Rugged Phones: Not Just for Clumsy Consumers

BARCELONA—When we made the Kyocera DuraForce Pro our Editors' Choice winner on Verizon, we primarily took into account how well the phone performed and the kind of value it offered to the average consumer. But the phone has a number of other use cases.

I spoke with John Chier, Director of Corporate Communications at Kyocera, about that here at MWC. The range of functions on the DuraForce Pro—as well as the Brigadier and the DuraForce XD—include motion detecting sensor, body camera, and fleet management tool.

The body camera is especially interesting because a huge issue for police departments under pressure to use body cameras is the cost of the cameras themselves and the data storage required for thousands of hours of footage. According to Chier, Kyocera has partnered with software company Visual Labs to allow its rugged phones to be used as body-worn cameras.

This has been implemented by the Dos Palos Police Department in California. The advantages of using a phone includes lower cost, but also the ability to use data connectivity and sensors to do real-time streaming (and cloud backup) of videos, GPS positioning, and geo-fencing. The phone can also be remotely activated by command staff and is easier to track compared with costlier cameras.

The trucking industry has also found an interesting use for the 5.7-inch DuraForce XD. The rugged phablet serves as a tablet replacement for the GeoTabs fleet management system. Again, lower per-unit device costs are important, but the phone can also be used with gloves on while also resisting shocks and vibrations.

Meanwhile, the military has made use of the Kyocera Brigadier as an unattended ground sensor, which keeps track of conditions in potentially dangerous environments. A special software from Blueforce is used along with a mounting unit that allows the phone to detect gamma radiationa and different kinds of gas, and monitor seismic and acoustic readings. Since unit cost is less than $1,000 versus the $40,000 for regular ground sensors, it can be treated as a disposable device and doesn't have to be recovered if conditions are too dangerous.

Chier also pointed to a partnership that allows the DuraForce Pro to be used as the primary communication device for a sheriff's department in Jackson County, Georgia. The terrain is hilly, which inhibits use of most other land mobile radio systems, so the department uses the DuraForce Pro with AT&T's enhanced push-to-talk service.

Overall, there's an interesting range of enterprise, law enforcement, and industrial uses for Kyocera's rugged phones, which highlight just how flexible and powerful phones have become over the years. The future is mobile.