Navman Wireless USA today announced a new satellite communications option for its OnlineAVL2 fleet tracking platform that enables continuous visibility of both heavy equipment and on-road vehicles.
Designed for construction, surface mining, mining and oil & gas exploration, and other environments with remote location work, the new system has the ability to minimize data charges by transmitting only the most critical event information via satellite.
Satellite connectivity is provided via a small modem that plugs into the serial port on Navman Wireless’ Qube on-highway and/or ruggedized Qtanium off-highway GPS tracking devices. The system automatically switches between cellular and satellite transmission with intelligent least-cost routing, utilizing the global Iridium satellite network when fleet assets move out of cellular range.
Navman Wireless says some of the added benefits of satellite connectivity is to keep in touch with employees in remote locations, receiving engine alerts to prevent costly machine repairs and downtime, and cost-saving configurability with the option to limit satellite transmissions to priority events like panic messages, rollover alerts, engine overheating, speed or geofence violations.
“If a machine or vehicle in your fleet is operating outside of cell coverage and you have critical communications that need to take place for safety or operations reasons, it can be a problem to wait until the asset gets back into cell range,” said Davis Gammage, vice president of product management, Navman Wireless. “Temporarily switching to satellite communication solves the problem and ensures 100 percent visibility of your equipment as well as your field staff.”
Navman’s OnlineAVL2 fleet tracking platform provides location, operations and performance data for both on-highway vehicles and construction heavy equipment from a single interface. The back-end OnlineAVL2 application – delivered under the software-as-a-service model – includes industry-specific reporting such as jobsite utilization reports.
