|
Previous blogs |
|
|
Your comments are welcome, and may be added to the blog. Click 'Email us' after any relevant item. |
Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of |
|
Talk to me: the need for telematics standards
From Hanging Up column issue 42 – August-September 2009 I was very proud of my first fax machine. It didn’t do photocopying, it didn’t work on plain paper (only that good old thermal stuff), and it certainly didn’t make the tea. What it did do was send and receive faxes. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Telematics suppliers can ride out the storm
From Opinion column issue 41 – June-July 2009 The failure of the former GlobalLive and losses reported at Minorplanet have sent shivers through the UK telematics sector. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
The spy in the sky, and how to harness it
From Hanging Up column issue 41 – June-July 2009 Readers with long memories will recall the fierce opposition to tachographs among truck drivers back in the 1970s and 80s. The so-called “spy in the cab” was anathema to a lot of them, and wasn’t always a popular idea with employers, either. They realised they would have to pay to install the instruments, then keep them running and monitor the records they would produce. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Downloading data to your mobile: don’t assume it’s free
From ‘Hanging Up’ column, issue 40 – April/May 2009 Heard the one about the chap who went skiing, downloaded a few TV programmes to entertain his son in the evening, and got hit with a bill for nearly £22,000 on his return? Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Spending for Britain?
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 40 – April/May 2009 In today’s economic climate, telematics and tracking systems ought to be an easy sell. If you’re a vehicle operator, the fact is that you really can save money by introducing telematics – and the savings will probably come within less than a year. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
TV while you work? Why yesterday’s luxury is tomorrow’s necessity
From ‘Hanging Up’ column, issue 39 – Feb-Mar 2009 Most new mobile technology and applications are targeted squarely at the consumer market. It’s not hard to see why: a potential market of millions of users is more attractive to technology and application developers than the much smaller business-to-business community. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Making the best of it
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 39 – Feb-Mar 2009 It’s that time of year. Spring flowers are appearing in the garden. The birds are wearing their courting plumage. Is this breath of spring in the air responsible for the more optimistic attitude about the economy that seems to be emerging? And does it have solid foundations or, like the daffodils, will it have died down by mid-summer? Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Time to work smarter
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 38 – Dec 2008 So abrupt has been the economic downturn in the past few months that few businesses are confident about forecasts for 2009. And in an uncertain world, every business is looking to cut costs. The very nature of mobilised working, however, means that some costs are bound to rise. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Embarrassment of riches, or interface overload?
From ‘Hanging Up’ column, issue 38 – Dec 2008 Have you changed your mobile phone or satnav system recently? I changed my mobile phone last month, and I’ve been stunned to discover just how much time it has taken me to familiarise myself with exactly how the replacement works. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Risky recession
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 37 – November 2008 With the UK economy now firmly in recession, there is a sense of nervousness in the business community. It’s not just a question of how healthy your own business is, but also one of how well equipped your customers and suppliers are to survive the economic downturn. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Power to the people: multiple mixing and matching in a wireless world
From ‘Hanging Up’ column, issue 37 – November 2008 I like to think of myself as techno-savvy. I appreciate the benefits that mobile communications deliver, both personally and professionally. Like many people in the past decade, I’ve gone from being wowed by how clever wireless communication is to taking much if it completely for granted. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Telematics can cut your fuel costs
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 36 – September 2008 Despite the many widely-acknowledged operational benefits offered by vehicle tracking and mobile data systems, a sceptical hardcore of vehicle operators, especially smaller businesses, remains resistant to their blandishments. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
A pocketful of tags? It could be just the tikit
From 'Hanging Up' column, issue 36 – September 2008 Are you walking around with a handful of RFID tags in your pocket? Probably not; but at least one organisation would like to think that in the near future you might. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
A licence to kill?
