White Paper: Telematics And Beyond: Maximizing The Value Of An All-In-One In-Cab Solution

Telematics can give transportation and logistics (T&L) providers a competitive edge by increasing efficiency and reducing costs — which is especially critical in the face of volatile diesel fuel prices that threaten profitability. However, until now, telematics solutions have only been available as proprietary ‘point-style' applications, presenting control, manageability and flexibility issues. To address these concerns, Motorola brings new value and versatility to telematics applications with the introduction of the VC6096, an open and expandable mobile computing platform that supports telematics, voice and data communications, GPS, fleet management applications and more, in a single, all-in-one in-cab device. This white paper explores the architecture of this new open standards-based solution and the many benefits it can provide.

The business issue: obtaining maximum value from telematics investments
The introduction of telematics has had a profound impact on the transportation and logistics industry, enabling providers to: automate the collection and creation of required documentation for compliance with government regulations; control fuel and maintenance costs; and gain visibility into the driving habits of individual drivers.

However, until today, obtaining telematics information required the deployment of a proprietary point solution, usually consisting of pre-bundled hardware and software. Transportation and logistics companies have little ability to control, customize or build on any aspect of these closed systems — from functionality and new feature development to how data is processed and where data is stored. In addition, typical ‘closed' point solutions offer limited expandability, restricting future growth and hampering the ability to utilize this investment to achieve incremental operational efficiencies — critical in the face of today's rising fuel, insurance and labor costs. And the inability to directly and remotely manage the hardware out in the field can contribute to increased yet unnecessary driver and vehicle downtime.