LaserCraft is a 55-person Georgia-based company that co-invented laser speed detection and specializes in automated law enforcement technology, including red light and speed enforcement cameras. LaserCraft currently has over 100 installations in place nationwide and plans expansion into additional states, including Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.
Business Challenge
LaserCraft’s initial red light and speed enforcement camera installations used DSL over telco landlines to control and monitor cameras and download digital images. Unfortunately, the DSL deployment proved to be a costly and lengthy process. “It can take a month just to get a corner address to the signal control,” recalled Scott Patterson, LaserCraft’s president. “Running wire to the pole is another task landline providers typically don’t handle. Water and gas lines can exacerbate things. In all, city permitting and construction added three to five months and $10,000-$25,000 to each project. And we were losing potential revenue while we waited to go live unless we hired someone to go to the site every day to pull images.”
When LaserCraft won a contract in Maryland to replace 100 existing film cameras, it had to find an alternative to implementing a lengthy DSL over landline solution. “There wasn’t time to shut the program down and set up the new digital process,“ explained Patterson. “The cities didn’t want to suffer the $10,000-$25,000 per month operational losses during the downtime.”
LaserCraft needed a quicker and less expensive way to backhaul digital images from its street corner cameras than through traditional landlines. It also required a system with sufficient geographic coverage and data throughput to transport images from its mobile speed enforcement vans.
AirLink Solution
Whether remote commercial assets are fixed or mobile, pervasive wireless data communications that leverage existing cellular networks help streamline operations, significantly improve data capture and management capabilities and reduce operational costs. Wireless asset management allows realization of significant ROI in various applications through the integration of real-time data into the enterprise for accurate monitoring, control, reporting, archiving and compliance.
With so many economic drivers in play, opting for an advanced wireless Internet solution was the remedy for Lasercraft’s wireline headaches. Lasercraft chose a CDMA 1X AirLink Raven modem from Sierra Wireless and service from Verizon Wireless to provide the optimal solution for quick, reliable and cost-effective photo radar deployments. Fixed red light cameras and mobile speed enforcement equipment were linked wirelessly to the company’s headquarters through the Sierra Wireless rugged, wireless AirLink Raven modems operating on Verizon Wireless’ network, enabling Lasercraft to upload digital images securely to designated servers and remotely monitor and maintain equipment functionality.
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Powered by the ALEOS, Sierra Wireless' intelligent embedded operating system the Raven’s robust set of features are specifically designed for complex mobile data and remote management applications. With the exceptional intelligence of ALEOS and its ability to be upgraded over-the-air, LaserCraft was able to deploy reliable “always-on, always there” solutions for automated law enforcement in areas where landline installation would have been difficult, excessively costly or even impossible.
After successfully testing the AirLink Raven modems in Georgia, Lasercraft implemented the system on Maryland’s street corners. “We could program the AirLink modems in our office and get them out to the intersections within 30 days,” Patterson noted. “And they were up and running the same day they were installed. It enabled us to kickstart the program, cut off four to five months of right-of-way delay, and get into places where landline installation would have been difficult or impossible.”
Building on the success of its fixed camera implementation in Maryland, LaserCraft next deployed a mobile speed-enforcement system in Charlotte, North Carolina using Sierra Wireless AirLink technology. There, cameras were installed in vans, allowing authorities in the mobile units to quickly monitor different areas to address citizen complaints.
“When cars drive past the checkpoint, our laser measures the speed and a camera snaps a picture, which is sent back over the AirLink Raven-E to be processed,” Patterson explained. “If there’s a problem, we can use the modem for troubleshooting instantly instead of having to bring the van back to be inspected. We can debug and change settings from our Georgia offices, too, making operations very smooth.”
Results
“With wireless transmission of the violation photographs, we cut up to four or five months from the installation process and reduced our implementation costs by up to $20,000,” Patterson said. “Getting up and running quickly also advanced our revenue start dates by several months.”
The solution deployment using AirLink Raven modems resulted in:
- Simplified solution & accelerated deployment – shortened process by three to five months
- Reduced infrastructure expenses – saved $10,000-$25,000 per fixed camera location
- Streamlined operations – negated the need for manual image downloads on-site
- Decreased operational expenses – prevented costly on-site repairs and increased up-time through remote modem maintenance capability
- Increased citation revenue generation – provided a way for local law enforcement agencies to collect additional monthly revenue due to earlier deployment
Based on this customer implementation, LaserCraft, AirLink Communications and Verizon Wireless were awarded the 2005 3G A-List small company award presented by QUALCOMM. The annual 3G A-List Awards recognize the leading builders of successful wireless data solutions based on third generation CDMA (CDMA 1X, EV-DO, and WCDMA/UMTS) technology. These prestigious awards are presented to solutions demonstrating creativity and exceeding business objectives by introducing higher ROI, lowering operating expenses and/or increasing user satisfaction.