wireless primer - sys-con.com's archive of magazines - SYS-CON ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

W-TRANSPORTATION MVPc IN-VEHICLE COMPUTER • Truckload Carriers can use the MVPc's in-vehicle computing power to automate Circle of Service updates, improve ETA reporting and customer service, and meet industry regulations in time-efficient ways. • Private Fleets can lower operating costs with the addition of third-party MVPc applications that comply with regulatory requirements, such as driver hours of service. GPS allows private fleets to automate load status updates that improve internal customer service and monitor state line crossings for accurate IFTA fuel-tax reports. • Third-Party Logistic (3PL) Providers can differentiate their dedicated cartage services by adding custom or third-party applications that promote productivity. Adopting the MVPc as the industry standard in-vehicle platform will allow 3PLs to expand the information service they offer shippers. • Less-than-Truckload (LTL) Carriers can use the MVPc to differentiate their fleet and the services they provide for each customer. It can collect and integrate data at pick-up and delivery points to shorten the accounts-receivable cycle. In-vehicle processing power also provides the flexibility to effectively manage a mobile workforce. overnight couriers, were built on top of private voice networks. This has evolved in the last decade to a proliferation of dedicated wireless data networks using the public, unlicensed radio spectrum. Those networks, namely Mobitex, ARDIS, and CDPD, are packet-switched – the mobile computer does not have to dial in, but is always connected to the network. The data rate of these networks varies from 9,000 to 19,000 bits/s – enough to communicate a day’s schedule or a set of directions in about one-fifth of a second. Coverage has been steadily increasing to greater than 95% of urban U.S. population areas. Unfortunately terrestrial communications simply don’t work very well outside of major urban areas. Points west of the Mississippi are particularly troublesome. Truckload companies that crisscross the nation have solved this problem through hybrid wireless networks that blend satellite- and terrestrial-based communications to achieve maximum coverage. Aether’s MobileMAX2 dual-mode system operates at 300 bits/s when using a satellite and at higher speeds over terrestrial networks. While satellite coverage is universal, it’s unfortunately limited to a line-ofsight between the vehicle and the orbiting satellite. Thus it won’t work in urban “canyons” or from beneath loading docks with roofs. These sophisticated hybrid communication systems provide drivers with mobile data terminals that offer a number of ancillary features as well, including a display, keyboard, GPS locationcapture, and usually a J1708 engine-management interface to read maintenance information. While initially proprietary, many of these new devices are being built on systems such as Microsoft’s WinCE. Manufacturers such as Symbol Technologies are building highly portable systems that drivers can take with them once they reach a customer to perform such tasks as signature capture and point-of-sale. While most large carriers have wirelessly enabled their vehicles, this accounts for only about 30% of the market. Price has been a signifi- cant barrier as hybrid systems still cost between $1,500 and $3,000 per truck, a substantial investment for a motor carrier. Smaller fleets with fewer than 100 trucks – companies most in need of achieving operational efficiencies – have put off taking the plunge, primarily waiting for prices to drop. Wide-scale adoption should start to take off as regional-focused systems such as @Road and SiGEM come to market with devices priced under $1,000. More Capable, Lower-Cost Devices Coming The consumer market opportunity for wireless communication – some 530-million handsets worldwide according to The Strategis Group – is a huge market when compared to the roughly 2.6-million Class 8 heavy trucks in the U.S. Prices will drop as consumer marketplace innovations are made available to the transportation industry. New consumer data services based around email and chat, for instance, will drive improvements in user-interface technology, specifically the ability to enter text. Handsets are changing too, as voice telephony converges with digital data to provide new appliances that offer always-on text messaging, email, and document exchange. New data networks – 2.5G and 3G – that support high-speed packet switching, are being built to support these new requirements. Along with these new networks, next-generation devices feature improved ergonomics and display capabilities – all features that will be embraced by the transportation market. The E911 mandate that requires all carriers to locate the position of a handset will find ready applications in asset tracking and dispatching scenarios. Real-Time Information to Drivers A wireless data channel enables efficient communication of information on demand. Maptuit’s FleetNav services (www.maptuit.com), for example, allow drivers to request and receive door-to-door driving directions from where they are (as captured by a GPS system) to where they need to go, from anywhere in North America. Using the service, drivers are also able to query for information about the location of the nearest conveniences along the way. In doing so, carriers are able to reduce the number of out-of-route miles their trucks travel. The advent of reliable and inexpensive wireless data access is also beginning to be used to provide drivers with location-aware real-time traffic and weather information, enabling them to request new routes to avoid problem areas. Knowing the location of a vehicle enables fleet managers to better deploy their mobile workforces. Local delivery and service companies are OMNITRAC’S MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM using services from vendors such as eDispatch (www.edispatch.com) to dynamically deploy their workforce as customer orders change. The courier market also uses wireless communications to dispatch their drivers. Companies such as Datatrac (www.dtrac.com) use commodity phones running on top of the NexTel network to facilitate driver communications. 54 www.WBT2.com S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1
