The Westcotec Mobile Phone Detection System is a dual unit system, comprising of a separate detector unit sited in advance of the sign.
Using a directional antenna, the detector picks up radio waves emitted from a phone handset, and measures the signal strength and length of activation. Short, low strength detections are ignored, as are high strength, very short duration signals. These parameters reduce spurious activations caused by background data transfer on an inactive phone, such as logging into the network, or receiving an email.
When a signal is detected of a duration and signal strength sufficient to activate the system, the detector triggers the sign via a paired link Radio Transceiver. A user definable hold on time can be set within the detector unit, as road speed and distance to the sign will need to be taken into account for how long the sign face is activated.
The detector is also able to distinguish Bluetooth connections which, when discovered, will inhibit the trigger activation. This is intended to reduce activations from people using their phone legally, whilst connected via Bluetooth to their car. This function can be toggled on/off by the user, via the menu function on the detector display.
A simple counter is fitted to the detector unit, which logs each sign activation.
