Wireless is a given

Posted December 1st 2010

Many people I meet get excited because our technologies are wireless.  I often hear statements like “it’s great that these are wireless” or “wireless saves on the installation cost.”  Although both statements are true, being wireless is not sufficient to be a truly game-changing technology.  Today, wireless technology is pervasive and should be considered a given.  If a company brands itself as a ‘wireless company,’ they are likely as innovative as dogfood.com boasting that it’s an internet company.  It takes a little more to be a Google or an eBay.

The key is developing something new that changes the way things are done.  For instance, the Wireless Gauge Reader (WGR) uses our optical analog-digital interface to make it possible to simply snap the WGR into place to obtain data from the gauge.  A traditional wireless transducer would still require pipe to be cut and shutting down of processes.  Similarly, the Wireless Pneumatic Thermostat (WPT) enables the benefits of DDC by interfacing with the existing pneumatic infrastructure.  Traditional wireless DDC would still require walls to be ripped open and tenants to be moved.  In both cases, being wireless alone would not have achieved the drastic cost reductions or non-invasive installations that we deliver.  It takes a little more to be a truly game-changing technology.

David K. Roberts