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Mar. 7, 2012—Primex Wireless, a company focused on facility-monitoring solutions, including those that help hospitals comply with regulations, has released an emergency-light monitoring system as part of its Synchronous Network System (SNS) platform. The system employs Wi-Fisensors, as well as a solution for transmitting the status of a cardiopulmonary emergency (Code Blue), to a back-end system, in order to track how long a Code Blue situation lasts. The firm also offers a Wi-Fi-based temperature-monitoring solution for coolers and warmers. The new systems are currently being utilized by hundreds of hospitals, the company reports.

Primex Wireless, which has been in business for nearly four decades, offers facility-management solutions for the health-care industry, with 13,000 customers, hundreds of which are now using its wireless solutions to help them track data regarding their equipment and how it operates, as well as Code Blue details, according to Mike O’Brien, Primex Wireless’ director of product research and marketing. By using technology to automate data collection, he explains, hospitals are better able to meet regulatory requirements, while also improving staff efficiency since equipment would not need to be monitored manually.

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The latest addition to the SNS platform enables a hospital to use its existing Wi-Fi network to collect information about the operational status of the emergency lights installed within its facilities. Without an automated solution such as this one—known as SNS Emergency Light Monitoring—a hospital’s facility-management staff must regularly check batteries and bulbs on emergency lights throughout its building or campus, to ensure that they are operating effectively and not nearing the end of their lifecycle, as is required by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) regulations.

Primex Wireless supplies emergency lights and illuminated exit signs with built-in Wi-Fi transmitters and sensors to measure the current reaching the lamps. Because the testing of all emergency lights within a large hospital can require a great deal of Wi-Fi bandwidth, facility managers can schedule monthly or annual emergency light testing procedures, to begin automatically at specified times when the Wi-Fi network may be less in use, such as during the middle of the night. Each emergency light’s Wi-Fi tag transmits data to the hospital’s Wi-Fi nodes regarding the health of its battery and bulbs. That information is then forwarded back to the SNS software, which determines whether there are any problems, and notifies the maintenance staff accordingly. The technology, O’Brien says, can also be retrofitted into existing lighting, depending on a fixture’s age and style.

Enel, Europe’s most heavily indebted utility, has announced plans to slash its dividend payouts and investments over the next five years in an effort to reduce its debt and maintain its credit rating.

Shares in the group, which also owns Spain’s Endesa, fell sharply on the announcement taking their losses so far this year to more than 30 per cent. The stock closed 6.8 per cent lower at €2.83 a share, compared with a shallow rise in Milan’s blue-chip index.

Also weighing on its share price are expectations that Standard & Poor’s could downgrade Enel’s credit rating from A minus to triple B plus to bring it in line with its rating cut in January on the Italian sovereign.

Addressing the share price fall, Fulvio Conti, chief executive, indicated the 2012-16 business plan that sets lower expected growth targets amid a gloomy outlook for Italy and Spain was necessary to clear the air.

“With all the flows of bad news out, including the potential downgrade of the ratings agency, we now have a solid platform to show our resilience and growth prospects,” Mr Conti told the Financial Times.

Those prospects included Enel moves to expand its renewables business and its plans to increase its exposure to emerging markets in Latin America and eastern Europe to offset slowing demand and rising competition in its core markets Italy and Spain.

The group said it expected core earnings in 2012 to fall by about €1bn, to about €16.5bn, weaker than analysts’ estimates.

It will pay at least 40 per cent of ordinary net profit in dividends, down from 60 per cent at present.

Enel will also begin to implement cost-cutting measures intended to raise about €5.9bn of additional cash flow in 2015 compared with 2008.

Mr Conti hoped rating agencies would take into account the plans but he did not rule out an S&P downgrade of the group to triple B plus with a stable outlook. However, he said Enel would be able to stomach additional funding costs, which he estimated would be equivalent to increasing the cost of its credit lines by about 10 to 20 basis points.

The executive, who was last year reconfirmed in his role for another three years, said he had also decided to cut the dividend payout as the poor performance of the share price over the past year made it clear that investors were as concerned about the group tackling its debt load.

He also ruled out the Italian Treasury, which owns 30 per cent of Enel, seeking to lower its stake.

Enel is forecasting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €16.5bn in 2012, €17bn in 2014 and €19bn in 2016. It sees net debt at €43bn in 2012, €39bn in 2014 and €30bn in 2016.

Mediobanca analysts said they expected the business plan announcements to be a “turning point” for the shares as management take a “more conservative stance”.