How many times have you thought that getting real-time action, real time data and real time outcomes would be a great idea for your organization and its employees? Many times I bet! I am sure you have thought about it at least once.
The intent of providing real time intelligence is what was the founding principle behind Total Communicator Solutions, Inc. and the patented Spark Compass platform for platforms.
In an interview with Insights Success, Erik Bjontegard, the Founder of Total Communicator Solutions, Inc and inventor of the Spark Compass platform describes the inception story of the organization.
Below are the highlights of the interview between Erik Bjontegard and Insights Success:
Give a brief overview of your company, its uniqueness and its vision.
Total communicator Solutions Inc. was created to build a platform that leverages technology to deliver actions in the real world based on data. Leveraging the ability to capture data from a variety of sensors and connected devices such as mobile phones, cars, digital displays and smart city sensors, the platform applies augmented intelligence by combining historical data and known demographic data to deliver information, instructions and curated content to the right person at the right time and place, on the right device. Combining cutting-edge technologies with new communication protocols delivering actions on data and measuring the real-world outcomes, the platform combines legacy systems with next-generation technologies in one platform for platforms. This unique approach to act on data – real-time – delivers a new way to bridge the physical world with the digital. We are staying true to this unique mission, delivering better outcomes in the real world based on data from the real world – in real time. This is not just a vision, it is being done in the real world real-time with our patented platform for platforms, Spark Compass.
Can you describe your company’s cutting edge IoT solutions which address all the needs of your customers?
Our platform is leveraging a variety of edge devices as well as IoT sensors, combining these with any type of communication protocol, from low-power wide area network into the future of 5G and beyond. These devices are connected with a central computation device in the cloud to deliver actions on the events that are captured in the real world. Combining this with the knowledge base – demographic data on the user, information about the location, the user’s activity – as well as an understanding of the desired outcomes for the operator of the system, enables the system to deliver “curated content”, information and actions back into the real world. By measuring the resulting outcomes, a virtual real-world machine learning communication platform is created. This is our patented and truly unique approach; while others are providing powerful analytics – even apply AI – onto data that is gathered, we are unique in that we create actions based on the data that can be sent back into the real world. We measure the outcomes to verify that these meet the desired outcomes or not, and learn from it to improve next communications. This feedback loop enables a truly intelligent system. We call this “augmented intelligent” communication protocols for our clients, basically providing the “intelligence of everything”.
How did you end up doing this?
I grew up in Norway, and later went to England on a scholarship to study mechanical engineering. While in Norway working on underwater robotics, I decided to set my eyes to the skies and the space and later I came to the US in order to work on the space shuttle with NASA.
Having a wonderful and understanding family who supported me in chasing my dreams, helped me in creating a reality around my vision. I had a great team to help build the platform based on my invention. Being based in San Diego and having worked with Qualcomm as an executive in their corporate R&D division, I recognized the platform had a global reach – so we are now travelling the globe working with partners in countries from Hong Kong to Manchester, Oslo to Bangkok.
With the escalating number of IoT solutions providers, how is your company driving to create an impact on its customers?
Unlike lot of companies that are focusing on great marketing materials and ideas presented in PowerPoint presentations, we believe in doing rather than talking. Our solutions have been deployed, tested, validated and endorsed by the largest and the greatest technology companies in the world. Always looking for ways to do better, we also take pride in making sure there is value in what we do. We always have answer to “what’s in it for me” from the end-user or our customer’s perspective. Delivering actions on data is a patented version beyond the advanced analytics that others are doing. We combine technologies from partners, whether it’s augmented reality, or smart city sensors, edge computing or indeed others AI algorithms; we combine these into one platform to deliver real-world outcomes. By combining other’s technologies, other’s equipment, other’s sensors and other’s solutions, we build a true platform for platforms. And now we are also able to store our data in a very effective and fast blockchain for those customers who want that option – real world data on events, stored real time on a blockchain. We are even reaching peaks at 5,000 transactions per second on our blockchain!
We are always looking for better outcomes and match desired outcomes and hence, we don’t build technology for technology sake, we build it to deliver results.
What are the challenges faced while providing solutions and how is your company serving to tackle them?
Being a cutting-edge company and a market leader has been a challenge. When I formed the company in 2012, nobody knew that 5G would one day become a reality; in-fact nobody knew about 5G at all. I knew about it as I was part of the team developing it at Qualcomm. I knew that one day there will be the ability to connect devices and people in the real world with the digital in a manner where connectivity would be near instantaneous. Soon after having helped bring Augmented Reality into reality and the market, I left. I recognized that one day there will be a need for a common control system, a common “brain” if you’d like, so there will be a need to have a platform for platforms. It is only recently that this kind of thinking has been understood. It’s only recently that this kind of solutions are being recognized as even possible. So building this, and showcasing it has been a painstaking approach over the last 8 years. By presenting cutting-edge solutions, we always are painting the picture of what can be done, the end solution – the blue horizon and the amazing future we can create. There are no limits to what our platform can do when you really think about the aspect of gathering real world data, understand it, and act on it to deliver better outcomes…. However it’s important to start somewhere and in order to start we often have to start small. We always percent the end goal so that every step goes towards building the complete solution, not piecemeal by piecemeal of solutions that do not cooperate, collaborate nor can communicate with each other. The essences of building intelligently is that the first step is the first step towards the future. In order to do so, the future we want to create needs to be known. In order to create a road map, we need to know where we want to end up.
How are you leveraging cutting-edge technologies from multiple entities?
Leveraging cutting-edge technologies from multiple entities and companies into one common platform for platforms, we as a company are now poised to explosive growth. Having teamed up with world leading technology partners, we are now teaming up with world leading content owners, distributors and technology leaders in new markets. Expanding beyond USA, North America and Europe into Southeast Asia, China, Middle East and North Africa our platform can deliver outcomes that can change and improve lives across the globe. This technology and our ability to grow with new technologies, storing data safely and securely, ensuring we protect everybody’s privacy, we can truly deliver better outcomes. Whether we are caring for senior citizens on the West Coast of England using Alexa and our augmented intelligence platform, or helping travelers discover the beauty of remote areas of Malaysia or Thailand, or improving fan engagements for up-and-coming sports teams and leagues as well as the world top leading soccer teams, our platform delivers outcomes in the real world that can be measured, repeated and thereby improving everyone’s lives.
What according to you could be the potential future of IoT industry and how does your company envision sustaining its competency?
I believe that the IoT industry will evolve and IoT will become something that is deployed and integrated seamlessly everywhere. It should not be a standalone industry. It should not be a standalone word. For it to fully succeed IoT should be integrated everywhere and into the real world. We call our app interface the User Interface to the real world. The UI to the real world that controls digital interactions in the physical world. That should be the true goal for IoT, the intersection between the physical and the digital and providing the bridge between the two. By always being visionaries continuing to innovate and acknowledging that a true platform for platform will never be completed we know that not only will we be future proof, we will continue to sustain a leading-edge and hence our competent competency will be a world leading.
Give us a few testimonials of your clients that accurately highlight your company’s position in the market.
One of our airport clients stated our technology works flawlessly and was cutting-edge it was just ahead of its time. A sports and University client is saying that our platform doesn’t need an introduction as the results it generates stands for itself.