In Motion Technology, a provider of mobile networking technologies that efficiently connect and manage equipment, information and people in the field, announced Nashville Electric Service has deployed the company’s end-to-end mobile networking and fleet management solution to improve dispatches, communications and customer service.
“When we began our search for a new mobile communications technology, we set very demanding specifications,” says Vic Hatridge, Nashville’s chief information officer. “We found the onBoard Mobile Gateway to be far superior to laptop-based devices. Data cards are enclosed in steel and mounted in vehicles, so they are not easily broken, lost or stolen. In Motion Technology’s solution integrates seamlessly with our management and dispatch system to track vehicles, while providing high-bandwidth mobile communications over any wireless network. The solution is helping us improve operations and enhance customer service, and provides a platform on which we can deploy new applications.”
Nashville Electric Service, one of the largest publicly owned electric utilities in the nation, serves more than 357,000 residential and business customers across seven counties in north-central Tennessee. NES has installed In Motion’s onBoard Mobile Gateways in 146 bucket trucks and supervisory vehicles. The Gateway turns vehicles into mobile hotspots, providing wireless connectivity to laptops and other devices in and around the vehicle. In Motion says the Gateway – which can roam across wireless networks to provide the highest bandwidth and most reliable communications anywhere –is easy to install, maintain and upgrade, and requires no user intervention.
The Gateway is GPS-enabled, allowing NES dispatchers to track all vehicles on a single screen and dispatch the closet truck to an outage or service call – a capability that will reduce response times and fuel use, while improving efficiency and customer service. In Motion’s Web-based onBoard Mobility Manager scans and analyzes information from Gateway-equipped vehicles to provide NES with real-time and historical information about its operations and communications. If a vehicle leaves its designated service area or exceeds speed limits, dispatchers receive e-mail alerts.
NES also will use the onBoard Mobility Manager to map all available wireless networks in its service area and select the one with the best coverage. NES may use the management system to monitor vehicle telemetry and other information from the field in real time.
“NES had extremely rigorous and forward-looking specifications for their new mobile communications technology, and we’re pleased to have been chosen to equip their fleet,” says Tony Morris, In Motion Technology’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Many of the most demanding organizations in North America rely on In Motion to track, connect and manage their fleets and mobile operations, and we’re pleased to work with NES to improve operations, keep costs low and customer satisfaction high.”
