Prague pilot tests smart management of its public clocks

The goal is to make the entire system more reliable and better adapted to citizens’ needs

Prague is currently testing the operation of public clocks with remote supervision. The trials started at the beginning of the summer and allow for the city to control them remotely from the THMP technology company headquarters at Holešovice and to immediately detect malfunctioning. This will help the company to react much faster and maintain the public equipment in Prague in a more reliable and orderly way.

More reliable public services to Prague’s residents

The city-owned THMP is currently testing a remote control system for three dozen Pulkrabek and Metrocity clocks across the metropolis. To do this, they use a variety of software solutions and will ultimately select the one that bests suits their requirements.

Thanks to these solutions, data is automatically sent to the company server via the mobile network so they immediately know if a clock is delayed or if an illuminating light bulb has burned out. The software also allows monitoring the batteries which are charged only overnight, when the clock is powered by a public lighting cable network, in the words of Tomáš Jílek, Chairman of the THMP Board of Directors.

The software will also serve as an important source of data to further streamline service. "It stores information about when a fault has occurred, how long the clock is powered by the battery, what is the communication status, or how long the clock has not been synchronized. All this data is, of course, important for us in terms of improving services for citizens,” concluded Mr Jílek.

Thanks to the selected system, technicians should be able to resolve a possible failure much faster than if they had found out about it on the basis of periodic inspections or reports from citizens. In the future, almost half a thousand Prague public clocks should be managed through the specialized software at the THMP control room.