Ben Kettell, Author at MVIS Ltd

Using ITS Technology for Crowd Control

Posted on 26th June 2020 at 4:25 pm.

COVID-19 has presented a number of issues for councils and those who manage sites open to the public. 2020 has seen some of the biggest changes to the way we operate as a society in our lifetimes and as a result, our needs changes with them.

Traditionally, portable ITS technology such as Variable Message Signs (VMS) or CCTV have been deployed and used for traffic management and events, offering important information that people need to stay safe.

The use of our technology for crowd control is not a new idea. Indeed, we have always applied our solutions to applications that require the management of pedestrians. A large part of this is found in the events industry, where our portable VMS, CCTV, ANPR and Data Collection solutions have been used with great success. Our products have been tried and tested on some of the biggest events in the country such as the 2012 Olympics, Brighton Pride, V Festival, Silverstone and The Grand National.

However, in the wake of the pandemic, the risks presented in public areas becomes a major concern for everyone. In these areas, we can use our technology for the same applications they were designed for, but with a different focus, helping us live in a world with COVID-19 safely.

Important Notices

One of the key uses of our technology is to communicate.

Our solar powered, portable signs offer a platform to communicate to the public at a time when information is critical. With a range of signs in different sizes, our portable VMS are an ideal solution for public safety information, such as enforcing social distancing, closing roads or buildings, or even establishing lockdown barriers – if it comes to that.

A world with COVID-19 remains unpredictable and one of the biggest issues with that, is the information keeps changing.

No sooner had councils and businesses purchased static signs enforcing a 2m distance policy, the government lowers the policy to 1m, producing waste.

Using a VMS, the message can be changed in seconds without even needing to be on site.

This versatility – along with its portability – offers incredible added-value to the unit.

Another issue we are facing is the abuse of some of the UK’s beauty spots. The heatwave towards the end of June 2020 spelled a disaster for our seasides in Bournemouth, Exmouth and other areas, which were swamped with visitors who brought with them a lot of litter.

By deploying one of our signs in these beauty spots, it serves as a visual reminder for visitors to take their litter home with them.

Wayfinding / Marshalling

With such a huge disruption in the way we move and certain businesses phasing in their reopening, there is a lot of confusion for travelers and shoppers right now.

Portable VMS can be deployed to help clear up this confusion by directing people to the right places, or announcing reopening.

A common application we see in events, our signs deliver a clear message in text or pictograms that can’t be missed.

Queue Management

Our journey time solutions help to combat traffic queues by relaying estimated journey time to the driver so they can plan accordingly, helping to minimise frustration and confusion on our roads.

With the successful use of estimated queue times in the hospitality and events industry as a queue calming measure, we can apply this logic to the use of our signs on the high street, for example.

Our HD Compact VMS offers a solar powered, portable VMS with a small footprint that would apply perfectly to a queuing system, helping keep order in busy retail or service areas.

Surveillance / Enforcement

The Visitor Information & Management System uses an effective combination of our portable, solar powered VMS and CCTV to offer a surveillance / feedback system for site managers. Opening up the ability to monitor their scope of responsibility, site managers can react to issues by updating the sign via browser or our app to remind visitors of the rules, or indeed that they are being watched, for example.

Using these products together in this way helps to bring out the best of both solutions, forming a highly effective site management system that can be operated remotely.

Our latest CCTV solution, developed in partnership with 360 Vision Technology even offers incredible low light capabilities, which may be useful in areas where night time activity becomes a concern.

For more information about our solutions or if you would like to know more about how you can use our products to help with crowd control, social distancing or queue management, please contact us via our contact form.

Alternatively, you can call us on 01629 580 570 to speak to one of our friendly team, or you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.

Investment in Training Pays Off as Customer Feedback Pours In

Posted on 26th June 2020 at 9:35 am.

Written by Ben Kettell

A few months ago, we covered a training session that saw one of our Operations and Customer service team members, Mizzy Watson, take part in ‘hands-on’ training out in the field with one of our delivery drivers, Jon Larkins.

In this post, we explore the necessity of this type of training to help our staff understand aspects of everyone’s roles, allowing us all to be more effective as we can understand the risks and complications that occur in that job.

