Otis Elevator Company has launched its new mobile application that can be used by their eService customers. The app will allow Otis eService customers to gain instant access to open service calls, elevator performance data, and service call logging from a smartphone.

The app was designed for busy building owners and managers and is an extension of Otis’ popular eService platform. The eService platform is an online performance based repository which allows Otis customers to place service requests, view maintenance data, receive real time updates on open service calls, and more. The app will allow Otis customers the ability to use most of these services on their smartphones or tablets.

The app will make placing service requests and checking elevator data a breeze. People are busier than ever and the app will save building owners and managers valuable time. Now it will be possible to place a service request while walking up the stairs or check performance data while you are riding the elevator.

The app is available to Apple and Android users and comes at no extra cost for eService customers.

So we recently posted a blog about a new elevator museum in Long Island. How about a museum inside of an elevator? Located in Manhattan, this museum could possibly one of the most unique places you can visit in New York.

What is New York’s newest museum called? It is simply titled, The Museum. What is in the museum? Not artwork, not fashion, not sports memorabilia, not even old dinosaur bones. The Museum holds bits and pieces of everyday life from around the world. Here are some of the items on display right now;

• Some broken glass from New York City
• A plastic glove from Paradise Valley, Montana
• A hot water coil heater from Kaunus, Lithuania
• The shoe thrown at George W. Bush at the Minister’s Palace in Baghdad
• Driver’s license, cell phone, and comb salvaged from the pacific Ocean

The motto for The Museum is, “A smart man’s garbage is a foolish man’s fortune & vice versa. So who is behind the museum located inside an old freight elevator? Benny and Josh Safdie, along with Alex Kalman, are the founders of The Museum and the indie outlet Red Bucket Films. The Museum is also sponsored by Andy, Bea, and Kate Spade, adding some star power to the unique attraction.

When visiting The Museum, you can call an 800 number to access a free audio guide that will explain each piece. You can enter each object on display’s number and hear a description on the history of it. The Museum opened last week and around 50 people came to check it out. Since The Museum is located inside a freight elevator, only three guests can enter at a time.

Retired elevator executive Patrick Carrajat is in the beginning stages of opening up an elevator museum in Long Island. The museum is meant to show people the importance of preserving elevator history and their impact on the world.

The elevator museum is located on the second floor of the Taxi Building at 21-03 44th Avenue. Carrajat has already brought in around 4,000 elevator-centric items for the public to view. Some of the things you can find at the elevator museum are;

• Antique meters
• Antique gauges
• A collection of elevator postal history
• Elevator buttons
• Elevator manuals
• Escalators
• Antique vertical railway cars
• Antique capacity plates

The museum is currently taking donations of any elevator memorabilia. Some recent donations include a signed photo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in a Titanic-era elevator, a free standing Otis “G” car switch, an elevator operator license from 1931, an original wood step tread from the Otis “L” escalator from Macy’s in New York, and an Otis vertical railway car. As of right now the museum is free to the public but visiting hours are by appointment only.

On the museum’s website you can donate elevator memorabilia of your own or even join the Elevator Historical Society. If you are an elevator enthusiasts yourself, the elevator museum in Long Island is a must-see.

Visitors of the new One World Trade Center Building will take an elevator ride that will bring them up to the 102nd floor, where the observation deck is located. They will learn about the history of the building while waiting in line for the elevator downstairs. Visitors will also watch a video on the 102nd floor before the magnificent panoramic view is revealed.

Visiting One World Trade Center will be an experience unlike any other once the observation deck is finished in 2015. Officials have been developing the attraction and it will be one of the most significant destinations in the world. The company in charge of creating the experience is Legends Hospitality LLC. Legends is a partnership of the Checketts Partners, the New York Yankees, and the Dallas Cowboys. The company operates concessions at sports stadiums and other venues around the country. Officials from the company, including Hal Steinbrenner and Jerry Jones Jr., recently announced an $875 million lease agreement with the building.

The eagle’s nest view through the tower’s sloping windows encompasses all of Manhattan and its surrounding waters. Brooklyn and New Jersey are also visible from the 102nd floor that is expected to be the “Yankee Stadium of observation decks”. The most amazing sight will be the World Trade Center memorial, where twin reflecting pools evoke the lost towers. To get to the observation deck, visitors will travel 1,250 feet in about one minute in a state of the art elevator. Once they reach the 102nd floor, guests will watch a video called “See Forever” before a curtain is raised to reveal the view. Before all this happens, guests will take an escalator to the basement for a presentation on the construction of the building while they wait in line for the elevator.

The tour is estimated to take about an hour-plus to complete and no price has been released yet. There will also be restaurants and snack bars on the 101st floor, a gift shop on the 100th floor, and more videos on the elevator ride back down. The building is set to be completed in early 2014, with the observation deck opening shortly after in 2015.

Elevator technology is on the rise, literally. Time is money, and people want to get where they are going FASTER. No one wants to call for cab, get stuck at a traffic light, and to wait for an elevator. New technology is making waiting for an elevator and unnecessary stops things of the past.

The technology is called Personal Occupant Requirement Terminal, or PORT. As cities grow and more people need to use elevator systems, this technology is making elevators more efficient and smarter. PORT uses a kiosk with a touchscreen in the lobby that replaces traditional elevator call buttons.

The PORT system and its algorithm learns the traffic of the building and tracks passenger behaviors, such as when they take lunch, what floor they love or work on, or when they take coffee breaks. Each person has a personalized card that helps the system track these behaviors to direct you to the elevator that will get you to where you are going the fastest. This new elevator technology groups people going to the same floor to create less wait time, less travel time, and more efficient rides. The national director of sales and marketing for the company that created PORT stated:

“So it begins to learn where the elevator stops, when it stops, what floor it stops at, how often it stops, so we could begin to predict where people want to be and where they want to go throughout the day.”

Studies have shown that 60 percent of the world population will live in urban areas in 40 years, as more people move to the cities. PORT technology can help make elevators more efficient even with the higher traffic. PORT technology could shorten the time passengers spend waiting for and riding elevators by 30 percent.

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