The dictionary defines telemetry as highly automated communications process by which measurements are made and other data collected at remote, inaccessible or dangerous places and transmitted to receiving equipment for display, monitoring, and recording. The original telemetry systems were termed "supervisory" because they were used to monitor electric power distribution. Telemetry solutions were first implemented in Chicago in 1912, in which telephone lines were used for data transmission on the operation of a number of electric-power stations to a central monitoring command center.
With advancements in technology, telemetry has spread its wings to other fields, each making improvements and modifications to suit the desired purpose. Originally, the data was relayed over wires, but modern telemetry more commonly uses radio transmission and GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) technology for information transmission. One of the limitations of the earlier telemetry systems was the restriction of the subject to the confines of telephone lines. Wireless networking without the encumbrance and restriction of wires connecting the transmitter and receiver has catapulted the potential applications of telemetry solutions.
The list of applications of telemetry is practically endless. Implementing telemetry solutions enables automatic monitoring of large, complex systems such as satellites, chemical plants, oilrigs, and electric power plants, thus eliminating the need for a person to read monitor each location manually. Other areas where telemetry solutions are put into practice include gathering meteorological data, remote meter reading, logistics management, tracking endangered land and marine species, and monitoring manned and unmanned space flights.
Biomedical telemetry or biotelemetry is another telemetry application, which provides a means for transmitting physiological or biological information from one site to another for data collection. Technically, it refers to systems, which require no mechanical connection. Biotelemetry studies in the last three decades have permitted many areas of physiological and behavioral monitoring in diverse conditions. Since the 1970s, telemetry solutions have been utilized for real time physiological monitoring state of patients, who are at risk of abnormal heart activity. These patients are outfitted with specialized telemetry devices, which wirelessly transmit alert messages or distress signals via the standard SMS (short messaging system) protocol to the central database, immediately summoning health care professionals, if the patient suffers from a critical condition.
Science has really come a long way in many areas with the use of telemetry equipment. Even many of the small towns use telemetry to read the electric meter from the truck as it drives by your house. It has become more cost effective to use telemetry in reading the electric meter as opposed to having a person walk from house to house recording the readings in a hand held device.
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