Municipal boards are finding new ways to harness the Internet of Things in the form of enterprise asset management (EAM) systems to make their cities safer, cleaner, and more efficient. Let’s take a look at the different departments and the ways they can do this.

Emergency Medical Services

Hospitals are taking advantage of the benefits of EAM by connecting their EMS vehicles, supplies, and medical equipment. The Austin-Travis Country EMS upgraded their supply vans and ambulances with EAM systems that allowed them to automatically log RFID-tagged supplies and equipment are in the vehicle at the moment. This type of tech set-up also changed how this EMS department managed inventory: the tags allowed them to tell exact quantities and preventing laborious supplies-counting. Live data collected from this system was integrated with the Austin-Travis Country EMS’ system, putting potentially life-saving information in the hands of administration and team members.

Fire Departments

Fire Departments are looking for ways to maximize the ROI on their assets. Their life-saving equipment includes fire engines, ladder trucks, pumper trucks, protective outerwear, and breathing apparatus. This all takes a lot of wear and is incredibly expensive to replace and test. With an integrated EAM system fire departments can boost the lifespans of their assets and have complete visibility of their warranties, locations, and maintenance schedules.

Public Safety

Police departments use a set of dangerous and expensive tools on the job. To be able to serve their communities, public safety departments need a complete picture of the assets and personnel. To give them that visibility, some police departments have adopted EAM solutions. By tagging firearms, ammunition, riot gear, and other equipment, and connecting them to tagged police vehicles in a parent-child relationship, departments can tell in real-time: the location of assets, the number of assets, if/when/where assets leave a vehicle, and which force member has an asset checked out at the moment. This saves time and funds, cuts shrinkage rates, and can even prevent police firearms from falling into the wrong hands.

Waste Management

Waste Management departments generally deploy their waste management vehicles on regular pick-up routes. But with an EAM system, a waste management fleet could be aware of how full each dumpster is through IoT-connected weight sensors. This would allow automatic pick-up scheduling as needed, reducing unnecessary trips. This means longer-lasting vehicles, less pollution, and less traffic. Looking to the future, we’re going to see an increase in smart infrastructure. The good news is that, due to the variety of options and scalable EAM solutions, it’s possible to find one that adjusts to the needs of each department and each city. To learn more about EAM and how it’d look in your city, schedule a demo!