Mobile computing applications at Southern Company

Abstract

Summary form only given as follows. Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an international energy company that operates more than 48000 megawatts of electric generating capacity worldwide. It is one of the largest producers of electricity in the United States and one of the world's largest independent power producers. This presentation describes the "Southern LINC" Mobile Computing system in operation at Southern Company. Southern LINC, which stands for Long-range Integrated Network Communications, covers 127000 square miles in the Southeast, including major metro and rural areas in Alabama, Georgia, southeastern Mississippi and northwest Florida. Using Motorola's iDEN technology, Southern LINC combines multiple communication services into one handset or installed device including Instant LINC/sup SM/ two-way radio, phone service, numeric and text paging, and Informance Solutions/sup SM/. A Utility Grade Construction Standard was used in building the system, e.g., emergency power systems, redundant electronics, redundant environmental systems, and hardened shelters. Details are provided on the Southern LINC features, e.g., group call, private call, call alert, interconnect, short messaging service (SMS), circuit switched data, packet data, and other advanced features. Southern LINC also features a vehicle location system (VLS), e-dispatch providing a work order management and dispatching tool, and an automated response management system (ARMS).