Navman Wireless teams with Apple's iPhone to launch vehicle tracking application
By Rob McKay | August 12, 2010
Apple’s relentless march into people’s lives through slinky hardware may be about to break out of the personal and enter the cab.
Navman Wireless claimed yesterday to have become the first and only automatic vehicle location provider to introduce an iPhone application for its OnlineAVL2 vehicle location software application.
The hook is that that it will be free – if you have an iPhone.
Available through the iTunes App Store at no cost, the Navman Wireless iPhone Application provides customers with up-to-date information about their fleet from their iPhones.
Customers who download the application on their iPhones will be able to perform a number of key fleet management activities on the devices. These include:
• Checking the real-time location of single vehicles or an entire fleet;
• Sending and receiving messages to and from vehicles;
• Routing vehicles to destination;
• Replaying recent movements of vehicles.
“The launch of the Navman Wireless iPhone Application marks an important milestone in making rich vehicle tracking applications available on a smartphone platform,” Navman Wireless Chief Technical Officer Paresh Nagda says.
“It’s the first of a new generation of applications on Navman Wireless’s product roadmap.
“These applications will give managers-on-the-move the information they need to make decisions about resources and the tools they need to communicate with people in the field right from their fingertips, wherever they happen to be.”
Navman Asia Pacific Wireless Vice President Ian Daniel claims the application was developed in response to Australian customer demand.
“The iPhone is extremely popular in Australia with business owners and managers and this application is aimed at making their lives easier,” he says.
“For owner operators in the service industry, it means they will be able to take calls from customers, answer queries about arrival times accurately and then message field staff and route vehicles no matter where they are.”
Daniel says the application will also appeal to operations managers in the industry where businesses work around the clock.
“Being able to access real time information about your fleet anywhere anytime is really important for accountability and peace of mind, and gives you better information for decision-making,” he says.