“Mizzy, who started at MVIS towards the end of 2019, works closely with MVIS customers and their requirements. Part of her role is communicating this to the delivery team, organising our delivery drivers over the phone, organising our operations in the field to ensure that units are deployed safely, in the correct location and display the correct messages as per our customers instruction. However, whilst she works with our delivery team on a regular basis, Mizzy is still fairly new to the organisation and in striving for a vertical understanding of our operations, it was decided that she should experience ‘a day in the life’ of one of our delivery drivers.”

Since this training, MVIS and Mizzy in particular, have been receiving more feedback on top of what we already considered to be a good number of positive comments. The feedback, which is due to be published to the website soon, is always a welcome email or phone call for our team. Knowing that we are delivering a service our clients are pleased with is incredibly motivating.

However, this feedback signifies more than just our effectiveness in a customer service setting; it also shows our vertical training model is paying off. With the particular focus on Mizzy in this recent wave of positive comments, we wish her special congratulations and thanks for being a clear asset to the company when dealing with customers.

But it’s not just Mizzy’s work with customers that seems to be pulling in praise. Mizzy was nominated by her work colleagues back in May for June’s Employee of the Month. She was awarded this specifically for : “always being there when she is needed. Work related or not, she is always ready to listen. Helping staff during weekend cover in her own time, contributing to new ideas and owning her strengths, Mizzy is a highly valued team member who brightens up everyone’s day!”

To have such glowing feedback from her peers for her caring nature and actions during the COVID-19 lock down is something truly remarkable and really goes to show that when you equip the right people with the right training, they are given the understanding to contribute in a meaningful and impact way, helping to bring the best out in everyone.

Delivering New Solutions for New Problems

Posted on 25th June 2020 at 1:48 pm.

Written by Ben Kettell

As the COVID-19 lockdown eased, retail stores throughout the country faced new challenges, one of the most important being the ability to communicate vital information to customers quickly and easily.

In recent months, MVIS have been working with the retail industry to develop ways we can apply our technology to solving these new challenges, helping to clear up the confusion that customers were facing as more business were granted permission to open their doors once again.

New Leaf Plant Centre in Dronfield, only a stone’s throw away from our Matlock HQ, reopened back in May but had an understandable number of concerns about keeping customers informed of business critical information.

The VMS-A was advised by MVIS due to the size of New Leaf’s car park. Indeed their site is quite large and could accommodate the footprint of a VMS-A easily, offering a larger screen than our HD Compact, which is the unit we would normally look to for such an application, especially in densely built-up areas where space is limited.

Phil Spencer, Manager at New Leaf commented, “The unit delivers a crisp, clear and concise message to customers which is highly visible and easy to read. It cannot be missed.”

The large space of New Leaf’s car park offered the perfect opportunity to deploy a VMS-A; it’s larger, 4-line, 5 colour display allowed for more complex messages and larger pictograms, further increasing the value of the solution to drivers as well as pedestrians.

The VMS unit helps New Leaf Plant Centre to:

Keep customers well informed, minimising inconvenience & confusion
Keep queues stress free and efficient as possible
Keep staff safe by communicating information to customers

Phil continues, “This sign has been key in delivering our core messages […] MVIS have been invaluable to our re-opening and has clearly reinforced our commitment to the Health & Safety of our staff and customers.”

He adds, “The unit was delivered promptly and set up quickly and efficiently by George with our message pre-loaded by the office and requires no maintenance by ourselves. It even switches on and off on its own. […] We are forever grateful to MVIS for the quality of service, support and quality of the product with its ability to deliver what we wanted every day without fail.”

On behalf of MVIS, our Marketing Manager, Sean Brown said: “It’s always great seeing new uses for our technology and the cornerstone of this is found in us having a good understanding of the client’s needs, then working with them on ways we can apply our solutions to them specifically. Building the relationships that allows us to understand these needs is where this starts. As we explore new industries, we are eager to highlight that we are not just in the business of ITS rental, but rather the business of relationships and service. We are very pleased this sign has proved so useful to New Leaf; their feedback has been very helpful in developing our solutions for the retail market.”

