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TELEMATICSMercedes-Benz PioneersTelematicsTechnologyREAL BENEFITS AND EASE OF USEDRIVE MERCEDES-BENZ SAFETYAND CONVENIENCE FEATURESbyRobert DiamondRobert Diamond is editor-in-chief ofWireless Business & Technology as well asSYS-CON Media’s ColdFusion Developer’s Journal.Named one of the “Top thirty magazine industryexecutives of the year under the age of 30”in Folio magazine’s November 2000 issue,Robert holds a BS in information managementand technology from the School of InformationStudies at Syracuse University.@robert@sys-con.comTelematics – the marriage of cellular wirelesstechnology and Global Positioning System (GPS)satellite location – gave birth to a plethora of newservices that provide automobile drivers with addedsafety, security, and convenience. Mercedes-Benzwas an early proponent, and as it continues to takea leading role, the company faces the many challengesof trying to keep pace with rapidly changingtechnologies.Mercedes-Benz was the first automobilemanufacturer to offer an integratedtelematics system – called Tele Aid –in all its vehicles sold in the UnitedStates. For 2003, Tele Aid is standardin eight Mercedes-Benz model lines and optionalin the C-Class.Tele Aid can summon emergency response helpautomatically if a collision deploys any airbag inthe vehicle. The system transmits the precise locationof the vehicle (through GPS tracking) as wellas the model of car and its color, which helps EMSand police identify the vehicle quickly. The customercan also summon emergency help by pushinga button marked “S.O.S.” A crash-secure transmitteruses its own dedicated cellular connectionand does not require the customer to have a cellularphone.Other Tele Aid features include theft-tracking,remote electronic diagnostics, emergency doorunlock, and alarm notification via home telephoneor personal cellphone. Non-emergency featuresinclude the ability to summon Mercedes RoadsideAssistance and to contact the Customer AssistanceCenter with general questions. With the subscriptionconcierge services, a customer can make travel,lodging, and dining arrangements and even geta tee time at over 300 U.S. golf courses.Mercedes-Benz has always emphasized thesafety benefits of Tele Aid first, and the conveniencefeatures second. In the process, the companyhas collected scores of customer testimonialsdescribing how Tele Aid helped in an emergency,including life-or-death situations.Despite the success of Tele Aid, it is probablyfair to say that the euphoria surrounding telematicshas subsided somewhat in the North Americancar market. The benefits of the “Internet onwheels” concept may have been overstated by thegeneral and automotive media – and even by somecar companies. However, it’s clear that Mercedes-Benz USA is focused on useful technology that’suser-friendly as well.Ongoing ChallengesMercedes-Benz is in the automobile business,not the consumer electronics business. Fundamentaldifferences between the two result in some formidable– but not insurmountable – challenges to thegrowth of telematics. In a Mercedes-Benz, the tightintegration of cellular, GPS, and other onboardtechnologies provides benefits that enhance safetyand the ownership experience. When a customerplaces a call using the hands-free phone, for example,the audio system is muted, and a CD will bepaused, resuming normal operation when the callis complete. With control buttons on the steeringwheel, customers never need to take their handsoff the wheel or eyes off the road.Such integration, however, does create challengeswhen choosing a technology platform. Thebiggest challenge – at least in the U.S. market – istrying to accommodate advances in cellular technologywithin a vehicle’s development cycle. Whilethe industry average for a car’s life cycle is about sixyears, the average life cycle of a cellular phone iscloser to six months.Once an auto manufacturer chooses a wirelessplatform, making changes mid-cycle is difficultand expensive enough to consider avoiding untilthe next model changeover. That can be a distinctdisadvantage when a competitor then launches anew model that happens to include next-generationwireless technology.Another challenge is inconsistency in the U.S.cellular network – different providers using a rangeof sometimes incompatible technologies. InEurope, the continent-wide GSM system (in itselfan advantage) allows a phone user to simplyremove a SIM card from one phone and insert it inanother. However, in the U.S., everything is tied toan airtime contract. The Mercedes-Benz cellularphone program has evolved from analog to twodifferent forms of the digital system (TDMA andCDMA), and will transition to an “American” GSMsystem in the next year