SMART FIRE ENGINES TO THE RESCUE THIS CHRISTMAS
The connected car came first, now the connected fire engine will be taking to the roads. Vehicles used by UK fire, rescue and emergency services just got smarter in time for the busy festive season thanks to Emergency One and Vodafone equipping them with the latest Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.
Emergency One – the UK’s leading manufacturer of fire and special vehicles – today announced it is connecting its vehicles’ on-board computer consoles to Vodafone’s dedicated, 4G-enabled IoT network to help keep them working at all times.
Emergency One produces around 150 vehicles each year, which are used by 82 per cent of all UK fire and rescue services. The new system, which complements the current emergency radio system used by fire and rescue crews, will enable central command and fleet engineers to better track the location of individual vehicles – vital in remote areas or in situations where numerous engines are on route to an incident.
The Emergency One console, known as e1Fleet, can also relay essential onboard diagnostic information across Vodafone’s nationwide IoT network directly from the vehicle cab to fleet management and to Emergency One. This allows fire and rescue teams and Emergency One to remotely check a vehicle to ensure it is running smoothly: avoiding breakdowns at crucial times or costly repairs caused by exacerbating faults. As a result, the system is expected to save fire and rescue teams significant cost in maintenance charges over the life of the engines and speed up incident response times. Speed of travel and fuel consumption can also be monitored constantly to ensure all fire engines are running at their optimum level.
Elliot Boyce, project manager, Emergency One, said: “Teaming up with Vodafone, we are proud of our innovative e1Fleet Telematics System which is used by a number of fire and rescue services around the UK. We have full time software engineers along with electrical engineers working daily to improve this system for our customers.
“Our system has proved successful in allowing us to continually monitor the fire vehicles and provide a quick response to any issues that may arise. It assists the fire and rescue services with the crucial tasks that they perform all year round.”
Vodafone Group Director Internet of Things Ivo Rook added: “At a time of the year when accidental house fires unfortunately increase, we are delighted to be working with Emergency One to improve the efficiency and reliability of fire and rescue vehicles up and down the country to help people have a safe and happy Christmas.”
