SAT-NAV MANUFACTURERS GET SERIOUS
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There’s a clear link between satellite navigation systems and vehicle tracking but, until recently, the best-known sat-nav manufacturers were doing little to attract commercial fleets. Now, perhaps feeling the squeeze from smartphones and Google Maps in the retail market, they are producing hardware and software that is more relevant to CV operators.
The hardware is clearly based on consumer sat-nav devices, but with add-on modules to give the functionality of a mainstream telematics system. And as Greville Coe of Isotrak points out: “Those guys have really got economies of scale in terms of boxes.” Navman Wireless is the business-orientated arm of Navman, and calls itself “a world leader in the vehicle tracking industry” – with more than 110,000 vehicles tracked worldwide, and more than 6,000 UK customers. The firm’s marketing emphasises software and management solutions rather than the hardware; its tracking system is called Online AVL2. Navman publishes an API (Application Programming Interface) to make data transfer to and from its devices straightforward. It has partnerships with scheduling firms Paragon and MapMechanics, among others, and its Fleet Controller software lets an operator track fleet performance against the planned schedule.
Navman’s offering also includes a CANbus interface to analyse vehicle performance and