Total Trax Inc., a provider of automated vehicle, driver,
and inventory tracking products that recently launched
a version featuring cellular technology and services supplied by Wyless. With standard wireless systems, users
must get approval to use their existing Wi-Fi network
for data transfer to a server—and it’s not uncommon
for such a request to be turned down, Sorenson says.
Furthermore, they often must install additional communications infrastructure and get their IT departments
involved in the implementation. With a cellular-based
system, he says, none of that is necessary, making installation much faster and cheaper.
Toyota Industrial Equipment also introduced a cel-
lular-based telematics product earlier this year. The
company teamed up with Sprint to offer T-Matics
Mobile, a lower-priced “plug and play” version of its
T-Matics vehicle management system. (Toyota also
offers T-Matics Command, a comprehensive, custom-
izable system that uses I.D. Systems’ asset tracking
technology.) The cellular version “fills a hole in wireless
systems,” says Jewell Brown, national manager of fleet
management for Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A.,
Inc. For one thing, it’s affordable for smaller fleets that
can’t justify the cost of fixed wireless systems, she says.
For another, because cellular devices and networks are
movable, inexpensive, and simple to install, they make
vehicle management solutions economically feasible
for rentals, short-term leases, and other equipment that
moves around among facilities.
The advent of cloud-based and other hosted systems
has made it possible for fleet managers to collect and
compare data from multiple sites using a single portal.