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 35 As a publication supporting mobile computing technologies, we always feel uneasy at legislation that threatens to curb its use. We backed the law banning the use of handheld mobile phones in the UK, and we continue to feel a sense of indignation when we see it so often flouted. But we balked the idea of curbs on all use of mobiles by drivers. We felt (and still feel) that this seems tantamount to banning drivers from talking at all. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
We are pleased to inform you that your package is not where we say it is, but tough luck because we don’t care
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 35 Picture the scenario: you have an urgent need for a widely-available but slightly specialised product. Following a short online search, you find an e-tailer selling the product at the right price, and because you need it within two days, you’re prepared to pay for next-day delivery. The price is not too extortionate, and delivery is promised before 10.30am. Reassuringly, the e-tailer offers online consignment tracking. So you go ahead and buy it. By 10.30 next day, you’ve guessed it, no sign of the delivery. You check the e-tailer’s consignment-tracking Web page. The parcel is in the carrier’s Hemel Hempstead office, it states. Well, that’s good. The pre-10.30 window may have been missed, but the depot is only 20 minutes away, so maybe the driver got held up in traffic. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
You were seen
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 34 You’re delivering in an inner-city area. There’s nowhere to park, so you stop on a yellow line: not ideal perhaps, but a perfectly legitimate ploy. You return to your vehicle and drive off. Job done. Then a few weeks later a fixed-penalty parking notice drops through your letterbox. How come? Well, because you were caught on a closed-circuit TV camera, and someone thinks you were parking illegally. Under new parking enforcement rules sanctioned by the Traffic Management Act (2004), this is going to happen increasingly. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Promises, promises
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 34 One perennial problem in the fast-changing world of technology is, well, that things do move fast. For equipment and software producers, this can lead to sleepless nights. At what point do you actually decide that you new device or application is ready for the market? Wait too long, and you could miss the boat, as potential customers accept the less-than-perfect device that is available now. Launch too early and you risk upsetting those very customers you were hoping would fall in love with the product (and hopefully the company), and with whom you could build a long-term, profitable, relationship. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
The next generation
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 33 The mobile computing market has reached one of those fascinating periods where new technology is providing inspiration for application and service developers – who in turn are inspiring user-companies with the confidence to seek further efficiencies in their mobile operations. The knock-on benefits are cascading right through the market. Early adopters have found both challenges and opportunities arising from the new technology. In particular, they have benefited from the improved functionality now being incorporated into mobile computers, and from the latest generation of remote device management systems. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
I like this, but I don’t want to keep paying for it
From ‘Hanging up‘ column, issue 33 Picture us hard-worked hacks, sitting down every month to read our way through all the hype about the latest all-singing all-dancing mobile network services now available – and wondering who’s actually buying into them. Yes, it’s great to have location-based services available at the push of a button, and yes it’s a wondrous thing that GPS is now standard in an increasing number of new mobile phones. But if it’s going to cost us every time we call up information on the basis of our location, who’s going to pay for that? Are we? Why? Do we need it that much? Read whole of above item Email us about this item 20 October 2008 Response from Willing to Spend:
Some people are simply too mean to fork out
I think you're applying a "student mentality" to all your readers. How can you advocate pay-as-you-go software and leased tracking systems and all that, and then fail to adapt the same logic to your private life? Yes, we all want to stay in control of our spending, especially with the economy the way it looks now, but what are you saying here? Do you want to pay a lump sum for your mobile phone bill, however much or little you use it? Do you want flat-rate gas bills?
Mass market appeal
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 32 One consistent theme throughout 2007 has been the trend towards convergence or integration in the telematics and mobile IT sector. The companies that are “going mobile” have added momentum to this trend themselves by insisting on having integrated solutions. Businesses want solutions to problems or cures for inefficiencies now, not in six-months’ time. Integration has also proved a useful mechanism for suppliers to invoke in order to cope with the sheer diversity of the mobile marketplace, and to reach new customers. Some sectors are easy to identify – field service, logistics, utilities and so on. But reaching potential customers who don’t easily fit into a box is a different story. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Out of sight – or out of mind?
