NEW ORLEANS-Imagine you are in a horrible accident on a dark road, late at night. Your airbag
deploys but you are unconscious, alone, so how will emergency personnel-or anyone for that matter-help you?
Or
imagine something less horrible-your auto maker has just developed new software for one of those computers in your
car, but there is no way to get it installed without disrupting your schedule, so you go without the latest and greatest
Detroit has to offer.
These two examples, and perhaps countless more, according to Philip L. Forbes, assistant vice
president for carrier relations for GTE Wireless, can be solved by using the GTE Win-4 virtual network.
Announced
last week at CTIA’s Wireless ’99, Win-4 is a virtual network that will allow cars in the future to come equipped with
special features that will call emergency assistance when an airbag is deployed or download software over a wireless
network, even while your car is in the garage.
Additional applications are:
Telematics: In-vehicle
communications for roadside assistance, remote engine diagnostics, remote door unlock services and concierge
services;
Transportation: Refrigeration monitoring, rail car and trailer tracking, and passive radio-frequency
monitoring of freight and dispatch messages; and
Field Service: Insurance adjusters and repair personnel can
send and receive information from a mainframe computer to process claims and service contracts in the field.
GTE
hopes to announce a relationship with an auto maker sometime soon, perhaps within the next month, Forbes
said.
Solution providers, such as auto makers, would be expected to work with carriers and public safety answering
points to make efficient use of the airbag deployment notification, Forbes said.
Win-4 is marketed not to end users
but to carriers and solutions providers. An end user would have to contract with a carrier to be able to take advantage of
services furnished by solution providers. Indeed, end users would have to keep their mobile phones for routine usage
since the service only dials one specific number per feature.
GTE has contracted with 30 carriers representing 98
percent of the United States. This gives Win-4 a nationwide footprint, which is necessary for the types of applications
expected, Forbes said.
The service was named Win-4 to recognize the four groups that will benefit or
“win” from participation in the service: carriers, solutions providers, end users and GTE, said
Forbes.
Win-4 works with virtually any wireless device that operates on analog or digital wireless networks. It
features a patent-pending Call Management Platform, which leverages current wireless and wireline networks for an
end-to-end solution. The CMP ensures only authorized calls reach their destination.
Calls are routed over a GTE-
designated truck to the mobile device to minimize fraud.