Learn more about this project >

For more information about our solutions or if you would like to know more about how you can use our products to help with social distancing or queue management, please contact us via our contact form.

Alternatively, you can call us on 01629 580 570 to speak to one of our friendly team, or you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.

MVIS/Bartco UK joins forces with 360 Vision Technology for road safety technology development

Posted on 24th June 2020 at 11:17 am.

Written by Ben Kettell

UK companies MVIS/Bartco UK and 360 Vision Technology, have joined forces on a technology innovation that sees the integration of 360 Vision’s Invictus CCTV with our Solar IP, giving rise to a whole new intelligent, solar-powered, trailer-based IP video surveillance platform.

Commenting on the initiative and technology partnership, Matt Felce from MVIS/Bartco UK stated: “We have been a market leader in the supply of trailer based variable message sign solutions for many years, and with IP technologies becoming more ‘power efficient’ we saw both the opportunity and gap in the market to further develop our solution to incorporate an IP camera, which delivered unrivalled video quality and IR lighting, whilst being portable and solar powered.

This new product boasts an incredibly clear picture and performs excellently in low light conditions. 360 Vision have delivered a camera that is low in power demands but still offers an HD image, allowing the Research & Development Team at Bartco UK to work on integrating a power source in the form of our Solar IP.

The Invictus HD camera itself offers a fully ruggedized housing, with exceptional build quality. The toughened optical glass window features a wiper and its Pan & Tilt gearbox is ultra-reliable and resilient. The defining feature, however, could be argued to be its integrated high-performance IR lights with intelligent control, which enables its powerful performance in low light conditions.

As a result of the low power demands of this unit, it is able to perform to extended run times, filling a strong market requirement for a CCTV product that is also portable, solar powered and has a much clearer image than seen in previous solutions on the market.

It also allows for an effective integration with our Solar IP, which is a trailer-based solar power source that can provide appropriate technologies the opportunity of portability.

Tony Holloway, Business Development Manager at 360 Vision Technology said: “We are delighted to have worked in partnership with MVIS/Bartco UK on this leading edge, technology development project. The automatic power management capability of our rugged PTZ cameras results in minimal power demand at all times. Couple this with the option for programmable power level IR and white Light illumination, tailoring the solution to the remotest locations, further enhances the camera performance whilst minimising additional power requirements. This really does lend itself to this type of revolutionary, off-grid solution. Technology partnerships like this really do ‘underpin’ and showcase 360 Vision’s flexible product credentials.”

Matt continues: “In order to deliver a solution which really did meet all the requirements, we considered it extremely important for us to work with a UK manufacturer that could both advise and support us through the development process. Whilst currently being deployed in the traffic sector, the current applications for this are far-reaching. What’s more is that under the conditions seen due to COVID-19, this unit fulfils an even bigger market need in the name of high definition surveillance for safety. This really is UK engineering at its best.”

For more information about this unit, please contact us via our contact form.

Alternatively, you can call us on 01629 580 570 to speak to one of our friendly team, or you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.

You can contact 360 Vision Technology on 01928 570 000, email: info@360visiontechnology.com, or visit their website at https://www.360visiontechnology.com

Resolve – an IT partner you can rely on

Posted on 9th June 2020 at 3:35 pm.

Written by Ben Kettell

Despite working from home, MVIS and Bartco UK staff have been able to take their offices with them and carry on with their daily tasks, and it is partly thanks to Resolve that we are able to continue to carry on providing the highest quality service possible during the uncertain times which we are currently facing.

Resolve work with hundreds of SMEs and have seen firsthand the huge challenges companies have overcome in order to keep business afloat in response to COVID-19. During this time, having a reliable IT partner is more imperative than ever.

Here at MVIS and Bartco UK, our IT systems are crucial to the business, as for the most part our departments rely on being able to access documents and essential programs as well as contact customers, suppliers and staff members easily.

By using Resolve as our IT support, we have been able to move most of our operations to a home setting with the exception of our delivery and warehouse team. Our systems were already online through our Cloud Server, which Resolve host, but there were issues with hardware that needed a quick solution and Resolve were on hand to help our staff and keep our team online so we can maintain the high standards we are proud to promote.

