Sept/Oct 2005

The latest navigation systems give mobile workers route directions at the press of a button. Sharon Clancy looks at the growing market for integrated navigation

Stand-alone navigation systems may be grabbing all the headlines in the consumer market, but it is PDA-based navigation applications, and increasingly phone-based equivalents, that are attracting interest in the field service sector.

Time spent search for a call location is unproductive time. The developers of PDA-based job despatch applications such as DA Systems, NetDespatch and Talecom quickly recognised that, and were among the earliest to integrate navigation with next-call data. Now field service specialists such as Aspective are also integrating navigation their applications.

'Traditionally IT tools for managing work and resources in the field have been separated into those that aid navigation and those which track and manage field resources,' says Keith Best, new business manager for Aspective. 'Having different suppliers for tracking and navigation products can bring integration problems. Our aim is to be a single source for tracking workers and providing them with navigation information. '

Aspective is integrating TomTom Navigator into its Viryanet service management suite. The back office can have a complete picture of the workforce in a single view. Actual movements can be recorded (for lone worker monitoring, for example) within the workforce management application; there is no need to import the data from another application.

TomTom has an application programming interface which interacts with the Viryanet Service Hub application. Service Hub converts job addresses into latitude and longitude coordinates and sends them to the mobile device. When the technician clicks on 'En-route' on a particular job, the address coordinates are passed to the TomTom application, which calculates the route from the current location. Employee Finder checks the actual location of a worker as opposed to assumed location.

Service Hub has a useful map-based despatch feature which not only gives the back office a geographical overview of employee location and available resources, but also allows staff to despatch mobile workers to a job by means of a drag-and-drop action.

One benefit of an integrated system is that workers can navigate to the next site without entering the destination - the navigation application simply picks it up from the job details received by the mobile worker.

Digital mapping and routing and scheduling specialist MapMechanics has also identified the need for integrated navigation. MapMechanics Mobile bridges the gap between office-based routing and job despatch systems on one hand and in-vehicle navigation on the other, and can work with various on-board navigation systems, including TomTom and AA Navigator. Navteq mapping data is used.

Location details for each call point are delivered to the mobile device. When one job is finished, the worker presses 'Next' to get the next route instruction.

MapMechanics Mobile captures data from the mobile device in real time, providing live information about current status. Job schedules can be revised if necessary and new instructions delivered to the mobile worker. The data can also be used, says MapMechanics, to plan future schedules more realistically.

Because it captures live position data, the MapMechanics system can also display actual vehicle and driver visibility on the back office system.

'We've learned from operator feedback that one of the main obstacles to effective use of personal navigation systems is simply the time needed for field workers to type in details of each call and changes during the day,' says managing director Mary Short. 'MapMechanics Mobile automates that download process, helping reduce delays and improve efficiency.'

MapMechanics Mobile is modular, so can be refined or customised if required. It can, for example, be integrated into Microanalytics' TruckStops routing and scheduling system, which MapMechanics distributes in the UK. This can be used for field service job scheduling as well as logistics planning.

The mapping technology is delivered by the GeoConcept Internet server, which used GPRS communications to deliver data to mobile devices. Operators can also poll vehicles at any chosen interval.

LetsComIT is another contender in the integrated navigation market. Like Aspective, it uses the TomTom navigation tool to deliver navigation instructions to mobile workers. The LetsComIT application automatically recognises the engineer's current location, matches it to the postcode for the next call and calculates the quickest route. When the engineer receives the call, he presses 'Drive' on his PDA to get the route details.

LetsComIT claims that a unique feature of its system is the ability to send a text message to a customer when an engineer is at a pre-defined distance from the appointment. The message can even contain an estimated arrival time, derived from the navigation package's travelling-time-to destination data. The information can be sent to the customer's mobile phone at pre-set intervals, says every 15 minutes.

One of the first customers is Smith Electrical UK, which has a team of 20 engineers. LetsComIT has added a link that enables mileage details and arrival times to be calculated and the data sent back to the despatch office. If the engineer changes route for whatever reason, the new route is sent back to base, along with and change in expected arrival time, so that the customer can be contacted.

Navigation specialist ALK Technologies is now developing integrated applications for its Co-Pilot navigation application. Co-Pilot Live is a suite of programs that includes tracking and two-way messaging. The integrated application has been piloted by Drive Assist, and is now rolled out to its 400-strong driver fleet, and is also being used by engineers working for RAC inspection services.

On the field service side, ALK has teamed up with TBS, which is integrating Co-Pilot into its Taskmaster scheduling software.

This kind of integration, incidentally, tends to be reasonably platform-independent when it comes to the satnav system. You don't have to have a specific in-vehicle unit; many of these systems are built round free-standing PDA-based systems.

Indeed, in the past, one of the problems of delivering truck-friendly navigation systems to truck drivers was that in-cab computers might not always have the operating system required to run the relevant graphics applications. However, with increasing numbers ruggedised handhelds using Windows operating systems, that technical barrier is becoming less significant.

PDAs, of course, are widely used in the courier sector for delivering job information to drivers, and some of those job-despatch applications are now being more widely in mainstream transport and logistics operations. And that has signalled the opportunity for navigation to be integrated into the package.

Masternaut's Toursolver routing and scheduling application, for example, can deliver navigation data to the in-cab computer via the company's M-navigation application.

Map&guide's fleet navigator can be used with third-party software as well as by Map&guide products. The back office sends information to a ruggedised mobile device with Windows operating system or a PDA. The map and route instructions are displayed.

