Given the size of modern airports, it can be a daunting task to keep track of what’s going on, where the delays are, and where queues and bottlenecks form, but equally which areas of the terminal don’t get as much traffic as they should.
At Passenger Terminal Expo 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden, March 20-22, there will be a number of companies presenting innovative solutions for this problem. The five companies below perfectly illustrate the variety on offer at the show: some make use of cameras, some use wi-fi, one even uses radar. Want to know whether the passengers think the experience stacks up? The technology on show at the expo can tell you that, too.
Smart Flows – Easily monitor and predict passenger flow
Smart Flows will debut the latest generation of its customer flow intelligence solution at Passenger Terminal Expo 2018. The new version removes the need for a team of specialized data scientists by making it easy for anyone to interpret the data and act on it. There is also a brand-new AI function, which can make projections about future customer behavior.
Smart Flows’ solution uses the wi-fi signal from visitors’ phones in conjunction with a number of data sources, such as terminal maps, flight schedules and retail tickets, in order to not just track the volume of passengers and the amount of time they spend waiting in queues, but to monitor the whole flow from curb to gate. Smart Flows claims full coverage of all passengers at any time and at every location in the airport.
At Passenger Terminal Expo 2018, it will launch its new SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform. The SmartFlowsInsight dashboards now allow any authorized user to connect to the platform and make sense of the data through easy-to-understand graphs and visualizations. Any department, be it retail, operations, customer experience or masterplanning teams, can now benefit from the insights offered by Smart Flows.
The software can display information per flight, airline, destination or retail area and interpret the effects of scheduled events such as a marketing campaign. The new AI features can even extrapolate the existing figures to provide predictions on future flow.
Being wi-fi-based, no additional hardware is required, so Smart Flows is easy to set up and can be deployed in a wide range of applications. It is suitable for both large and small airports and in 2017, it captured over 1.5 billion pax in more than 300 locations.
Visit Smart Flows at stand 1215
FeedbackNow – Gauge passenger experience throughout the whole journey
FeedbackNow, the company behind the characteristic ‘smiley boxes’ customer service rating system, will bring a new Internet of Things version of its product to Passenger Terminal Expo 2018. It is complemented by a completely revamped back-end analytics portal.
To be able to offer airports more flexibility in the way they gauge passengers’ satisfaction, FeedbackNow will bring the definitive version of its new Internet of Things feedback stand to the Expo.
The new IoT long-range model can be set up anywhere, with no calibration or wiring required, so airports can poll their customers wherever and whenever they want. As before, it boasts excellent reliability and a three-year battery life. The voting stand was re-designed in partnership with airport clients to have the right combination of eye-catching looks, stability and flexibility.
The voting stands report wirelessly to the completely refreshed FeedbackNow dashboard, which incorporates a number of new analytics functions to make sense of and create impact based on the massive amounts of data that the feedback devices generate.
Visit FeedbackNow at stand 1415
Genetec – Track passenger flow, reduce delays and boost revenue with Airport Sense
Did you know an extra 10 minutes in security reduces the average passenger’s spend in the commercial and retail area by 30%? For airports keen to keep a closer track on passengers, Genetec will demonstrate Airport Sense at Passenger Terminal Expo 2018.
Airport Sense is an advanced analytics solution that gives you a deeper understanding of what’s happening in your airport, helping you create a passenger journey that’s not only faster but also smoother.
The insights gained through Airport Sense allow users to pinpoint hindrances to the flow of passengers in ticketing, screening and passport control – and identify where queues build in areas such as duty free, entertainment and pre-boarding. With Airport Sense, airport managers will get a clearer understanding of their airport environment, helping them give passengers a seamless experience – from drop-off to take-off.
Airport Sense seamlessly blends into current security and networking environments, ensuring airports get the most out of their new or existing cameras – as well as other security systems and devices. Through web-based dashboards and dynamic maps, airport staff and retailers can build a better insight into the passenger flow from parking through to check-in, security, retail and dining, and finally to boarding.
Visit Genetec at stand 615
Crowd Vision – Airport insight service helps passenger business strategy
Visit the CrowdVision stand to find out how the company can help increase operational efficiency and enhance the passenger experience. CrowdVision is an automated pedestrian analytics and insights company with software that shows what is happening to an entire passenger population in and around terminals, in real time.
The CrowdVision solution processes live video input from commercial off-the-shelf cameras, and detects pedestrian movements automatically using sophisticated artificial intelligence techniques. CrowdVision outputs live data about everything from flows, queues and wait times, to processing times, occupancies and asset utilization.
Visit Crowd Vision at stand 240
Point FWD – Tracking in a heartbeat
In recent years, the airport industry has tracked passengers within the terminal using a combination of video content analysis systems, Bluetooth beacons and wi-fi tracking solutions. The accuracy of these systems often depends on the technology deployed and in certain cases, can be considered intrusive by the passengers.
At this year’s Passenger Terminal Expo, all of this will change when Point FWD showcases its new radar solution. Point FWD’s Ultra-Wide Band radar sensor suite is capable of detecting and measuring the presence of humans with startling accuracy. The sensors use advanced radar technology that can pick up movement so minute that it is capable of identifying and differentiating between multiple heartbeats.
Point FWD is ideal for performing queue and flow analysis prior to check-in and security, as well as corridors where bottlenecks may occur. However, it could also be used to assist janitors, identifying which bathrooms have been used above a certain threshold and those that haven’t. It can even be used for security purposes, identifying the number of heartbeats in a predefined area, such as gate-houses, cargo elevators or personnel entry points. Visit the Point FWD stand for an in-depth explanation and demonstration of the new product.
Visit Point FWD at stand 1768
