July/Aug 2005

Britain's Automobile Association has been upgrading the Tele Atlas digital map data it uses for the in-vehicle navigation systems in its patrol vehicles. All 3,000 of them are being supplied with a new navigation CD containing the company's latest digitised mapping.

The mapping is used in a wider system called C3N (Command, Control, Communications and Navigation), which was launched some years ago, and is said to have given the AA the best response time of any emergency breakdown recovery operator in its market. Tele Atlas data has been used since 2001.

The AA has a long history of developing its own digital map data, and also has a long-standing involvement with Navteq. Only last year the organisation launched its own consumer-oriented navigation product, AA Navigator, which runs on standard PDAs and uses Navteq digital map data.

However, it says Tele Atlas data has proved itself in the intensive world of despatch, command and control operations. According to the appropriately-named Robin Commander, the AA's communications support manager: 'Not only does Tele Atlas navigation data reduce response times, it also provides valuable assistance when drivers are towing vehicles to third-party repair centres.'