Smart bags international award for machine-to-machine rollout

Smart Communications Inc. emerged the overall champion during the first-ever inter-national M2M Value Chain Awards for the most outstanding deployment of a machine-to-machine system in telecom-munications.

Held in Chicago, Illinois last June 28, the Value Chain Awards recognized the most successful corporate adopters, along with their technology providers, of M2M or machine-to-machine technologies.

M2M is an emerging tech-nology based on the concept that intelligence can be built from equipment or other physical assets by networking them. This results in the creation of an information platform enabling the capture and transfer of data on real-time assets.

Clearly, this award positions Smart as a technology leader not only in the Philippine mobile market, but in the global telecommunications arena as well, Smart president and CEO Napoleon Nazareno said.

Smart’s foray into M2M started in October 2003 when the company rolled out the technology to enhance the management and monitoring capability of the company of its cell sites across the country. This makes Smart the first company to adopt M2M technologies not only in the Philippines, but in the whole of Asia.

This installation qualified the firm to join a roster of 40 nominees for the Value Chain Awards organized by US-based M2M Magazine.

Each of the 40 entries was judged based on, among other criteria, its benefits to overall business practices, productivity improvement, and market adaptability enhancement.

A winner was chosen for each of the eight categories – Utilities, Fleet, Government, Manufac-turing, Retail, Professional Service, Transportation, and Telecommunications.

Smart and systems integration partner Facilities Protection Inc. (FPI) both received the Gold Prize for the most successful adopter and technology provider in the Telecommunications category.

Apart from FPI, Smart has partnered with solution providers Nokia, Opto 22, Computer Associates, GE Interlogix, and Vision Systems for its M2M rollout.

An Opto 22 M2M hardware uses sensor interfaces to create physical connections to and gather real-time data from cell site tower systems and equip-ment.

Via wireless technology, specifically GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), data from these remote sites are then delivered to enterprise appli-cations and databases housed in Smart’s central command center.

"The system installed can remotely monitor a cell site’s perimeter lighting, security, access control, airconditioning and generator systems. They also record operational data and exercise control remotely," Facilities Protection Inc. presi-dent Ariel de la Cruz said.

At the command and control center, the company is running Computer Associates’ Unicenter management software to easily log, monitor and control all data pertaining to tower facilities and security equipment.

"We have defined operational parameters for our towers and established alarms and notification guidelines should conditions fall out of spec," said Ramoncito Fernandez, head of Smart’s Administration and Materials Management Divi-sion.

"These systems have helped us in areas such as security and regulatory compliance reporting, and have increased our ability to respond to any changes in our cell sites," he added.