ALE is Driving the Future of Smart Transport

Intelligence seems to be everywhere in the communications landscape today. We have smart assistants supporting the agents in the contact centre and allowing for contextual conversations. In the back-office environment, AI drives better business decisions with in-depth analytics.

When combined with IoT, we can even link different machines and processes together into a more effective business workflow. ALE (Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise) are one of the major brands using the combination of intelligence and connected devices to transform the world we live in. ALE has experimented with everything from connected cities, to intelligent education strategies, and more.

One of the most significant areas where ALE has had an impact lately is on the smart transport environment. We caught up with ALE’s Enrique Bolívar, to learn more about how these intelligent transportation solutions are driving us into the future.

How is ALE Supporting the Growth of Smart Transport?

ALE’s solution for smart transportation is based around its CPaaS (Communication Platform as a Service) offering, Rainbow. Rainbow CPaaS delivers a host of inspiration communication and collaboration techniques for your organisation, intended to optimise business processes and improve customer experience.

Rainbow combines processes, staff, and machines in the transportation environment to offer process automation, proactive decision-making and more. For instance, in the Seaport environment, IoT adoption and CPaaS integration via Rainbow can significantly improve operational efficiency. The Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar LBS offering provides indoor location solutions, geolocations, and wayfinding based on Alcatel-Lucent WiFi infrastructure. The combination of services allows for better collaboration between stakeholders. In the Air transportation industry, Rainbow CPaaS can help to simplify operations by combining many of the diverse technologies that are essential for safe and efficient flights.

As a “relationship engine” Rainbow enables seamless communications between business processes, organisations, and IoT devices, improving daily flight managers operations. Through constantly-connected communications, flight crews will be able to share real-time information, improve schedule planning, and more.

Even in the rail transportation industry, CPaaS through Rainbow can improve the decision-making process, optimise maintenance procedures, and boost schedule performance. Ensuring coordination and better collaboration between all the people and processes in a transportation environment means that every transportation environment runs more smoothly.

How Does ALE Help Smart Seaports to Thrive?

In the seaport environment, the extensive processes of unloading and loading cargo, clearing customs, and transferring products to other modes of transportation requires constant collaboration. Port Logistics and 2019 trends showed that automation and integration of processes were crucial in 2018 and 2019. As seaport businesses move into the age of digital transformation, companies will need to find a way to connect more of their processes.

CPaaS platforms like Rainbow will allow seaports to embed collaboration solutions into their business applications using seamless API technology. This ensures that seaport employees and operators can connect via real-time communication to transform project outcomes. With CPaaS, seaports can keep teams informed in real-time about the status of certain cargo, as well as changing dispatch times. Companies will also be able to support mobile workforces, integrate their tools with CRM (customer relationship management) applications, and implement strategies for better customer service on an end-to-end basis.

How is ALE Getting Involved with the Air Transport Industry?

It isn’t just the Seaport environment that benefits from more organised and connected communication strategies. According to the IATA, around 4.1 billion people were travelling by air in 2017, and the numbers just keep increasing. In the ATI sector, it’s the passenger journey, rather than the management of cargo, that’s most important to business leaders. The journey includes everything from the moment when the customer starts to travel to the airport, through to their experience with security and beyond.

ALE believes that the digital transformation journey in the transport industry focuses heavily on moving passengers from “disconnected to connected” experiences. CPaaS integration with Rainbow allows for real-time collaboration and communication in business applications. Through API deployment, businesses can offer passengers a mobile application where they can check information on flight bookings, baggage claims, tax reservations and more. Rainbow can even offer airline companies the option to communicate with passengers and deliver them contextual and personalised information about their journey. Rainbow can work alongside airline mobile apps or kiosks to provide real-time assistance through video and voice calls too.

With CPaaS, airlines can begin to take their strategy for a more connected customer to the next level, with real-time communications, chatbot interactions and more. There’s even the option to provide better interactions and experiences for people with reduced mobility by providing them with chatbots for service automation. When used with location-based services, ATI offerings can also help passengers to find their way to kiosks and boarding areas within an airport without asking a staff member for help.

What Can CPaaS Bring to the Rail Industry?

In today’s digital world, we’re always connected, to our smartphones, our tablets, and our laptops. Passengers also expect to have the option to remain connected during journeys too. Because of this, a lot of transportation companies in the bus and rail environment are beginning to implement WiFi and other tools for their users.

Access to connectivity is just one of the way that rail companies can transform the passenger experience in the modern world. At the same time, solutions like Rainbow CPaaS mean that business leaders can implement real-time communication functions like voice and messaging into applications that support customers. Like in the airline environment, rail companies can offer apps that allow passengers to get real-time information about the status of a train or ensure that passengers can quickly get information about tickets. There’s even the option for companies to get an insight into customer preferences by allowing them to gain feedback through chatbots.

Passengers that have issues regarding reduced mobility could use the API-enhanced applications in a business environment to access special assistants from within the application directly. At the same time, these customers can be advised of special access routes that might make a journey even easier. The transportation operator can also integrate CPaaS into a website to offer access to connected portals via text messages, chatbots, video, and voice communications.

How Is Smart Transportation Changing the World?

ALE believes that intelligent innovations in smart transportation, IoT and connected devices are having a substantial positive impact on customer experience. Intelligent transportation solutions allow businesses and customers to remain connected. Not only does a solution like Rainbow CPaaS keep passengers informed, but it improves the communication in the business environment too.

When tools and processes are connected, and collaboration solutions are available to access in real-time, companies can implement solutions that proactively detect issues and react to problems. This means that it’s easier to quickly resolve issues that might impact the safety of staff and passengers. Companies in the airline environment can give customers an easier way to report suspicious activities or luggage. Group chat rooms like Rainbow Bubble allow group members to quickly learn about potential security issues. There’s even the option to implement alarm notifications. Rainbow users can also integrate IoT devices like cameras into security operations to get a first-hand view of emergency issues.

Rainbow and similar CPaaS solutions provide transportation companies with the collaboration platform that they need to resolve incidents as quickly and effectively as possible. Rainbow CPaaS can integrate seamlessly with security applications and business process. The solution can integrate with and leverage AI, enable the monitoring of essential parts of the transport journey, and more.

Making the transportation environment more intelligent with ALE isn’t just about delighting customers and transforming their experience. The right integrations and APIs can actively reduce the number of accidents in the transportation environment and keep people in all walks of life safe as they explore the world.