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Telematics – an intelligent future, like it or not
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Newsletter 41
Orange's bid for mobile apps market
Orange has launched a drive to win mobile job management business from users who might otherwise have bought from mobile applications specialists. Its Mobile Fleet product offers some of the basics of their more sophisticated offerings, but in a relatively commoditised form in which payment is made under a fixed tariff. There are various configuration options within the service – mostly provided by Orange’s Mobile Forms product. This allows users to create and customise up to 100 forms for mobile devices on a PC, using standard drag and drop functionality. No integration with existing systems is required, though standard text-based output makes it possible for those who want it. Advanced mobile phones with PDA-life features substitute for actual PDAs or other mobile devices. You need a Windows Mobile-based phone. Orange suggests that applications could include sending detailed job specifications and updates to field workers, and capturing proof of delivery or collection and other information. 
The service is available on 18- and 24-month contracts at prices starting from £17 a month, or for a one-off annual charge starting at £300. Within the standard price you get an inclusive 4MB of data traffic, which Orange says should be enough to send and receive about 1,000 Mobile Forms. You also get access to the 240 traffic news service provided by the RAC and Trafficmaster, which includes traffic updates every three minutes.
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