Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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TECHNOLOGY: CLOUD COMPUTING cannot afford interruptions in their reporting of safety, compliance and perfor- mance information. "A lot of things can happen when you go to smartphones," Ellis says. "Reliability and uptime are very important." PeopleNet does not plan on releasing an Android version of its onboard computing and mobile communications system. Brian McLaughlin, the company's president, says consumer platforms do not meet the high levels of reli- ability and support required for industrial applications like trucking. "We want to provide commercial-grade devices," McLaughlin says. "We want to own the end- to-end accountability." PeopleNet is in the process of integrating its software with rugged com- mercial handheld devices such as those from Inter- mec. For now, the company is focusing on a different market for smart devices: fleet managers who can use them to receive informa- tion and alerts with more immediacy and detail than through regular e-mail or a Web browser. PeopleNet has released EventAlerter, a new safety and maintenance manage- ment app for the iPad that provides fleet managers with critical event alerts via their smart devices within seconds based on data from multiple sources; apps for the iPhone and Android will follow soon. EventAlerter is available with a queue that includes a maintenance app that features fault code and tire pressure alerts, as well as a vehicle location and messaging app that allows executives to check up on key concerns with drivers. Zonar Systems plans to release an industrial- strength Zpad Android tablet that will be part of its 2020 onboard computing platform for commercial and private fleets. The platform will capture informa- tion from the vehicle's ECM and include fully compliant elec- tronic logs. The Zpad tablet will have built-in radio frequency identification technology for Zonar's vehicle inspection system that works by affixing coin-size RFID tags at lo- cations on the ve- hicle. As the driver conducts a walkaround inspection, he scans each tag to confirm he was at the location and notes any defects in need of repair. The Zpad was designed dent of sales and marketing. "We want the device to be the driver's friend." Managing devices In the past, carriers tradi- tionally would purchase mobile computers from the same vendor that sup- plied software and wireless communications. Today, fleets looking to expand the mobility of their enter- prise are more likely to select hardware, applications and networks from multiple entities. Adding more devices and applications makes mobile ZONAR IS UPGRADING ITS VEHICLE INSPECTION SYSTEM THAT WORKS BY AFFIXING COIN-SIZE RFID TAGS AT LOCATIONS ON THE VEHICLE. device manage- ment technology critical. Without it, the security and control of a fleet's information is at risk, and an ad- ditional burden is placed on IT resources. QDI has to secure its infor- to provide value to drivers beyond the work routine through features such as Wi- Fi and 16 GB memory. "We chose to develop on an open platform so it is portable," says Chris Oliver, vice presi- 66 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2012 mation without restricting the use of devices that are not company property. With QDI's cloud environment, applications are accessed through a Web browser rather than a client app on a device. QDI is able to manage the security of its applications independently of devices by using Google Apps Mobile Management for functions such as erasing or "wiping" company data from devices, Dixon says. Symantec, a company known for its anti-virus software, also has a large pres- ence in the MDM arena. Its Mobile Application Manager product is designed to help companies oversee their cloud applications and can be used to enforce user policies and control access to applica- tions and documents such as native Word and Excel files, says Brian Duckering, senior manager of Symantec's enter- prise mobility group. Intermec, a manufacturer of rugged mobile computers, provides iLauncher device management software and also owns a company called Enterprise Mobile that is a re- seller and systems integrator of MDM software products for all types of devices and operating systems. It also can host the software for clients and provide help-desk sup- port for a monthly fee. Soti Inc. – a developer of technology for managing remote mobile and desktop computing devices – says it has more than 80,000 customers worldwide in logistics, retail, manufactur- ing, healthcare and govern- ment using its products to support devices running Windows desktop and handheld operating systems. Cloud computing is on. While many carriers may not be ready for Android and Apple devices to be used for their in-cab envi- ronments, the technology can extend the radius of every mobile worker.