Close WindowNEW HARTFORD, N.Y. | June 26, 2001 PAR Technology Corporation (NYSE:PTC - news), a leading provider of integrated technology solutions to the hospitality, industrial, and transportation marketplaces, today announced its Logistics Information Management System (LIMS) group received MicroBurst® Qualification, which grants PAR the right to market the Cargo*Mate(TM) product commercially. Additionally, Cargo*Mate is now operational on the Aeris MicroBurst® Network throughout North America.
Cargo*Mate, developed under a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration, is PAR's state-of-the-art solution for the monitoring of transport assets and cargo throughout the intermodal shipment lifecycle. The system obtains location and status data from sensors affixed to intermodal chassis; collects the data at the Cargo*Mate Operations Center in New Hartford, NY; and uses a powerful relational database to translate the data into useful business information and make it available to customers over the Internet.
Aeris.net's MicroBurst service uses an underutilized portion of standard cellular channels to send and receive small packets of data to and from specialized endpoint wireless devices, both fixed and mobile. MicroBurst users can log on to a Web-based application to collect or view the data, or can receive notification by any other network-connected means, including portable phones or pagers. Users can also use the Web or other network connection to initiate particular functions on the endpoint devices - true “web-to-wireless remote control.”
PAR's partners in the Cargo*Mate program include Interpool/TRAC Lease of Princeton, NJ, APL of Oakland, CA, Norfolk Southern of Norfolk, VA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Aeris.net of San Jose, CA.
“We believe Cargo*Mate's unique means of providing seamless visibility into the status and location of transport assets will place us in a leadership position in the industry,” commented John W. Sammon, Chairman and CEO of PAR Technology. “We can track our customers' shipments from point of origin to ultimate destination, regardless of the mode of transportation used. We look forward to working with our partners and customers in the years to come.”
“The wireless market opportunity for services such as supply chain and logistics management is an big opportunity,'' said Dan Jester, Vice President of Business Development at Aeris.net. “Aeris is excited to be working with PAR to bring these services to market.”
To transmit location and status data in near real-time, Cargo*Mate uses the Aeris.net MicroBurst Service, a proprietary technology for wireless, two-way transmission of digital data over the control channels of the cellular telephone network. PAR and Aeris.net will cooperate in marketing the Cargo*Mate product to transport asset owners and lessors, and to accelerate the adoption of MicroBurst® technology by cellular carriers, manufacturers, and end users.
A pilot deployment is underway using a chassis tracking version of Cargo*Mate. Two hundred (200) units are deployed into ocean carrier chassis pools in Chicago, IL, and the Port of New York and New Jersey that are operated by APL under a leasing arrangement with Interpool/TRAC Lease. An additional fifty (50) units are deployed into a railroad chassis yard in Atlanta, GA, operated by Norfolk Southern.
Aeris.net, headquartered in San Jose, CA, provides wireless web connectivity and control for a broad array of short-packet signaling and messaging services using its proprietary MicroBurst® utility. MicroBurst technology employs the control channel infrastructure of the cellular network as a transmission medium to achieve low cost of service and ubiquitous coverage. Aeris.net currently has contracts deploying MicroBurst technology in cellular service areas in 98 percent of the United States and all of Mexico and Canada. Initial applications include vehicle position and condition reporting, security and equipment monitoring and utility meter reading. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.aeris.net or call 888-Go-Aeris.
The Logistic Management Systems (LMS) business is focused on supporting the design, development, and deployment of the Cargo*Mate(TM) intermodal Logistics Information Management Systems, a solution for the monitoring and management of transport assets and cargo throughout the intermodal (i.e., port, highway, rail, air, and ocean) transportation lifecycle. For more information visit our website at www.parlms.com.
PAR Technology Corporation is a leading provider of professional services, including systems integration, to the retail/restaurant, manufacturing and distribution industries. PAR focuses on the design, development, manufacture, sales and support of transaction processing systems. PAR is the world's largest supplier of Point-of-Sale systems to the quick service restaurant market with 25,000 systems installed in over 90 countries. PAR Technology Corporation's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PTC. Visit PAR's website at www.partech.com.
MicroBurst® is a registered trademark and Aeris™, Aeris.net™ VBurst™ are trademarks of Aeris Communications, Inc. All other company or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
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