They have not only helped us to be fully operational under the new government rules, they have also made it possible for us to communicate within departments through video calls by setting us up on the communications platform, Microsoft Teams, which also allows us to communicate with 3rd parties who are also working from home.

World Environment Day 2020

Posted on 5th June 2020 at 3:36 pm.

Written by Ben Kettell

On World Environment Day 2020, we take the opportunity to reflect on our past, present and future goals in terms of the environment. Whilst we are more than proud of the procedures that we have in place and the achievements that we have been presented with, we understand that more can always be done.

In 2017, MVIS were awarded with the ISO accreditation in environmental management (14001:2015) and we were very pleased to say that in early 2020, this, along with ISO accreditations in quality (9001:2015) and health & safety (45001:2018) had been re-certified. Representative of our commitment to these highly important aspects of our business, the ISO accreditations together furnish us with a full IMS (integrated management system), integrating our systems and processes into one complete framework.

Despite this, we don’t rest on our laurels; we are always on the look out for ways that we can improve our impact on the environment, as we believe that it is vital for business to take into consideration their social responsibility on the environment so we can all work towards a cleaner and safer world.

Not only do we take the time to educate ourselves on how the distribution side of the company can have an impact on the environment, but we also look into sustainable ways which we can make a positive impact on the area that we have around us. At our Matlock HQ we home a beehive and a flower plot in order to give back to the local area as it gives to us. Local wildlife has an instrumental part to play in ensuring the environments durability, to take advantage of the safe haven which we have created for them.

On Boxing Day 2019, we decided to take a more modern approach on eliminating waste created at home during Christmas, asking staff to bring card and paper to the depot where it was recycled appropriately. We encouraged our staff to dispose of their boxes through us to ensure that they didn’t end up in landfill.

Although actions like these seem minute, they have a large impact on the environment, especially when considered together. By educating our staff on the importance of recycling, we hope that we can encourage a more positive mind set in their home lives as well.

As for our carbon footprint, we use flat bed transit vans for deliveries as these allow us to deliver multiple units in one trip which reduces the fuel consumption as well. Indeed, we have even been working on a new trailer that can accommodate up to 6 of our new HD Compact V.2 units in this endeavour.

When performing maintenance checks or battery changes, we ensure to visit all units in the area or on the way in order to keep on top of every unit, minimising double trips to the same location when necessary.

In-House Teamwork and Training makes the Dream Work

Posted on 5th June 2020 at 3:36 pm.

Written by Ben Kettell

Here at MVIS and Bartco UK we believe that quality starts with staff and our staff retention is something that we take pride in. With 5 staff members continuing after a completed apprenticeship, two currently undertaking apprenticeships and a further 1 to become a manager after joining us at only 18, when we say that we take pride in our staff and the team that we have built, it’s not an understatement.

One of Bartco UK’s apprentices, Pip Wood in purchasing for example, has almost finished her first-year apprenticeship and works under the support of Rebecca Prince, our Purchasing & Stock Control Supervisor. Pip has already been awarded Employee of the Month this year and together, her and Rebecca ensure that we have the correct supply of stock in order for the workshop team to be able to complete works and refurbish units at a fast and efficient rate.

The last year has brought in some major staff changes for our organisation. Towards the end of 2020, we brought out marketing department in-house, promoting Tillie Woolliscroft from Operations to Marketing Assistant as well as hiring Sean Brown as marketing manager. This has allowed us to progress in-house and develop a more modern approach to marketing.

After all, who better to promote the business then the business itself?

Likewise, our operations team saw changes too. Our operations manager, Dom Bridge has been with us for over 5 years and is now passing his knowledge to Mizzy Watson who joined the team last year. With this, Mizzy has also joined our delivery team during on-site maintenance checks, deliveries and battery changes in safe, inner city areas.

