A Window on the Workplace

Today, buildings that digitally manage access, monitor temperature and humidity and adjust lighting are a reality, thanks to the spread of wireless technology. This article explores the state of the art of high-tech site-management systems and the wireless technology that drives them. Among the new applications explored:

• Speed cameras that can digitally photograph your car as you arrive and leave and upload data to a control center within seconds of your passing.
• Systems that can monitor arrival and departure times and trigger a response to absent key team members so that “just-in-time” replacements can be found.
• Asset tracking that allows for a complete log of tagged items like laptops and projectors.

Soon-to-arrive applications discussed in this article include e-mails read to employees in their arriving elevators and employees notified automatically as visitors pull into parking ramps.

Source: Piers Caulfield, Estates Gazette; November 16, 2002