Continuous Monitoring

Cities throughout the U.S. are adopting smart city technologies that enable continuous monitoring of everything from traffic, parking and street lighting to electrical, waste and water management to critical infrastructure and the environment.

Smart technologies for continuous monitoring use a vast collection of sensors, cameras and IoT-enabled devices to provide cities with real-time information that can automate actions, trigger warnings and provide actionable intelligence for better decision-making. Continuous monitoring solutions help to improve city services in many areas.

• Sensors and cameras on bridges, dams, cell towers, power lines, tunnels and utilities continuously monitor conditions, detect anomalies, measure stress on aging infrastructure and alert city officials to potential dangers.
• Continuous monitoring of city streets, neighborhoods and public areas can help law enforcement and emergency responders to quickly identify potential trouble spots and respond accordingly.
• Drone monitoring can help to monitor traffic flow, environmental conditions, critical infrastructure security, crowds and damage from weather events, as well as helping to perform search and rescue operations.
• Intelligent traffic technology can provide continuous monitoring of the flow of vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists throughout the city, communicating with smart streetlights and smart signage to enable safer and more efficient movement through city streets and intersections.
• Continuous monitoring of electrical supply and demand can help to manage energy consumption more efficiently, reduce the stress on aging power plants and lower the cost of energy.
• Sensors embedded in smart trash cans can alert waste management crews when bins need to be serviced.
• Smart meters and leak detectors provide continuous monitoring of water resources to reduce waste, increase conservation and improve service to residents.How continuous monitoring works

How continuous monitoring works

The technology that enables continuous monitoring in smart city initiatives begins with the sensors, cameras and other means of collecting data. Positioned throughout the city on infrastructure, vehicles, drones and equipment, these sensors produce vast amounts of data, which must be communicated quickly, securely and reliably via a variety of high-speed networks and a variety of connectivity protocols. Data is delivered in real time to an analytics platform, where powerful software distills the actionable intelligence that city officials and smart city technologies require. Data is typically delivered in near-real time to a variety of interfaces – such as dashboards, smart streetlights, signage, apps and reports – that enable a variety of city services to be managed more effectively and cost efficiently.

Smart city innovations also support a number of digital government services like online permitting and smart kiosks that enable residents, businesses and visitors to interact with city services and get helpful information.

Spectrum Enterprise provides high-speed connections for continuous monitoring

Spectrum Enterprise delivers the secure, reliable and high-performance connections that cities need to support continuous monitoring and other smart city programs. As a leading provider of connectivity solutions to the nation’s largest businesses, Spectrum has built a nationwide, wholly owned network with more than 840,000 miles of fiber infrastructure. With an additional $25 billion investment in infrastructure currently in the works, Spectrum is bringing high-speed connectivity to more cities and communities throughout the country.

Spectrum Enterprise supports the connectivity requirements of digital government and smart city initiatives with technology that includes:

• A two-way, fully interactive digital network.
• Gigabit Internet connections for homes and businesses.
• Symmetrical connection speeds up to 100 Gbps for large institutions, governments and enterprise clients.
• WiFi connectivity at more than 350,000 Spectrum Enterprise WiFi hotspots nationwide, which will soon provide wireless connectivity up to 1 Gbps.
• Cellular connectivity through one of the nation’s largest LTE cellular networks.

Learn more about Spectrum Smart Cities at www.spectrumsmartcities.com.