Subject: [NEXTEL-1] UPS to rollout wearable Bluetooth/Wi-Fi data system

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 17:18:03 -0500

Bluetooth Goes "Brown" 
In Major UPS Deployment 

By Brad Smith
December 12, 2002
news@2 direct

In one of the largest such deployments so far, the United Parcel Service plans to outfit
its package handlers with 55,000 Bluetooth scanner rings and Wi-Fi terminals around the
world next year.

The handlers work in 1,700 UPS hub facilities where packages are loaded and unloaded. The
scanner rings, made for UPS by Symbol Technologies, are worn on the finger and send data
to Wi-Fi terminals on the waist. The tracking data taken from the packages is sent into
UPS's computer network.

Tamara Schwartz, director of UPS global network services, told the Bluetooth Developers
Conference the company will start rolling out the scanner rings in mid-2003 with
completion in 2004.

UPS already uses Wi-Fi devices and scanner rings, but the two are connected by a cable.
That cable is the weakest link in the chain and replacing it with Bluetooth will mean a 30
percent reduction in annual repair costs for the scanning system, Schwartz said.

The package carrier has been using the setup in four beta sites and soon will begin a
larger test before starting the deployment next June. UPS already is one of the largest
companies deploying wireless technologies, using analog for more than a decade as well as
the Motient packet data network. It recently started using GPRS data in Europe and is
running GPRS and cdma2000 1x tests in the United States, Schwartz said in an interview
with Wireless Week.

She said UPS likely will continue to use all the air interfaces to insure coverage
wherever its delivery workers go. The next version of the company's DIAD (delivery
information access device) handheld device likely will include a wide area technology such
as GPRS or cdma2000, she said. A decision on which carrier networks will be used won't be
made until next year, but will likely include multiple carriers.
 
http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=story&doc_id=109410&verticalid=34&vertical=Business+and+Finance&industry=

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