Videos

Access Management Through Telematics

May 1, 2024

Bobcat's Garrett Maurer explains how telematics enables fleet owners to limit and monitor access to their equipment.

Rod Sutton: Is access management a system that is integrated into a manufacturer's telematics platform, or can third-party suppliers retrofit it?

Garrett Maurer: We see both. Every OEM has a telematics solution. With Bobcat, we have Machine IQ and access management functions within it.

No. 1, you have to have the telematics devices installed on your equipment, and No. 2, you have to confirm with your servicing dealer that that machine is in fact yours. Then we open up our connectivity platform to that individual.

When we look at access management as a whole, the concept is, we want the right person on the right piece of equipment doing the right job at the right time in the right place.

On the job site, what Machine IQ can provide are other features that help ensure [that]. So, it's location.

Then we have a number of other value-adds that we provide through a feature called geo-fencing. You can draw a border on a map and you can assign a machine to operate within or outside of that border.

We have two other features. One is motion detection. If the machine is moving it will notify the [owner]. We also monitor if the machine is on, if it's operating. We call that "curfew." If we see a machine is operating [at a time outside of the curfew], we will notify the owner....

Sutton: Is there a way to set it up so the machine doesn't start unless the right person is in the cab?

Maurer: Absolutely. We're launching a feature called "remote engine disable." I can disable the machine. It will notify in the cab, "this machine is not supposed to be operating," and then will give a couple of minutes. Then it will de-rate it. Once engine has been shut off, it can not be turned on until we re-enable the engine.

Rod Sutton

Sutton has served as the editorial lead of Construction Equipment magazine and ConstructionEquipment.com since 2001.

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You can find Sutton on LinkedIn.