German start-up Smartcustos and Deutsche Telekom are helping small local churches control bell ringing remotely with a smart IoT box.

This should make life easier for pastors and sacristans and offers potential for the further digitalisation of churches. Data are transmitted via Deutsche Telekom’s mobile network, which is available worldwide.

In Germany, many local churches have been merged. To make life easier for pastors and sacristans, Smartcustos has developed a smart bell control system especially for small churches. Via the IoT box, the bell ringing can be automatically activated and stopped from a PC or smartphone using any calendar app. The device is equipped with a cellular modem and external sensors for temperature and humidity. Installations, cables or special software for the box are not necessary.

Instead of driving to the church to start the bell control manually, the pastor or sacristan can now do this from home with a digital calendar entry. It also makes it easier to programme new ringing sequences.

A further advantage is that the sensors measure temperature and humidity in the nave and on the organ. The data are automatically transferred to the cloud via mobile communications and enable more precise heating and ventilation of the church. This saves heating costs and is important for works of art or the sensitive organ.

“Thanks to the close cooperation with Telekom, we have been able to further develop and improve our solutions for churches,” said Kai Kerwel, managing director of Smartcustos Unternehmergesellschaft. “Their expertise and innovative power have helped to take our technology to a new level. It’s a partnership that allows us to help churches move into the future with advanced technology.”

Dennis Nikles, CEO of Deutsche Telekom IoT, added: “This example shows once again how versatile the internet of things can be to overcome small and large challenges. Many IoT applications can be transferred to other use cases and easily scaled with imagination and commitment, and without much effort.”