Safer parcel deliveries with Parcel-Call
Often we hear mail delivery items being damaged, lost or never reaching their recipients. A new cross carrier track and trace system called ParcelCall offers companies and individual users the opportunity to effectively trace their items anytime, anywhere. The project has three stages. First, a mobile Logistic Server (MLS) will be keeping track of all transport items inside a vehicle or a container. At all times, it is notified of the identity, current location and status of all goods in the unit. In addition, a GPS receiver provides accurate and secure global tracking and tracing. Real-time information is then transmitted by the MLS to a network of fixed servers. It informs the owner or the transport operator if for example an item is delayed or has not reached its pre-defined route. Users gain access to information via Goods Information Servers on their mobiles, ISDN lines or Internet servers. Detailed information regarding tracking and tracing goods is then collected, handled and stored for every individual transport item respectively. Secondly, RFID (Radio and Frequency Identification) tags using bar codes and labels will be attached to individual transport items in order to transmit information to an RFID reader such as identity, sender and destination address. Thirdly, compact reusable devices will in the future be equipped with sensors (Thinking Tags) to measure and monitor environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity and in effect provide alert messages. With a set of technical specifications and 'use cases' as guidelines, the system was effectively designed, tested and evaluated. Interest was eagerly expressed by software suppliers in transport and logistics to the Post Office, IATA, KLM cargo with respect to ParcelCall's scanning performance for radio tags and response time for messages.
