Smart service keeps a community safe
Mingzhongyuan residential community in Songjiang’s Xinqiao Town
An intelligent service platform at the Mingzhongyuan residential community in Songjiang’s Xinqiao Town displays various smart technologies that are used to ensure neighborhood security and offer convenience for residents.
Hou Jinbing, chief of the community’s security squad, was seen hurrying to No. 60 Building with a fire extinguisher one day before Chinese New Year. It turned out a homeowner had left a wok on the stove causing thick smoke to pour into the corridor.
The largest relocation community in Xinqiao Town, Mingzhongyuan accommodates 2,657 households, or about 10,000 residents, and there are just 16 security guards. That Hou could respond quickly to a potential safety hazard was thanks to a smart Internet of Things sensing system, an important function of the intelligent service platform.
The system can sense smoke and warn security staff.
“The sensing system warns us as soon as a fire situation is detected. Members of the neighborhood committee will be informed as well. It takes us only five minutes to arrive at the scene,” said Hou.
The system also includes door sensors.
Five children in the community opened a door to a rooftop recently. The smart door sensor detected the door had been opened and sent a warning to the monitoring room. Security guards quickly arrived at the scene and guided the children away from the risky area.
As a pilot community of the Xinqiao smart community construction project, Mingzhongyuan has been equipped with more than 400 Internet of Things sensing facilities including manhole covers, smoke sensors and door sensors.
The monitoring information can reach not only property management and security personnel, but also residents through two digital boards inside and outside the community.
The two boards, as well as giving information about the weather, community services, bus schedules and payment instructions, can also function as newspaper and magazine e-readers.
Xiang Yonghui, a Mingzhongyuan resident, will read newspapers like Jiefang Daily, Xinmin Evening News, Shanghai Morning Post and Shanghai Law Journal in front of the digital boards every day.
“I’m getting old and have problems reading words on papers. The digital screens show characters big and are user-friendly,” said Xiang.
Since 80 percent of the residents of Mingzhongyuan are tenants, members of the neighborhood community used to be asked repeatedly about where to obtain residence permits, where to find jobs and other matters. Now tenants can find the information on the two digital boards or register with the community’s WeChat which has the same information as that on the boards.
The platform is to be further upgraded to include medical services, public security, online job seeking and online house rental services, according to Xinqiao officials.
The intelligent service platform at the Mingzhongyuan residential community
