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June 19, 2008 :
Appear to launch its first North American Software Research Labs in collaboration with Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada
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April 15, 2008 :
RED HERRING REVEALS COMPANIES SELECTED FOR THE RED HERRING 100 EUROPE 2008
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April 2, 2008 :
Appear Appoints Aaron Ardiri as Chief Technical Officer
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Events |
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June 17, 2008 :
Appear’s CEO is a featured guest speaker at the annual SITA Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels
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Paris Subway
About RATP
The Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), the Paris city transportation system, operates four different systems throughout Paris including the Metro, railway, tramway and bus systems. Employing over 44,000 people (700 in the IT department), RATP is considered one of the world’s most innovative transportation networks.
Challenge
The RATP subway system was interested in the deployment of a user friendly wireless solution that would increase staff productivity, make employees feel more valued, and dramatically increase customer service levels. Ever-increasing numbers of mobile employees in the stations required fast and easy access to real-time customer information, such as service schedules, disruption information, points of interest in the area, maps, timetables, and security & maintenance information.
RATP wanted to ensure that:
- Customers can access the information they require through customer service representatives on site
- Up to the minute information regarding the status of the system is obtainable immediately in the areas affected
- Area specific information is easily acquired by the relevant personnel
- Efficiency is increased with regards to the management of facilities and trains
Solution
 A Cisco end-to-end WLAN infrastructure provides high speed connectivity inside the RATP stations to fleets of WLAN-enabled devices such as Pocket PC’s. The Appear Context Engine recognizes the context of each individual employee, such as location, profile, the time of day, etc. This enables the push of new services or the synchronization of existing applications related to each staff member’s particular context.
In an initial deployment, RATP employees at La Défense station have been equipped with wireless-enabled PDAs. Using the local Cisco-based Wi-Fi network deployed by NAXOS (a subsidiary or RATP) and Appear IQ the employee’s context is recognized (location, profile, time of the day) and the employee gains immediate access to real time information related to his particular location/profile/time, such as route planning, disruption information, local maps and other proximity services. This enables him to answer precisely customer enquiries at all times, even when he is not in front of a computer display or a map.
Other frontline workers use dual-mode PDAs in order to access similar information via the GPRS network or the local Wireless LAN.
Return on Investment
The sharing of a mobile infrastructure (hardware and middleware) greatly reduces the cost of ownership of the entire mobile solution. In addition, the highly ergonomic user interface and the high performance network dramatically reduces the time required to access the required information, which has increased employee efficiency and greatly enhanced the level of customer service.
RATP is currently rolling out the deployment within several of its departments, including frontline personnel in the tramway, subway, local trains and buses. Various categories of personnel are being equipped with devices, including customer care representatives, security personnel and maintenance staff.
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“This installation of advanced Wi-Fi services in a subway station is unprecedented. Our initial goal was to help our employees provide better answers to the customers’ requests in order to improve quality of service along their journey. Now, La Defense RATP employees can easily access proximity services to provide real-time traffic information and local information frequently asked by travelers.”
Philippe Vappereau, Manager, Traveler Information System Department
 Case Study in pdf format
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