Ensuring our staff all understand the workings of both the industry and in-house operations is a large factor in our staff training, this is so all of our staff can have a greater appreciation of the business and offer a positive experience to our customers. As demonstrated with Sean / Tillie, Dom / Mizzy and Bec / Pip, we maintain a strong company ethos of passing training down from management to every corner of the business. This ensures that the level of training is of the highest quality for each member of staff.

With all of our in-house departments supporting one another, it is crucial to understand how each role contributes to the other. For example, our Operations team are on hand day and night to help with any customer needs or advice. Because of this, it is vital that they have the correct knowledge so that they can be as much help as possible.

Not only do we encourage our team to contribute to other departments, we also hold staff training at least once a month when possible in order to maintain a positive relationship and renew aspects of training. Being divided between 3 depots that provide coverage to the whole UK can take its toll if not managed correctly.

These training sessions regularly cover important aspects such as safety, mental heath, production and development. Training meetings don’t only improve our staff’s knowledge within the business, but also encourage everyone to join in with new ideas or potential development which is not only beneficial to staff morale but also encourages team building. These meetings are how we can constantly improve our services both externally and internally.

Since bringing our marketing in-house, we have noticed an astonishing improvement in our nation-wide coverage as well as being able to be more interactive with our customers and followers. We feel that this has strengthened our external relationships as we have been able to work directly with partners and engage with followers on a daily basis.

Bringing marketing in-house also allows us to transcend traditional role divisions and work more efficiently as a team towards shared goals. Having a daily update on new contracts, potential customers or new solutions allows the company respond to changes quickly. There is more depth to a business than its departments and we believe that our staff understand that, which is why we can proudly promote award winning customer service from every corner of our company.

Our in-house teams have never worked better together, striving to make our customer’s lives easier by hiring with us.

MVIS/Bartco UK is an organisation that can tackle any challenge thrown our way, which we have proven time and time again both with our customers and our staff, proving our reliability.

We are only as good as our staff, and we are more than proud of the team that we have built and strengthened over the years.

Setting customer expectations with ITS technology

Posted on 29th May 2020 at 1:15 pm.

Written by Ben Kettell

As the world changes in response to COVID-19, our use of technology changes with it, offering new and helpful ways to not only combat the virus, but also offering new ways we can live with it.

MVIS have been working hard with a wide range of industries to develop new products using our technology in order to help with the effort, establishing ground-breaking solutions for problems that didn’t exist in such scale only a few months ago.

One industry we have been working very closely with is the retail sector, who, in the wake of this have very different technological requirements to what they had only a few months ago. In a world with COVID-19, the retail industry has a big responsibility to society to do what they can to ensure that the virus is not being spread in their buildings.

As a result, stores around the country have started to adapt, installing measures to help enforce social distancing as well as for a range of other requirements. Needs related to increased demand with Click and Collect, new queuing systems and even communicating specific information such as ‘card payments only’ have become, at least in the short term, a huge priority for these businesses.

In identifying these needs, MVIS and Bartco UK developed a solution and offer a wider range of products that can help with these issues. Possibly the biggest issue logistically that retail stores currently have is in relation to queue management. It is a well-known occurrence that increased queue time can also increase frustration and anxiety in customers, which is not ideal customer psychology, especially when shoppers are already anxious and nervous.

Providing waiting customers with estimated queue wait times has already been proven successful in traffic management applications and the events industry, however it’s not usually an issue faced by the retail industry. With this in mind, our new Queue Management Solution offers the retail industry a solid solution under COVID-19 conditions using our range of VMS.

The Queue Management Solution uses our dual-colour HD Compact VMS (variable message sign) to communicate queue wait times to waiting customers in conjunction with our solar powered VMS-A to communicate information to drivers. The HD Compact’s portability and small footprint makes it an ideal queue management solution, especially in areas where space is limited. When placed strategically along the side of the queue, stores can keep customers informed and manage their expectations to help minimise frustration before customers enter the premises.

Queue management can also be achieved using the VMS-A in areas with more space. Whilst the HD Compact’s selling point is its small size, the VMS-A allows for more complex messages and may also reach a larger number of customers due to its size, making it ideal for car parks and larger stores. Such messages may encompass new store opening times, the store’s social distancing policy or other important information.

