, a lower pitch for nonurgent rhythm changes, and a third alarm that advises of a low battery. Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, Delaware turned to telemetric solutions when their patient capacity rose due to a higher population in the surrounding area. Beebe set up a telemetric monitoring station that has 24/7 support and monitors all of the 76 telemetrically enabled beds throughout the hospital. Additionally, monitors throughout the hospital allow staff to access the information of the telemetric patients on any floor in the hospital. Similar to Methodist's solution, the nurses at Beebe are alerted when a patient's vitals indicate that they are in distress, but the nurses at Beebe receive this communication through a cellular telephone. Beebe has been pleased with the solution, and one of the benefits that they have noted is those patients who reasonably belong in one area of the hospital are not forced to move to another in order to be monitored. For instance, if an oncology patient suffers a heart attack, s/he does not need to move to the cardiac floor in order for the cardiologist to monitor his or her progress.
Finally, remote telemetric solutions will eventually reduce the length of stay of the patients to further reduce medical costs. Remote monitoring of patients is expected to occur after widespread acceptance of telemetry occurs. The benefits of telemetric solution in medical equipment and medical services can be global. Many countries are dealing with rising costs of health care, and the problem is even more pronounced in countries that provide national health care benefits to their citizens. The trend to move toward more telemetric solutions in the future in health care is further evidenced by the number of international players in the marketplace. However, flow of the telemetric solutions through the international marketplace has been hampered by the lack of accepted standards in this market.
As perhaps one of the most regulated industries in the United States, health care has sought the assistance of the government in implementing its plans to use widespread telemetry services. Recognizing the importance of the integrity of the messages, the Federal Communications Commission recently allocated 14 Megahertz to the Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS), an entity created by the FCC in its decision, for use by the health care industry. [FCC Report and Order, June 12, 2000] Thus, telemetry solutions in medicine have the benefit of limited traffic signal that arguably will not suffer any congestion or interruption in transmission of its signals.Most of the telemetric hospital solutions are customized to meet the needs of a specific customer. As the industry matures, it is expected that hospitals will be offered a general solution rather than the customized market that exists today.
The number of players in the telemetry market is relatively small in comparison to the number of hospitals and medical suppliers that will demand these solutions in the future. In addition, the demand for telemetry at any one hospital will be large. As of yet, the number of medical suppliers taking advantage of the possibilities offered by telemetry is few. However, the FCC's recent decision is expect to raise the demand significantly since it will allay fears of losing invaluable data through crowded channels.
Companies such as Agilent who have attacked the vertical market of medical telemetry are expected to benefit handsomely in the future. The majority of the competitors with telemetric expertise have delved into less regulated markets. The enabling federal regulation applies only within the country, and while international suppliers may increase their supply of radio telemetry products for export to the United States, domestic firms may not benefit outside this country's borders with advances in radio telemetry until a standard is adopted. Savvy telemetric suppliers will continue to add value to the medical community by meeting the particular demands of each hospital customer while also working on developing a less expensive, commodity product. With a lower priced product, the supplier could potentially reach many more medical providers with fewer resources than a large hospital. Another possibility for market segmentation for medical telemetric products is to match products to the particular medical field. For example, cardiology is a field that has already recognized the benefits of telemetry, and a company could benefit from becoming the niche provider of cardiac telemetric solutions. Most of the suppliers of the telemetry do not run an end-to-end solution, and thus partnering with companies that have needed expertise is required for success in this market. These products are complex and developing expertise in all of the necessary areas (monitoring, alarms, messaging, signal transmission, and anatomical nodes) may be too complex for any one firm.
Nursing staffs are expected to experience the brunt of these changes. One of the primary motivations in adopting telemetric solutions is to reduce the number of staff necessary to cover admitted patients. Nurses primarily handled the monitoring tasks that telemetry will either solve or at the very least alleviate. Nurses will also be required to acquire telemetric skills in order to manage successfully their future nursing duties. Assuming that a machine can simply replace a person is oversimplifying what the nursing profession brings to the health care industry. A portion of the value that nurses provide is often referred to as bedside manner. Regardless of whether patients were satisfied with the personalized service that they received in a hospital from the nursing staff, they were still dealing with a live, breathing being. By reducing the patient contact with nurses to emergent circumstances, telemetric devices are fundamentally altering the hospital visit experience that many consumers have come to expect (regardless of their satisfaction with it). Nurses will now be required to react to simple raw numbers reflecting the status of the patients on the ward. The less objective measurements that the nurses reported to treating physicians as part of their routine interactions with the patients will be lost or at least reduced by this technology. Arguably, the value of years of experience dealing with patients with the same or similar symptoms will be lost in favor of data transmissions. It is possible that neither the hospital nor the patients will fare better as the result of this advancement. The telemetric changes are also expected to affect other hospital personnel who were responsible for monitoring patients (nursing aides, technicians). Most likely, their duties will be altered, and they will also experience a decrease in the demand for their services.
