June 2011 Vol. 238 No. 6
TechNotes
Satellite Notification Service For Pig Tracking, Benchmarking
Doing more with less is a constant drumbeat in the world today. Certainly pig tracking and ILI benchmarking are no different. Now, thanks to CDI’s innovative new LineStat satellite notification service, tracking, locating and benchmarking pigs has taken a high-tech turn that yields faster and more precise information with less manpower.
Using the Globalstar satellite network, CDI’s LineStat service is able to receive pig detection triggers from any device anywhere in the world within seconds. Remote triggers are processed at CDI’s LineStat datacenter, stored in a private client database and forwarded as e-mails and cell phone texts to end users. These notifications can be from any fixed position or portable equipment and contain GPS coordinates as well as the precise time and date, battery voltages and more.
Google Earth satellite images of each trigger location are provided directly in the e-mail body with a clickable link to a browser-based Google Earth map of the passage site. This allows remote and unfamiliar job sites located anywhere in the world to become familiar to management via interactive bird’s-eye views. Aggregated pig-tracking jobs become overland lines on the map, fully depicting a job from launch to completion.
“Using LineStat’s rapid notification and Web interface coupled with Google Earth’s powerful imaging capabilities, management can monitor the progress of inspection runs in the field with ad hoc portable equipment that they bring to the job themselves,” said Eric Farque, vice president of Sales for CDI. “Our end users are highly technical and spread over the globe; they’re increasingly demanding cutting-edge technologies that can keep pace with them. LineStat does this.”
Another part of the LineStat service is a Web portal which provides clients with the tools necessary to logically group satellite radios into teams, create jobs, assign destination e-mail addresses, SMS text phone numbers and other configuration functions. Users can also log in to review all previous notifications and jobs, generate statistical reports and graphs as well as monitor their per-month satellite usage.
Fixed Pricing Structure
One barrier to using satellite radios in the field is monthly usage fees associated with them from third-party providers like Globalstar. To alleviate this, CDI has also innovated the financing side of their service by creating a fixed, predictable and affordable pricing structure.
“LineStat satellite radios are purchased one time and the messaging service is provided for fixed periods of two to five years,” Farque said. “Our clients aren’t burdened with month-to-month bills from a third-party for each satellite radio. CDI handles these back-end details so that our customers can do their work without that hassle, or re-occurring cost justifications to management.”
While satellite pig tracking and ILI benchmarking are the entrant markets for LineStat, CDI has larger ambitions for their service. “The LineStat service is not tied to specific products.” Farque continued, “CDI will continue to enhance the service with other types of satellite radios including two-way capabilities. This will allow users to control remote equipment via our web portal. Literally the sky’s the limit.”
The author can be contacted at 918-258-6068 or jasonf@pigging.com.
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