Capita and MAC Ltd collaborate on IoT for public safety

The two companies highlight the fact that AEDs are becoming increasingly commonplace and that access/inspection chamber monitoring can be used to prevent tampering and theft. Low cost, low power wireless sensor devices from MAC Ltd (which use the Sigfox low power wide area network protocol) are used to detect a range of different events (such as the opening of an access chamber cover or the removal of an AED removed from a cabinet) and these are reported and recorded as incidents within Capita’s ControlWorks. This approach allows public safety organisations to deal with such incidents using their normal software solutions and operating procedures, rather than having to use a new, dedicated monitoring system, with the associated costs in deployment and training.

“A sensor activation is presented to the control room operator in the same, familiar way that they are presented with any other method of contact, for example a phone call, and with the additional information, such as location, points of contact and sensor history that are provided, this will allow them to decide on the actions to be taken,” said Capita’s business development manager, Duncan Askew. “They will also be able to view the incident in the context of other incidents that may have been reported within the area, for example, an AED removal may be tied in with a call for an ambulance.”