July/Aug 2005

Telematics specialist trakm8 is the latest in its field to launch an all-in product that attempts to cover all possible transport telemetry requirements in a single system. It says the new range should accelerate a process of convergence that is already under way in the industry.

Examples of the kind of thing it handles are navigation, road tolling, congestion charging, pay-as-you-go insurance, stolen vehicle tracking and 'panic button' emergency alerts. It even sees users finding and booking hotels and similar services through the system. It says these diverse functions currently tend to require separate pieces of equipment.

There are two different version of the system - Solo, a portable model that can be transferred between vehicles, and takes its power from the cigar lighter socket; and T4, a more extensive hardware 'black box' platform.

The T4 version is described as an all-in-one vehicle telematics solution suitable for both large- and small-scale installation. It includes GPS antenna, GSM/GPRS modem, RFID reader and CANbus interface. Voice, data calls, SMS and GPRS communication are available together, and numerous input and output interfaces are provided.

 

One possible application, Britain's proposed lorry road-user charging scheme, is now no longer on the immediate horizon, but trakm8 is clearly confident that the many other uses of the system will still give it an edge over less rounded products.