Combining satellite, mobile and Internet technologies, Navman Wireless is going off-road and bringing its successful over-the-road vehicle-tracking system to the construction equipment industry.
Inspired by the company’s Qube OTR monitoring unit, the construction-grade Qtanium 300 GPS tracking device and software system provides real-time on- and off-road vehicle location, operations and performance data to a fleet’s management systems from anywhere in the country.
“The value in the Qtanium system is the contractor’s ability to monitor his entire fleet—on-highway and off-road vehicles—with one telematic tracking system,” says vice president Mike Baker. “All of his vehicles’ information is available in one program on the same screen. Managers don’t have to go between separate programs to see where all of their vehicles are located.”
Live data from each vehicle’s Qtanium 300 unit feeds into Navman Wireless’s OnlineAVL2 interface, a centralized software-as-service application that merges the information into construction-specific interactive, real-time desktop maps, summaries and reports. Paired with Navman’s exclusive M-Nav 750 navigation and text-messaging system, managers and dispatchers have instant message sending and receiving capabilities with every driver and vehicle in his fleet.
The rugged 8.5x7x2.5-inch unit installs anywhere on a machine. Quad band GPRS engineering ensures GPS coverage regardless of terrain. The IP67-rated waterproof enclosure withstands temperatures of -22 F to 167 F and is shock tested to 30G. A five-month backup battery helps locate a vehicle even if the unit’s wires are cut. The Qtanium 300 supports 100 poly-geometrical geofences, and a motion sensor transmits alerts when any machine movement is indicated. Up to 1,600 machine events that draw an electric signal can be monitored with additional sensors.
Navman Wireless’s OnlineAVL2 THIN client (“cloud” software) construction program resides within the company’s secure hosted service center, not on the end-user’s computer. Program updates are delivered immediately and seamlessly, eliminating the need for equipment managers to manually download or store applications. All user data is secure and proprietary. OnlineAVL2 subscribers can track equipment by assigning each Qtanium 300 or Qube-equipped vehicle an asset-defined icon, in classifications such as equipment type, location, jobsite, use or operator. Up to 10,000 real-time vehicle locations can be displayed on interactive maps. Drilldown summaries of to-the-minute data such as in-use hours, stop times, idle times, and performance metrics for each machine can be downloaded into popular software applications. Plugging Navman Wireless’s M-Nav750 unit into the Qtanium 300’s serial port allows managers to send text messages and integrated navigation functions.
Most users will recoup their investment within six months, according to Navman Wireless.
