User-friendly Navigation Systems with BuzzStreets

With reliance on navigation systems ever growing, there is a demand to make these systems more streamlined and user-friendly. BuzzStreets is a B2B navigation and location-based services solution which can have a significant impact on the future development of Smart cities.

In this interview, João Fernandes the Founder and CEO of BuzzStreets talks to AZoBuild about BuzzStreet’s navigation system which is changing how we interact with our developing surroundings

Could you tell us about BuzzStreets, and the service you provide.

Imagine having GPS inside venues. Navigating sites, shopping malls, hospitals, airports and other huge venues. If you were to be asked have you ever got lost in one of these places, you would definitely say yes. If you were to be asked have you ever got lost while trying to find your car in the parking lot, you'd probably say yes. It happens to everyone.

What inspired this development?

I had a traumatic experience with a family member. She was in the hospital and I was in the shopping mall trying to find my car. When I got to the hospital, it was too late.

What does BuzzStreets offer public buildings such as airports and hospitals?

It helps passengers, clients and visitors to shopping malls get places faster. It gets you right from wherever you are to the venue. After that, we help you navigate inside. In an airport you can go directly to your gate for your flight without any kind of stress. So you have an app that helps you to navigate. If you want to get to a particular store, it can guide you and direct you to the store.

Companies buy the app, such as store owners, airport owners and stadium owners. We help them to help their clients navigate inside these venues, and we collect all the information about the clients. The flows, the hotspots, the direction they travel and the time they spend in places. That way they will know where the clients go first, how much time they spend in the venues, etc.

Another thing that is also very important, besides less stress when navigating huge venues is the data we collect in shopping malls and airports, you have a new kind of revenue coming from the app. If you're waiting for your flight, and you see a notification from a store inside the airport giving you a discount and you have an hour to spend, you are probably much more susceptible to that type of advertising, that's the way you monetize the app.

How could BuzzStreets help in the development of smart cities?

BuzzStreets can help a lot. For example, imagine the city of London, it’s an advanced city, one of the most important cities in the world. So if you are trying to implement some kind of smart city, the challenges you may have are light management, waste management, traffic management, etc. So with regards to mobility, traffic management, both public transportation and private transportation, we can help.

As it's one app that deals with all the issues to do with mobility in the city. So if you're in Euston Station and you want to get to Canary Wharf or Westminster to meet Mr. Smith in Trafalgar Square at a specific time, we can help you with that and direct you there.

Our app is about mobility in smart cities. If there is a technology for waste management, and you need to follow and track all the lorries that collect the waste, you probably will work with BuzzStreets because we can pinpoint all the points in the city to collect waste.

How do you expect this venture to develop over the coming years and what impact will it have on the development of these smart cities?

You will have big developments over the next few years. For example, two years ago I went from London to Glasgow via airplane. I went to Heathrow Airport without dealing with one person. I arrived in Glasgow and I just scanned my ticket. The future is now. For the next two to four years, you will have a total increase in technology. Machines will be working in places such as train stations, on airplanes; even in stores.

What sets BuzzStreets apart from other location navigation systems?

It combines several technologies. You don't need any maps or GPS systems. You have everything in one app.

You can travel from Heathrow to Canary Wharf, without having to check any maps because you have BuzzStreets.

Where can people find out more information about BuzzStreets?

There is more information available on www.BuzzStreets.com. We have also made contracts with a hospital, an airport and a huge shopping mall. Sooner or later you will pass through these places, and you'll see the app working.