Use of i-mode cellular phones for facility management system

For Japanese railroad companies, the management of facilities in the fields of signal, communication and track maintenance is important. We have developed and are now using a facility management system that has the functions of ledger management and automatic drawing. Although we have proposed to use portable terminals for this system as a means to collect inspection data, they are not used as expected due to the difficulties of operation and carrying. Therefore, we paid attention to i-mode cellular phones and studied the possibility to use them in place of the existing portable terminals for the facility management system. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of i-mode cellular phone, proposes to use it as an effective means for data collection, and reports about a trial development.