ELECTRONIC PLAYERS AND NEW INTERMEDIARIES IN THE METERING INDUSTRY USING TELEMETRIC COMMUNICATION
To provide better service to customer and to lower operating costs in more and more competitive natural gas business, companies all over the world show growing interest in remote gas meter reading systems or AMR (Automatic Meter Reading. Atlanta Gas Light Co., Boston Gas Co., Brooklyn Union Gas Co., Commonwealth Gas, Southern California Gas Co., Washington Gas, Tokyo Gas, British Gas and many more are the clients of companies offering AMR systems for some years now. AMR implementation costs are comparable for different vendors though they are relatively high compared to traditional systems. The cost of interrogating devices is the highest (few thousand USD ) but the number of such devices in the system is relatively low compared to radio modules installed on gas meters (less then 100 USD per device ). Automatic meter reading systems implemented all over the world belong to one of the following groups: Self-service systems, Off-site meter reading systems ( OMR ), Mobile or fixed network systems (AMR).
Wireless technology, for example, helped Tony Stafford, superintendent of operations and maintenance at Camrosa Water District, Camarillo, Calif, resolve several issues plaguing its complex automated DAQ and control system. When they first started, the old supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system was already in place. Anytime changes needed to be made, they had to call the vendor. The vendor came out and made the programming changes. They did not have full control over the system. The SCADA system also used analog phone lines, so they were dependent on the phone company if there was line trouble. In addition, all of the controls were on the main computer. If the main computer went out, the system stopped functioning out in the field.
Stafford's company wanted to gain complete control so if there was a problem, it had the capability to correct it. The company also felt that it could design a system that was more efficient. It used distributed control to make the remote locations self-sustaining and wireless technology to supervise the whole system from a single human-machine interface (HMI). Under the old system, all of the 29 remote sites were relay controlled. When a particular tank level dropped past a set point, it would trip an alarm relay. The remote terminal units (RTUs) in the field were just there to monitor the relay conditions and send the information back to the SCADA via telephone lines. The SCADA would see the alarm condition and send a signal back to the RTU to turn the pump on. Thus, the entire system was dependent on real-time communication between the remote sites and the SCADA computer. Stafford's system-development team decided to take out the relays and put a programmable logic controller (PLC) at each remote station. The PLC would make control decisions locally based on a control algorithm downloaded from the central office. The PLC would also serve as an RTU to gather the data needed for system monitoring. Instead of being an all-powerful central SCADA system, the central computer would act solely as an HMI. This central HMI would allow Stafford to monitor the entire system at once and make higher level control decisions, such as changing set points for the individual PLCs, or switching valves to control water flow between zones. The wireless component of the system originated when the company decided to replace the phone lines with radio links to eliminate the ongoing telephone charges and telephone-line downtime. Also, it reasoned that wireless links would be less exposed to damage by weather and other environmental threats. When failures inevitably occur, employees can easily replace the faulty equipment.
Each remote station is controlled locally by an Allen Bradley model 503 or 504 PLC. These units mount in a rack and have anywhere from four to 13 slots for 1/0 channel cards. The PLCs communicate back to the HMI station via radio modems from DATA-Link, Redmond, Wash. The HMI station sits at the system's center. It connects to two master radio modems, which plug into expansion slots in the computer-bus backplane. The water system is split into east and west sections, with a master radio modem going to each. The master units can communicate directly with the slave units at the remote stations through repeaters that simply relay messages or through slave units at remote stations, which can also relay messages to other remote stations further afield. Repeaters are needed because the water district is located in hilly terrain and the radio modems can only provide line-of-sight communications. The water district's strategy has paid off, Stafford reports The water district now saves some $24,000 per year in telephone-system charges and enjoys increased reliability.
New Intermediaries:
EZMeter
Davidge Controls now produces a line of inexpensive watt hour meters designed for marinas, RV parks and time-share condo developments. These meters can be read directly by a personal computer using one of four installation technologies: directly wired to the computer, using the power lines themselves to transmit the data or using a hand-held data collection device.
Hydro Mississauga
Hydro Mississauga will install the sub-meters and can provide you with monthly reporting to show you where and when energy is being consumed. The report can be sent to you in the mail, via fax or through the Internet. In addition, "viewer" software will be available that allows you to view the reports on your PC and copy portions into processing or spreadsheet programs.
Electro Industries/GaugeTech
Electro Industries/GaugeTech, the world's oldest manufacturer of digital electrical power monitors, sets the standards in multifunction power monitoring, power quality monitoring, revenue metering, sub-metering and digital communications.
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This report was completed October 2000 for the class B2B Electronic Commerce given by Professor Erran Carmel in the program of Management of Global Information Technology at the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington DC.
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