3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Feature

The elevator may well be one of the simplest yet most useful inventions encountered in everyday life: it lifts, it lowers, it occasionally terrifies. We inherently depend on the reliability of that device every time we step into one. Schindler Elevator Corporation, meanwhile—one of the world's major providers of elevators and elevator service—has made a new partnership with Verizon (News - Alert) to help drive elevators' reliability in the field.

Under the terms of the new partnership, Verizon will be bringing 4G LTE network coverage to augment Schindler's Remote Monitoring (SRM) service. This in turn gives a better range to SRM, which is part of Schindler's advanced maintenance program offerings. With SRM, the system can monitor a variety of standard elevator operations and help catch some problems before said problems really get started, which means better preventative maintenance and less need for emergency maintenance and elevator shutdowns. In some cases, reportedly, the SRM system can actually catch a mechanical problem before the users even notice there's a problem with the elevator's operation, thus making it a boon to reliability.

Thanks to the addition of Verizon Wireless (News - Alert) 4G LTE service, meanwhile, the reports from SRM can be not only analyzed, but also sent directly to a field technician's FieldLink device, along with a plan to correct the issue in question. Having all this information on hand essentially means that the technician no longer needs to diagnose or formulate a plan for correcting a diagnosed issue, meaning that service can be restored a reported 22 percent faster than standard service platforms will allow. As explained by Verizon Enterprise Solutions' head of connected solutions Mark Bartolomeo, this development allows for a  clear illustration of the power that machine to machine (M2M) connectivity can offer, in particular as part of a larger approach like smart buildings or even smart cities.

Indeed, Bartolomeo has a clear point here. With demonstrated effectiveness in the sector—evidenced by that 22 percent faster restoration rate—it's clear that the combination of SRM and 4G LTE (News - Alert) is a pretty powerful combination at that. This might well prove useful applied in any of a dozen different directions, from water pipes to gas pipes and even electrical systems and beyond. Meanwhile, Verizon's experience in such a field—with over 550 consultants involved worldwide in reducing information security risk, and a host of products involved in establishing connectivity among systems—makes it a clear choice to establish the network on which such a system can effectively communicate.

While there's plenty of concern about the impact of privacy and the like on a smart grid system, there's also a certain value in being able to quickly and effectively fix problems that crop up in said smart grid. No one wants to be involved in a blackout, but with something like that, outages can be fixed more rapidly and service brought back to normal. The combination of Schindler and Verizon, meanwhile, should show us all just what kind of power connected devices can have, and give a distinct hope for the future alongside it.