Wi-fi frees up firefighters in the field

They work in a field where the state of their equipment can mean the difference between a building burning to the ground or being saved.

Now the technicians at the Melbourne Fire Brigade are effectively doing away with paperwork, their mobile teams depending on handheld computers to co-ordinate their work.

Sydney-based application developer Yambay is piloting its mDrover service for the fire brigade. The system shuttles information between field teams and headquarters via the GPRS mobile network. When the teams are back in the workshop, they connect to the fire brigade's wi-fi network to update information more cheaply - all over the same device.

The technicians, who work on the fire engines and assorted equipment, simply tap out their job specifications which are sent back automatically to the fire brigade's SAP management system. Everything from maintenance reports to timesheet records are filed in this way.

Yambay's mDrover system is also used by BHP Biliton, Rio Tinto and Century 21.

The market for mobile data services is exploding as companies do away with paperwork and equip their staff with handheld computers capable of operating over mobile networks.

New Zealand companies across all sectors are now doing this. They have to compete on the effectiveness of software systems and their ability to interact with back-end database systems and software applications.

How to enter

Mobile application developers are invited to enter the Frontier transtasman competition being run by the Herald with Ericsson.

The competition seeks the best mobile applications in New Zealand and Australia.

There are prizes for finalists and the chance to pitch applications to operators and investors. The winning developer will attend a match-making session held in Switzerland and attended by telecoms operators and venture capitalists.

*Ericsson Frontier