or two.However, car companies cannot keep askingcustomers to change technology platforms. Theyneed to be able to offer them the ability to upgradecellular technology – and the systems associatedwith it – with “plug-and-play” ease. One ofMercedes-Benz USA’s long-term goals is a universalconnectivity interface that can accommodatemost available cellphones. This universal interfaceis possible in the next few years, and it will go along way toward overcoming challenges posed bythe U.S. cellular network.The auto industry must also address the issuefrom driver distraction. While offering new and usefulservices to the customer, the industry must bemindful of how much attention their use requiresof the driver. Mercedes-Benz began offering handsfreecellular telephones in its cars in 1991. Todaythe Mercedes driver can use voice control for thephone and audio systems. Continuous improvementsin voice-control technology will also impactadvancements in telematics services.The new Tele Trek feature for 2003 provides aglimpse of the future to Tele Aid customers. WithTele Trek, Dallas-based ATX Technologies, Inc., providesMercedes drivers with voice-response, voicedelivered,location-specific traffic reports on themost frequently traveled interstates and major highwaysin 65 major markets. On a home or office computer,the customer accesses a personalized Tele AidWeb account to identify commonly traveled routes.When the customer drives outside an identifiedroute, Tele Trek provides traffic information within afive-mile radius of the vehicle’s location. Subscriberscan also request route assistance to guide themaround the traffic congestion. The feature, whichcosts $75 per year, is currently available on certain2001, 2002, and 2003 Mercedes models, and will beavailable on all models later this year.In general, Mercedes-Benz believes the automobiledashboard should provide the driver withonly the essential information, just when it isneeded, and secondary information should be easilyavailable on demand. They introduced theCOMAND (Cockpit Management and Data) systemwith the current-generation S-Class line formodel-year 2000, and it is now available in mostMercedes models. COMAND integrates operationof the navigation, phone, and audio systems. Thedriver can access many of the functions via buttonson the steering wheel, navigating througheasy-to-read menus on a small display screenwithin the speedometer and in direct line-of-sight.Dealing with ObsolescenceEvery carmaker must deal with how rapidlywireless and navigation technology is advancing. Ifa navigation system does not give customers accuratedirections, they may blame the system. Thereal culprit, of course, is likely to be the map databasethat all navigation systems must carryonboard. When these systems first appeared, someused proprietary data storage technology, but theindustry soon recognized the need to use a standard– the CD-ROM.The drawback with CD-ROM is storage space –it takes nine discs to provide map data for the contiguousUnited States; that’s why the industry istransitioning to DVD. But when technologies areintegrated for the benefit of the customer, changesin the technology platform generally must waituntil the next generation of the vehicle, or at leastuntil a major mid-cycle freshening. The concept of“plug and play” and universal connectivity willhelp eliminate this obstacle.Don’t, however, confuse platform with format.Whether CD or DVD, you still need a disc and adevice to read it. Whether it’s on one disc or nine,map data still becomes outdated. Some customerswho bought the first navigation systems havenever upgraded their original map CDs, and companiescertainly cannot expect them to buyupgrades every year or two. That’s a tough lessonthe computer software industry is learning today.The new-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Classthat debuted last summer will soon offer a DVDbasednavigation system that will be retrofittable tothe new-generation models sold since then. Todayit’s DVD, but someday, this type of continuallyupdated information is likely to be downloaded tothe car via a broadband wireless system.Going forward, Mercedes-Benz is preparing fora growing telematics role. At the same time, thecompany acknowledges that further advances inthe technology must serve the customers’ needs.Customers do not want to pay for something theywon’t use. They demand and deserve real benefitsand ease of use.Tele Aid SOS button forcontacting emergency servicesTele Aid non-emergencybuttons for contactingMercedes-Benz servicesMercedes-Benz was first to offerWeb-based car info servicesMotorola V60 phone,in-car phonebook displayTELEMATICS16 www.WBT2.com O C T O B E R 2 0 0 2O C T O B E R 2 0 0 2www.WBT2.com17