Rice Electronics and Intel combine to create worker safety IoT platform

Rice Electronics, has announced the launch of a Connected Worker solution in partnership with Intel.

Using Intel’s IoT technology, the solution is designed to improve safety and productivity of field workers in industrial environments. The end-to-end IoT platform will be available to use through Rice Electronics smart devices and provide robust communication, near real-time insight based on holistic analytics, and easy use to support, protect, and optimise industrial workloads.

Data is collected from across a work site and forwarded to the cloud via an Intel Atom processor-based gateway, which is then made available on Rice Electronics’s smart devices. Multiple connectivity protocols, including Wi-Fi and 3G are supported.

Jason Celaya, Vice President of IoT for Rice Electronics, said: “The Connected Worker solution was initially developed for clients that wanted to monitor the safety of their teams working in hazardous environments. Collaborating with Intel and integrating their IoT technology has allowed us to enhance the Connected Worker solution to interact and collect sensory data at the edge while improving safety in the workplace, in a simple and easy to use kit.”

Customers such as Phonoscope Global, a telecommunications utility company in Texas, are already discovering the real business value of the Connected Worker solution. It wanted to improve service delivery capabilities while tracking the safety of its line crews with a solution that was easy to use by both its field and management teams. Rice Electronics and Intel met with Phonoscope leadership to illustrate the ease of use and other benefits of the Connected Worker solution, outfitting technicians in the field with wearable smart devices and an Intel-IoT gateway on their service trucks.  

Jerome DeCuir, Vice President of Operations for Phonoscope, said: “Rice Electronics and Intel approached us with their Connected Worker solution and after seeing how our team embraced the technology, it was evident how this would allow us to improve operational efficiency between dispatch, logistics, and field support teams, not to mention help improve safety.”