Westminster Council believes that its wireless network
could bring savings of millions of pounds a year by giving council
staff the ability to remotely monitor services such as refuse
collection and to connect to council systems on the
move.
If the trials are successful, the council plans to provide mobile
staff with notebook computers and personal digital assistants,
allowing them to file reports and access council databases without
having to return to offices between appointments.
It plans to extend the network across London by installing Cisco
network bridges on lampposts. The bridges will be protected by
encryption and electronic authentication to prevent unauthorised
access.
"There is a lot of time wasted by council officers having to go on
a site visit, for example to check licensing, and then having to
return to the office to type up a report," said Andrew Snellgrove,
the council's network manager.
Figures from Gartner have suggested that staff can save three hours
a week if they use laptops, but productivity increases by 11 hours
a week with wireless connectivity.