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 32 One of the best jobs I ever had as a student was as Christmas “postie”. This was in the days when the Royal Mail regularly took on extra staff at Xmas to cope with the mountains of mail the public entrusted to it. Apart from the good pay rate, one reason it was such a good job was that once I had delivered my allocated sacks of mail, my shift was over. Even including second deliveries, that mean the day’s work could be over by mid-morning. But the fact was that I’d done all the allocated work, so was paid a full shift. I thought this “job-and-finish” culture had long disappeared, victim to the lean-business and multi-tasking ethos of modern corporations. The recent postal delivery strikes have revealed it is alive and well within Royal Mail, and a casual conversation with a van delivery driver, revealed that the postal service is not the only sector with this attitude. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Only the lonely
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 31 Can legislation help push sales of telematics systems? We’ve always said that if the bottom-line return on investment in systems that improve management of mobile workforces doesn’t persuade companies to invest in mobile data and tracking solutions, other less tangible benefit certainly won’t. Better productivity, a reduction in mileage and fuel costs, and real-time fleet visibility – these can all sell a telematics system. However, it’s much harder to sell a telematics system on the basis that it improves employees’ health and safety at work, or can offer a defence against a corporate manslaughter charge. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
I see trouble ahead …
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 31 Have you noticed that satellite navigation has become a hot news topic? Rarely a week goes by without some intrepid reporter being despatched to a remote village somewhere in the UK, where they stand by the roadside, noting how many heavy trucks are being routed that way by over-zealous satnav systems. Producers love to have them deliver their reports to the accompaniment of thundering traffic. Villages are up in arms, we are told. They are complaining about the sheer level of traffic that now descends on them – traffic they never experienced before the dawning of satnav. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Good housekeeping can cut carbon
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 30 It’s a bit early for New Year predictions, but it doesn’t take much of a clairvoyant to guess that during 2008 we’re all going to become even more obsessed with our carbon footprints. Air travel has come in for the lion’s share of criticism so far in terms of the way it’s contributing to global warming, but road transport is not far behind in the environmental bad-wolf stakes. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Do tell me about yourself … but only if it’s exceptional
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 30 I vividly remember my first taste of sleeping under canvas. It was on a school trip, and there were six or eight of us to a tent. Come lights out we were all still talking animatedly, and we kept up the conversation well into the small hours. Gradually, though, fatigue took its toll, and one by one we fell silent. Except, that is, for two of our number: the one who never, ever, seems to run out of things to say in that kind of situation, and the one who always seems ready to act as a foil, feeding the other one prompts if he ever does falter. I didn’t know which of them I was going to kill first. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Is lack of standards stunting growth?
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 29 There’s little point in having information unless you can do something with it. Few would dispute that truism – not even the purveyors of the most cheap and cheerful telematics and tracking systems. They all realise that the data their systems gather must be sifted, sorted and reported to the vehicle operator in a helpful way. Why, then, are so few of the less sophisticated suppliers willing let their products integrate with external systems (for instance, with software for planning, scheduling and job management)? It’s clear from our investigation into telematics integration for issue 29 that in far too many cases this just isn’t happening. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Please don’t protect me from myself
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 29 In a recent broadcast documentary about attitudes to child safety, a woman lamented the lost freedom of her own childhood, when she was permitted to play unattended in the street. But would she allow her own small children that same licence today? “Oh no, that would be far too dangerous.” Why? What has changed between then and now? Despite all the publicity about knife and gun crime, statistics seem to show pretty clearly that Britain’s streets are no more dangerous for children now than they have ever been. In some respects, when you take account of all the surveillance systems now in place, they are a lot safer. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Collaborating to win?
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 28 Managing a logistics operation has always been an inexact science and sometimes a thankless task. Managing your assets most effectively and delivering good customer service requires a whole raft of sometimes conflicting factors to be taken into account. Using the minimum number of vehicles to deliver the maximum amount of goods while reducing mileage and your carbon footprint is no mean feat in itself. To that mix must be added the all-important adherence to customer KPIs. Service often trumps optimum efficiency, or course, because if there are no customers, there are no profits. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
A century of change, or the twinkling of an eye?
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 28 A wonderful old picture book popped up in a house clear-out recently: Pageant of the Century. Since it was published in 1933, it was perhaps a bit premature in the aspiration of its historical sweep, but even so, it reveals that the authors felt there was an enormous cultural gap between them and the dawn of their century. They write about people in 1900 as if they were on another planet. And no wonder. Even discounting the Great War, which was still fresh in the memory and put a vast psychological barrier between those writers and their antecedents, it is clear that technology had transformed their world forever. Those 33 years had seen the emergence of the car, air flight, the telephone, sound films, tube trains, the valve radio, even television (yes it’s true – it first appeared in the UK in 1930). By 1933 they had road signs and traffic lights; in 1900 such things were unheard-of, and no one could have conceived of a reason for them. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Toll phobia – now there’s a surprise
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 28 Veteran observers of the Lorry Road User Charging saga will not have been surprised by motorists’ hostility towards the concept of mileage-based road-use charging. The Government has dismissed calls by the 1.8 million signatories to the E-petition on the Prime Minister’s Downing Street Web site to scrap its road-charging plans, saying this would be “policy by referendum”. This implies there is something undemocratic and weak in asking the electorate what they think on a topic. What is the point of the E-petition Web site if it is not to take into account the public’s views? Some policies have such a big potential impact on peoples’ lives that the need for a consensus is accepted (think of the EU constitution). Of course, the electorate must be persuaded that there is merit in the policy – and therein lies a key problem with any policy that favours road-charging. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
‘Free’ services – tempting, but are they good for us?
