TECH NOTE – LOW-BANDWIDTH D1 – October 2016

Eyes and ears on the ground: Making smartphone video links work in low-bandwidth environments

Mobile phones offer an incredibly cost-effective and practical way of capturing audio, video and images when out and about. For businesses, they can be the digital eyes and ears of a highly mobile field or sales force.

But what if that crucial video footage from a remote site needs to get back to base quickly or in real time? What if important decisions depend on it? What if lives depended on it?

Anyone who has ever tried to send a presentation from a train via 3G or attempted to share an image on a walk in the countryside knows how quickly connectivity can drop and that coverage is still a lot patchier than we think - even on the outskirts of major cities, let alone up on a mountain or out at sea.

Yet, some of the most promising professional applications of smartphone video and audio are about remote locations.

The following shows in brief, how, when, where and why people would want to send video from a low-bandwidth environment, how the eviid app can help – and how it does it.

Low-bandwidth environments: phoning home

Three short scenarios should suffice to show that sending smartphone video from low-bandwidth environments is a currently unmet need in a range of areas.

1. Lone workers - making lonely decisions? NEEDED: The ability to live stream two-way video and audio to ask for advice from base, rather than having to down tools and await a visit from a supervisor. HOW EVIID HELPS: The eviid app allows site-based crews to resolve issues in real-time via live video stream from their smartphones, instead of having to delay jobs whilst seeking approval or advice from off-site specialists. The live exchange is automatically recorded as evidence.

2. The evidence collector – drowning in paperwork? NEEDED: The ability to capture high-quality images and video at a remote site and file comprehensive reports quickly and automatically, before moving on to the next site. HOW EVIID HELPS: The eviid app enables the quick capturing of multimedia reports directly on a smartphone, from where it is automatically sent to a back-end server and removed from the device. No transferring of images from a camera to a laptop, no manual resizing of images for sending via personal ‘hot spot’.

3. The distress signal – left to your own devices?

NEEDED: The ability to trigger an alert back at base from remote locations and either broadcast live video/audio or record and send later; the ability for people at base to trace time and location of a recording (rather than the time and location of sending).

HOW EVIID HELPS: The eviid app allows users to initiate a live video/audio stream from their smartphone at the push of a button, triggering an “incoming live stream” message at base. The app automatically adds contextual data (time, date, GPS location, etc) to the footage, giving receiving parties and emergency teams important situational data. If there is no satellite, WiFi or data signal at all, the app will capture the footage, add contextual data and then transmit it automatically at the next possible opportunity.

The tech behind low-bandwidth performance

In order to work in the above scenarios, eviid uses automation, meta data watermarking and advanced compression technology to help people in the field connect to base when it matters:

Compression: Eviid uses patent-pending technology to automatically compress all recorded data up to 20-fold, enabling fast, easy transmission over WiFi, 3G and 4G networks. What would usually take 30 minutes over email or MMS, takes under two minutes through eviid.

Automation: The eviid app automatically uploads any audio-visual material captured and files it securely to a back-end server. The system will notify users back at base of any incoming footage, live or recorded.

Where footage cannot be transmitted in real-time, eviid uses vRAF (video record and forward), meaning it will save the data within the app and send it as soon as it can make a connection.

Meta data: Eviid adds a unique tamper-evident ‘wrapper’ of contextual or meta data to any video captured through the app, turning it into evidence that would withstand scrutiny in court and that can serve as a reliable record in the event of a regulatory investigation or service dispute.

This includes GPS, time, date and device-relevant information, i.e. SIM and IMEI data.

No coverage, but still covered

In low-bandwidth environments, eviid makes sure that a lack of signal does not get in the way of capturing events in real-time. Media files are automatically whisked away at the earliest opportunity with all relevant contextual data included.

The app on the phone is tightly connected with the back-end system, ensuring incoming footage is noticed and can be acted upon.

In short: eviid removes all the niggles and nightmares of using the most versatile, connected tool we have in an environment that is hostile to it. It can turn any smartphone into your eyes and ears on the ground and the lifeline in your pocket – regardless of where you are.

To find out more about eviid and see what it can do for you, please visit www.eviid.com

ENDS