Evolution of eCall technology
The eCall technology is the closest technology has come to solving the traffic problems. It has resulted lot in improving traffics in most European Union countries. The costly nature of traffic menace to economic gains and time is one of the reasons for this kind of innovation to help solve the traffic problems and therefore improve economic gains as a result. In this regard, some of the ground reasons for this innovation are reducing economic losses as a result of traffic problems, reducing environmental impact caused by the traffic problems.
How does this happen?
The eCall of the emergency call services enables commuters or drivers to call emergency services notifying them on accidents and other problems that have occurred in their locations. This will cause the emergency services to quickly respond to those areas thereby solving the problem within a very short time, before it becomes a big traffic snarl. The services provide a lot of room for accuracy of reporting to ensure emergency services reach those locations in time. It is the information other commuters or drivers give that will direct the emergency services to get the help needed to the right places within a very short time to save the situation.
They will do this through mobilization of resources to the problem areas. In the end both the economic costs and environment costs of the problem will have been lessened.
What are the setbacks
There are setbacks currently most of these countries are facing for example,. Not all the countries have signed the agreement causing a lot of problems because effectiveness of the implementation of the eCall is not as effective as it needs to be.
Some of the reasons sited are the extra costs that will be incurred by the vehicle manufacturers and telecom providers. This is a cost will eventually be passed to the consumers. Because of these issues, many politicians are voicing their concerns about passing this bill because of the increased motoring costs and the unpredictable reactions from the citizens.
There is also the question of standards all across Europe that has to be agreed upon in advance. This will require technical solution and processes for the system operation. All these are still to be debated which will further delay implementation of the eCall technology.
On the other hand nations perceive that not all of them will actually benefit from the eCall technology. This is estimated to take like another 10 years for all the countries to start enjoying the benefits. Take a case example of the UK where public safety benefits are considerably lower than many European Union member countries. There is also a problem with the timescale for implementing the eCall technology which is longer.
Many politicians consider it to be more risky to introduce the technology as it will need more cars or vehicles hence its implementation will be considerably slower. According to estimates, the technology may only be present in major roads like in 10 years to come.
Competing technologies and services are also emerging which are solving the traffic issue. It is not only reporting of incidents alone that are important here but also the response and good management. Not all the technologies can be used in incident detection especially in heavily congested areas. This will require the use of real images to assess the situation on the ground something that eCall is not giving. There is great need to improve response on the ground and emergency managements between the police and emergency services providers
Written by Antonio Matsuoka, Senior Tech at USA Computer Store