Thales' PDA-based Messaging System takes its GPS position from the Thales telematics unit on the vehicle. The next delivery or collection point is forwarded to the unit via Thales' Driver Destination software. This also allows office staff to see the distance to the next drop and the approximate arrival time.

Adding navigation to routing and scheduling is the next logical step in cutting wasted mileage and maximising drivers' available working time.

Indeed, the trend towards personal mobile navigation (as opposed to fixed in-vehicle systems) seems to be gathering momentum. Recently one of the longest-established stalwarts of the in-vehicle approach, Siemens VDO, launched its own stand-alone system.

Siemens' MS 2000 device is portable and can be operated either via the touch screen or via a cordless remote control which can be fitted to the steering wheel. The 3.5 inch screen has a non-reflecting surface and is back-lit so that the maps can be read easily at all times. The pocket-sized device has a practical swan neck with suction foot. All devices have full digital map material for Western Europe. The map data can be transferred to a PC via a USB port or SD card for configuration. You can even use the SD card to store music files or digital photographs.

One problem faced by most suppliers of stand-alone systems, whether phone-based or 'on-board', is the need for GPS location technology to provide an accurate fix on the location of the vehicle or individual. GPS is now remarkably cheap, and you can slot a GPS module into a PDA or link it by Bluetooth wireless connection.

However, a more seamless approach is to have the GPS capability embedded in the device itself. This is already happening to some extent in the latest mobile phones, and the trend looks set to become much more widespread next year. Orem Nissim, chief executive of Telmap, has no doubts at all that this development could unlock significant new demand for off-board navigation based on mobiles. 'It will be one of the major drivers in the future,' he says.

Most of the features of satnav systems that appeal on the domestic market are equally relevant to the commercial vehicle sector. However, logistics users still miss out in one key respect. Trucks and buses are usually subject to height and weight restrictions, which add a layer of complexity to the navigation process; and perhaps because of this, navigation systems providers seem reluctant to provide turn-by-turn instructions specifically for large vehicles.

For own-account fleets, some routing and scheduling software allows them to send navigation instructions to drivers via their in-cab computers. But so far, there's a shortage of navigational aids that drivers of large vehicles can use themselves if the get lost or are diverted.

Admittedly, there are specific low bridge warning systems, including Bridgeclear and a new system called Lowbridges (see Products, page 27). These can be linked to existing stand-alone satnav systems such as TomTom. However, so far not many navigation systems themselves appear to be catering for this requirements. Demand is smaller than in the consumer market, of course, but if anything, the need is greater.

Off-board navigation

Although a lot of recent consumer hype has been about stand-alone satellite navigation, there is also a growing market for off-board navigation, or 'satnav on demand'. Off-board might seem a confusing term in this context, and it's perhaps worth pointing out that it refers to the way the routes are calculated and delivered, not where the device is physically located.

In a nutshell, on-board navigation, whether it's literally on board a vehicle or in a self-contained PDA, holds the mapping and routing software 'on board' (i.e. in its own memory). Off-board navigation relies on a mapping and routing server somewhere else in the world, which receives your instructions, works out the route remotely and delivers it to your mobile device wirelessly, along with the relevant maps. Your device will almost certainly be a mobile phone of some kind, with appropriate connectivity and processing capability.

The growth of GPRS and Java-enabled phones is helping drive this development, as is the network operators' search for new revenue streams from their customers.

Telcontar, for instance, has just launched Wisepilot in the UK in conjunction with Elite Mobile. Wisepilot uses Telcontar's Drill-Down Server technology to deliver maps, driving directions and other navigation data to any Java-enabled telephone. And Telmap, another of the leaders in this corner of the market, claims to be the first company to offer a system that works on all current mainstream mobile phone operating system platforms and technologies - Java, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and now Symbian. (More in Products & Services, page 29).

One benefit of this off-board approach is that mapping information is always bang up-to-date; another is that there is no navigation application on the mobile device itself, using up possibly limited memory.

Pay-per-use becomes viable with this approach, although a subscription system is an alternative. Certainly pay-per-use satnav has attractions for field staff who only occasionally need navigation aids. If you use TARA Mobile SatNav, for instance, the company charges £1.50 to your mobile phone bill for each destination, regardless of how many updates to routes or journey recalculations are done on the way.

The initials, by the way, stand for Traffic Avoidance & Routing Application. TARA can run on any device with GPS. All the route calculation and traffic avoidance is done remotely, and downloaded to the mobile device over the air waves. The software is a free download and includes turn-by-turn navigation, maps that automatically zoom in and out as a junction approaches, voice commands spoken by TARA, and hands-free use while you're driving.

As mobile phones and PDAs converge, and mobiles gain more and more internal memory and processing power, the competition between on-board and off-board systems will undoubtedly become even more lively. Currently, most of the stand-alone satnav systems in the market are of the on-board type, and there's no reason why a powerful PDA-like mobile phone shouldn't work the same way; but it's not clear yet whether this will in fact become more common.

In some respects the difference in approach is more cultural than practical: a mobile phone is likely to be supplied or supported by a phone network, whose culture is built round the revenue resulting from air-time charges. A PDA, on the other hand, is more often sold separately, even if it has mobile phone capability, so the suppliers have less of an interest in what you pay for air time.

However, as the dividing line between the two types of device blurs, the two approaches to navigation are more likely to be put to the test on their own merits, and it is by no means clear yet which (if either) will prove the more enduring.