Magellan tackles fleet management

Magellan tackles fleet management:

One of the few chances PND manufacturers have of surviving these days to is diversify into the ever-expanding niche of opportunities that GPS continues to bring. Fleet management has long been the domain of small companies, but just like Garmin and TomTom before them, Magellan is now jumping into the game too.
The company has just announced a fleet management solution that allows for two-way communication between drivers and dispatch. They have also revealed a Magellan Fleet Management Protocol tool kit for developers and systems integrators, though that link currently redirects to another webpage.
Their news release (below) highlights the RoadMate Commercial 5190T and 5190T-LM, which this page lists as “Fleet Management Ready,” although there is no indication exactly what that means, nor does their telematics transponder show up on the website yet.

Magellan Fleet Management Solution Enables Two-Way Communications and Increases Productivity
16 August, 2012 SANTA CLARA, CA – Magellan, a leader of innovative GPS devices for vehicles, fitness, outdoor and mobile navigation, today announced a new Fleet Management Protocol tool kit to enable solution providers an interactive navigation and two-way mobile information delivery system plus value-added features for a complete fleet management solution. Magellan will display its fleet management solution at the Great American Trucking Show (Booth #12024) August 23-25 in Dallas.
The Magellan Fleet Management Protocol tool kit enables fleet management system integrators and solution providers to integrate their service with the Magellan® RoadMate® Commercial 5190T-LM and 5190T GPS navigators. The RoadMate GPS devices connect to a Telematics transponder with a specially-designed interface cable and the Magellan Fleet Management Protocol tool kit to provide seamless connectivity between professional drivers and the dispatcher or office monitoring center.
Advantages of using the Magellan Fleet Management solution include text messaging to facilitate sending and receiving messages to and from the driver and the dispatch center or monitoring office. Using the Magellan GPS navigator, drivers and their offices can easily communicate throughout the day about stops and destinations, estimated times of arrival and departure, necessary reporting, and itinerary planning, schedule and status updates.
“It is essential that fleet managers have reliable, instant and direct communications with their drivers to provide job details, make midcourse re-routing and optimize resources so they can ensure on-time deliveries,” said Stig Pedersen, Associate Vice President of Product Management for Magellan. “Integrating the Magellan Fleet Management Solution empowers professional drivers with the solution they need to be more versatile, increase route efficiencies, avoid traffic problems, and reduce fuel consumption.”
The Magellan RoadMate Commercial 5190T-LM and 5190T GPS navigators are specially designed for commercial business to increase efficiency, productivity and safety by providing drivers with a five-inch touch screen display and an extra-clear built-in speaker with an audio level up to 93dB to make it easy to hear voice directions in a noisy commercial vehicle environment. The Magellan RoadMate Commercial 5190T-LM and 5190T GPS also feature Bluetooth® hands-free calling, free Lifetime Traffic Alerts, itineraries for single or multiple stops and daily trips, the most efficient routing, and settings for navigation preferences. Over six million points-of-interest make it easy for drivers to quickly locate fuel stations, food and truck stop services. OneTouch™, a Magellan-exclusive feature, enables drivers to bookmark and assign a button to their favorite destinations or location-based searches for faster access.
Magellan understands the challenges of the fleet management business and has developed the tools that will enable its partners to provide more efficient solutions. Developers and system integrators interested in leveraging the Fleet Management features in the Magellan RoadMate Commercial 5190T-LM and 5190T GPS navigators can download the Magellan Fleet Management Protocol tool kit at www.magellangps.com/FMS.

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