The use of the VMS-A in this solution can also help to keep customers informed every step of the way with their visit, being able to be used for a wide range of aspects such as traffic control and pedestrian marshalling.

One of the most innovative uses however has been found in the support of increased demand of Click and Collect, which, in the absence of any customer information, can descend into chaos easily. Using our web-based platform, site managers can update the sign’s message within seconds to call forward the next customer when their order is ready.

Whilst we learn to deal with COVID-19 both as an economy and as a society, more technological solutions will be employed to help us deal with the hostile circumstances we find ourselves in. This solution, and those we have developed alongside it, represents a step change in how we continue to use our technology to keep Britain informed during a time when information is of critical importance.

Alternatively, you can call us on 01629 580 570 to speak to one of our friendly team, or you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.

Our dedicated team are still upskilling

Posted on 29th May 2020 at 1:13 pm.

Written by Ben Kettell

At MVIS / Bartco UK, we believe that quality starts with our staff and therefore we like to ensure that each member of our team is fully trained in order to provide our customers with the highest service possible. With this in mind, we like to embrace all achievements our team earn and do not shy away from a congratulations!

Since joining us in mid-2019, Bartco UK’s two newest recruits have been on several training courses including manual handling and safety inductions, with their most recent earned qualification being their forklift training.

Liam Griffiths and Jacob Spencer have received certification from KMT training solutions following the completion of a forklift course earlier on in the year, luckily just before the lockdown. Courses like these do not only improve our team’s knowledge within the business, but it also strengthens their skill set which can be taken with them through advancements of their career in the future.

Professional development is key to striving within this industry, as it allows us to offer our customers the best production and maintenance services – something that we are proud to be able to promote as the number one VMS distributor in the UK. Investing time and effort into our employees ensures continuous staff and company development and progression that we can, at least in part, attribute our growth to.

After joining our team, Liam and Jacob have been progressing their skills both in house and externally to be fully qualified to deliver the highest quality service through all jobs within our workshop. Daily, the team are working on refurbished units and new builds in order to meet the needs of our customers as well as performing maintenance checks on units.

But Bartco UK aren’t the only ones pushing an agenda of staff development. Since her promotion to Marketing Assistant for MVIS last year, Tillie Woolliscroft has undergone a significant amount of training.

This training is advancing Tillie’s skills in the field of marketing, equipping her with specialist knowledge that helps her increase her productivity and effectiveness in her new role. Tillie’s commitment to her job has seen her been awarded Employee of the Month twice in 2020 already, with her skills and experience only getting better.

Likewise, the whole MVIS team have undergone upskilling in recent months in the form of digital communications. Whilst some of our team were already proficient in digital communications,however many members haven’t had need to use corporate communication tools such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom before.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, both the MVIS and Bartco UK workforce have been required to understand how to use this technology in order to continue working. In true MVIS / Bartco UK fashion, the whole team adapted seamlessly, allowing for a new era of working processes for the group.

Despite the two company’s continuous support, training can only go so far and without the dedication of our team to their work, their colleagues and their safety, the group wouldn’t be the great example of success with staff development and retention that it is today.

Mental Health Awareness Week 2020

Posted on 22nd May 2020 at 10:54 am.

Written by Ben Kettell

During this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, we asked our staff to stop and breathe; to remember the things in life that inspire them, encourage them and allow them to feel ‘human’ during the uncertain weeks that we have so far been faced with.

Here at MVIS and Bartco UK, we try to ensure that our staff are our number one priority, after all, without them there would be no ‘us’. We are a team and despite COVID-19 we continue to try to encourage everyone to maintain their individual flare. Because of this, we thought that this week we would ask everyone to stop and reflect on the positives in life in order to regain control of our mental health while being isolated from our work family.

With our online chat thriving, film suggestions message group and Facetime calls, our spirits remain high.

We asked the team to send us a photo of something that they are thankful for and with that lots of cute and funny pictures came through! Activities like this, although small, give us something to laugh about and keep us focused on our humanity.

Spending more time at home is allowing us to spend quality time with those in our home that we love and to reconnect again. We are being given the chance to strengthen our close relationships and engage with loved ones which is something that we can be grateful for in these hard times. (Even if they do have a wagging tail!)

