Slow backwards and fast forward

In the past year, we saw a further growth in the number of active devices. At this time last year, we had approximately 900 active Telraam sensors; we are now at +1650! The growth was fuelled mainly by continued and increasing interest of local authorities to work with Telraam. We realized about 25-30 new projects during 2021 of various sizes: from 10 to 100 Telraam-devices, mostly in Flanders, but increasingly also internationally. In January, Telraam was formally incorporated as a company, with the name “Rear Window”. To accommodate growth, we expanded the Telraam Team with a new Team member, Eric.

We set out in 2021 with a mission to improve the technology and add new features. 

While some of these goals will only be realised in 2022, there are many achievements that we can already be proud of.

We have done further improvements “under the hood” to ensure stability and added new API end-points for you data geeks out there. We added numerous new features to the website, too many to list here, but we are particularly proud of the new street profile and ranking feature that we launched late summer (see visual).

Most importantly, we have been working on the sensor itself, with particular focus on sensor robustness. On the software side, we launched a substantial software upgrade in the summer (“v11”), and in the autumn our own 3D-printed Telraam camera mount, which has resolved a number of minor stability imperfections.

Our main effort though, has been done quietly, under the radar: the development of a completely new, purpose built sensor. In 2021 we made good progress with our partners Bagaar & Kapernikov, developing this new piece of hardware. We learned that hardware-development is hard and it takes time, but, things are looking good for 2022, so bear with us! 

What’s in store for 2022?

Well, first of all, we have got a few large-scale projects kicking off fairly soon. We are very proud to be supporting the deployment of 300 Telraam devices in the province of Utrecht (Netherlands). Another major project already kicked-off last year, in Liège (Belgium), where we will see further deployment of sensors in the coming year. We are also keen to see Telraam gaining traction internationally, with spin-off projects kicking off in the UK, Germany, Ireland, etc., in the wake of our - now ended - European project, WeCount.

We will further expand the Telraam team, so keep an eye on our jobs-tab on the website if you would like to join us. It is not obvious to find skilled and motivated people, so we encourage you, do apply!

The most important thing in 2022 will undoubtedly be our new Telraam sensor. We worked hard behind the scenes in the past year, but 2022 will be the year when we introduce our new sensor to the world. Without making definite promises (hardware is hard!), we expect that we will be able to launch in the summer. The prototype will be tested extensively in the next few months. A more detailed update will come in a new blog post over the next months, but we can already share a few features of this new device: 

• no more wifi for data connectivity, 
• easier installation, 
• higher accuracy,
• more non-motorised modes of transport,
• traffic counts during night time, although likely at lower accuracy. 

All this at similar cost to the current sensor and therefore accessible to a wide audience.

Sounds good, right? We are equally excited, but give us a few more months to make sure that we have got everything right, and we can offer you a product that we are 100% proud of! Definitely keep an eye on our blog, twitter-channel and website in the coming months if you want to stay up-to-date about the new sensor.

2022 is looking promising; packed full of challenges and new adventures. Join us, as our journey continues! :)