“Wireless data systems... can track a load during its entire journey, allowing a company to know if a truck is trapped in heavy traffic, or delayed by bad weather or a vehicle breakdown” Jobs that involve uncertainty and customer communication especially benefit from wireless Internet access. Service companies frequently have to deal with situations where parts are not available, service calls take longer than expected, and customers are added or cancelled as the day progresses. Moving to a centralized scheduling system can provide such companies with as much as a 20% productivity improvement by enabling service personnel to update information and receive schedule changes over a wireless channel. Likewise, communication-intensive tasks, such as taxi dispatch, also benefit from using lower-cost, less distracting wireless data communications. Taxi fleets in Singapore, for instance, use wireless devices from SiGEM that can be operated one-handed and quickly viewed while driving in city traffic. Automated Data Communication Wireless data communication devices don’t necessarily require operator input. Vehicle tracking systems, for instance, can be installed on each trailer in a fleet and configured to broadcast their location at predetermined times, or when specific situations occur, completely without human intervention. Wireless data systems from vendors such as QUALCOMM (www.qualcomm.com/qwbs), can track a load during its entire journey, allowing a company to know if a truck is trapped in heavy traffic, or delayed by bad weather or a vehicle breakdown. When a dispatcher knows a load is delayed, he or she can alert delivery points to the schedule change, thus improving customer service. The Web can play an important role in making this type of information “visible” to all stakeholders in a shipment. These so-called trackand-trace services, popularized by industry leaders such as FedEx, have increased customer expectations, leading many carriers to provide these services through their own Web sites. Courier and expedited freight companies use Datatrac’s dispatch software and the centralized etrac.net hub to communicate information about deliveries to their customers as well as to get orders from customers to their drivers. Lower Cost of Adoption New services such as those offered by Datatrac, Maptuit, and eDispatch are available at ever more affordable rates by virtue of their deployment using the ASP model. As centrally hosted sites communicate with customers across the country and around the world over the S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Internet, they offer an economy of scale that can’t be matched by traditional CD-ROM distributed software. These savings are passed on to customers, resulting in services that are frequently sold by subscription rather than expensive software licenses. As centrally hosted services, transportation companies do not need to invest as much in IT support, further reducing costs. The Ever-Evolving Market Wireless data connectivity provides many new opportunities for the transportation market. Internet-based collaboration services, such as freight matching, enable carriers to do their jobs more efficiently. Wireless data communications can lower telecommunications costs while improving the accuracy and efficiency of driver/fleet manager interaction. Today’s WAP devices enable even one-man owner-operators to share these benefits while on the road. Tomorrow’s innovations from the consumer market – devices that incorporate location-capture, high-speed wireless data, and more effective operator interfaces – will accelerate adoption. Increasingly, these devices will be used to access centrally hosted ASP services, offered on a pay-as-you-go basis, to provide even small carriers with leading-edge services. As the wireless industry wrestles with how to accelerate the adoption of new consumer wireless services, the transportation industry is worth a second look to see how a focus on a customer’s needs has led to rapid market adoption. AETHER'S MOBILEMAX2 Aether's MobileMAX2 is an onboard information system that delivers information to the driver regardless of his or her location. The system eliminates the driver's need to check in by phone and assists timely delivery, accurate reporting, and resource optimization. MobileMAX2 allows companies to track their mobile investments, increase revenues, and communicate with drivers. www.WBT2.com 55 W-TRANSPORTATION
Page 1 and 2:
May 7-9, 2002 Santa Clara, CA WBT s
Page 3 and 4: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 PointBase
Page 5 and 6: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 iAnywhere
Page 7 and 8: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Compaq ww
Page 9 and 10: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Apriva ww
Page 11 and 12: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Softwired
Page 13 and 14: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Sprint PC
Page 15 and 16: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Softwired
Page 17 and 18: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Horizon U
Page 19 and 20: David Geer, a journalist and comput
Page 21 and 22: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Beam Semi
Page 23 and 24: it can be necessary to have a secur
Page 25 and 26: WirelessEdge will provide the depth
Page 27 and 28: y Kevin Wittmer S E P T E M B E R 2
Page 29 and 30: 2. Coverage Area 2 Part of the init
Page 31 and 32: Announcing... The Largest Web Servi
Page 33 and 34: MESSAGING TOOL/ COMPANY WEB LINK PL
Page 35 and 36: 5. Enterprise Integration 5 The lev
Page 37 and 38: Missed an issue? We’ve got ’em
Page 39 and 40: • Improving operational efficienc
Page 41 and 42: engagement for the customer. And ef
Page 43 and 44: S E P T E M B E R What’s Online w
Page 45 and 46: technical director of Cellnet, the
Page 47 and 48: Exchange, delivers smart solutions
Page 49 and 50: companies in the wireless space hav
Page 51 and 52: “What drew me to JAMDAT was the c
Page 53: While the media is rife with articl
Page 57 and 58: anything a microcomputer can do. Co
Page 59 and 60: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 1 Wireless
Page 61 and 62: aspirations without compromising th
Page 63 and 64: status would give our agents a dist
Page 65 and 66: WBT ADVERTISERINDEX ADVERTISER URL
Page 67 and 68: ogy, 802.11, and the march toward G
Page 69 and 70: lobby, the hotel beams a message to
Page 71 and 72: 2 Accessing the Gopher King portal
Page 73 and 74: technologies create virtual bandwid
Page 75 and 76: SHOP ONLINE AT JDJSTORE.COM FOR BES
show all

wireless primer - sys-con.com's archive of magazines - SYS-CON ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?