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 27 People who keep a watching brief on the wider transport scene – and have long memories – might recalls a salutary saga back in the early 1990s, when Darlington still had a council-run bus operation. It was relatively early in the era of deregulated passenger transport, and the emerging privatised bus groups were still jostling for territory. In a nutshell, one of the big groups registered routes over the entire Darlington Corporation network and started running its own buses free. Darlington’s drivers saw how the land lay and defected to the big group. Within weeks the council operation was forced to throw in the towel and call in the administrators. End of story, except for a postscript: a few months later bus fares floated back upwards again. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Something for nothing?
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 35 Over the past two or three years vehicle tracking systems have become increasingly affordable. Competition has been an important factor in this trend, although the advent of always-on GPRS data transmission has really been the key. The cost of collecting frequent position updates on vehicles out on the road has plummeted to a fraction of what it once was. All the same, no one expects something for nothing, so we were initially sceptical when we heard about the launch of a genuinely free vehicle tracking system called LocateA (News Update, this issue). Could it be possible? Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Who will become the IBM of tracking?
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 26 Ever since telematics became a buzzword – I guess you could say that was around the turn of the present decade – pundits have been predicting gradual consolidation in the vehicle tracking market. “You can’t have all those suppliers offering products,” they’ve said (in fact we’ve said it ourselves at m.logistics). “It’s too complicated. The market simply can’t sustain them all.” Yet if you look at the latest Telematics Guide, which was published simultaneously with issue 26, you’ll find not fewer but more tracking systems suppliers listed than ever. There are getting on for 150 names – and no one at m.logistics is saying that this is a definitive tally. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
LRUC ‘a non-starter’, but problems remain
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 25 The transport community was stunned when Department for Transport minister Stephen Ladyman recently admitted to a House of Commons standing committee that the LRUC scheme (the now-infamous lorry road-user charging plan) had been abandoned after it was concluded that it would cost several billion pounds, yet would deliver only several hundred million in revenue. To an industry sceptical about the technological viability of the proposal virtually from day one, this came as no surprise. What was surprising was the admission of the cost-benefit gap, which neither the Treasury nor the DfT has ever acknowledged before. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Map-reading – is it really a dying skill?
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 25 Is Nottingham north or south of Birmingham? Well, it’s north, isn’t it? Or north-east, to be more exact. You knew that, didn’t you? It would be reassuring to think so. But if you’re under 26, there’s a one in four chance that you didn’t know, according to some research done by the RAC. The organisation has found that young people in particular are losing traditional map-reading skills. They simply rely on satnav to get them where they’re going, and evidently aren’t curious about what direction their journey has taken them. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
The middle ground
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 24 At the heart of many great football teams there is an unsung hero: the low-profile midfield dynamo who controls the game in an efficient manner, distributing balls to more glamorous goal-scoring team-mates and keeping a watchful eye on any problems with defence. Mobile middleware provides similar service: it is the glue which holds mobile hardware and software together, quietly and seamlessly managing access to corporate systems for mobile workers, orchestrating data transfers, and keeping a virtual beady eye on any problems that develop. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Why we don’t want one eye on the meter
From ‘Hanging up’ column, issue 24 My mobile phone takes photographs. They’re not very big (a long way short of a megapixel) but that’s because it’s not a brand new model. Still, they could still be fun. Except that there’s no way I can get them out of the phone and on to my computer (or on to paper, come to that) except by emailing them to myself – and paying my mobile network operator for the privilege. Which I resent. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
Tarnished image?
From ‘Opinion’ column, issue 23 In a short space of time, the vehicle tracking business seems to have transformed itself from an elite sector with bespoke, expensive solutions into a bargain-basement market where some might suggest the words “buyer beware” should be writ large on every telematics “box”. Read whole of above item Email us about this item
|