Now more then ever we can truly understand the importance of mental well-being. From a daily video chat to a virtual fancy dress party, we at MVIS and Bartco UK have never been more grateful for the team that we have and are proud to be apart of.

With this being said, a thank you is in order for our amazing group who have been going above and beyond since day one.

Product Spotlight: HD Compact VMS

Posted on 15th May 2020 at 1:19 pm.

Written by Ben Kettell

MVIS’ HD Compact VMS was the first temporary variable message sign (VMS) designed for use within work zones in order to improve safety and for public information.

We have a good reputation in the industry for working with government sectors and traffic management companies in developing innovative products that meet specific requirements. This high definition, dual colour (red and white) unit is no exception, having been developed with certain requirements in mind as a result of market research we conducted with our customers.

Weighing below 10kg, this unit can be installed on existing street furniture or on its own battery box and post. Also available in a mains-powered format or with battery and solar power, the HD Compact VMS can be used for portable, temporary applications or in a fixed, permanent context on urban highways.

As if this unit isn’t innovative enough, MVIS’ HD Compact went on to spark a revolution in the industry, leading to competing iterations of this product appearing on the market. However, in true MVIS / Bartco UK fashion, our unit is separated from copies by its ingenious data collection radar than can be used to identify traffic trends.

The implications of this are significant, especially following the COVID-19 outbreak. Data as a commodity in the name of safety is a highly valuable asset that’s only becoming more important as local authorities, traffic management companies and many other groups are eager to understand more about traffic trends during this time to learn about the impact of COVID-19.

Data, however, has always been important for identifying trends and risks, and the HD Compact offers this feature as standard, making it a low cost, multi-functional solution to alternative data collection units and other VMS.

Since the launch of the HD Compact in 2016, MVIS have gathered enough feedback from customers to continue significant and meaningful development of this unit, leading to some exciting news due to be announced by MVIS and Bartco UK this year pertaining to the features and functionality of this already innovative unit.

For more information about our HD Compact or if you would like to know more about how you can use our units to help with social distancing or data collection, please contact us via our contact form.

Alternatively, you can call us on 01629 580 570 to speak to one of our friendly team, or you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.

Setting the safe example

Posted on 12th May 2020 at 12:27 pm.

Written by Ben Kettell

Many weeks on from the initial COVID-19 outbreak and businesses all over the world are figuring out ways to adjust to the evolving situation. One of the biggest aspects of human life to have suffered is social contact, with not just our social lives plunging into isolation, but also many people’s work life, which makes things very difficult for companies who are looking for ways to operate safely in this hostile climate.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, MVIS have gone to great lengths to ensure the safety of our staff, from implementing ‘work from home’ measures to furnishing staff with PPE and ‘care packages’ containing hand soap, tissues and other important items. However, when the health and safety of your employees are at risk, you can never do too much to safeguard them.

One of the most important things businesses can do to keep their staff safe is to communicate with them, making sure they know the company’s social distancing policy like their lives depend on it.

An effective way of doing this is with variable message signs.

Because of this, we have deployed 2 of our VMS-A signs outside our headquarters to serve a range of functions, the first of which is to keep reinforcing the 2m distance policy to our employees using our signs as a vivid visual reminder.

Another application this deployment has served is in the warning to visitors against entering the premises, which is a huge unknown factor in any risk assessment under these conditions, especially for deliveries.

In recent weeks we have noticed an increasing interest in our signs to help businesses and other organisations with such requirements.

There are a number of benefits in using a VMS for this purpose, one of them being the ease of updating, which can be done remotely via our web-based portal or mobile app.

Another benefit is the integrated data collection radar in the VMS, which establishes these units as a multi-functional solution that can collect important data at a time when we know so little about the impact of COVID-19 on our driving patterns.

For more information about our VMS or if you would like to know more about how you can use our units to help with social distancing, please contact us via our contact form.

Alternatively, you can call us on 01629 580 570 to speak to one of our friendly team, or you can email us via sales@m-vis.co.uk.