Qualcomm truck gps driver#
Truck location and customer location can be plotted on a metro map, so dispatchers can make sure the driver is where he is supposed to be. Automatic location checks can be programmed, say for every 10 minutes. The system can let dispatchers know that a message was received, where the truck was when it was received, whether the ignition was on or off, and whether the message has actually been read. A choice of priorities includes such options as "sleepy," which will wake up the unit during the night to receive the message, then shut itself off or "emergency," which overrides the volume control on the in-cab unit to make sure the driver knows there's a message. Dispatchers can send messages to a single truck, a preprogrammed group of trucks, or the entire fleet. Messages can be sent free-form, much like e-mail, or companies can set up as many as 63 outgoing and 63 incoming custom "macros," or electronic forms, such as assignments, fuel reports, breakdown alerts, delivery reports and so on.
Qualcomm truck gps software#
The main advantage of OmniExpress over current methods is the data that can be exchanged between home office and trucks, and integrated into a company's existing software for dispatch, invoicing, fuel management, etc. Another example might be a mobile computer repair service, where a technician misunderstands an address over the phone and ends up across town at the wrong place. Qualcomm offers the example of a retail merchant who has sold a new appliance, the delivery truck is late, and the dispatcher can't find the crew because they stopped for lunch. It's aimed at private, LTL and mixed fleets who are probably using pagers and mobile phones to communicate in a metro area - and not always effectively or cost-efficiently. OmniExpress does not offer the near-universal coverage that OmniTracs does - but it's cheaper, at only about $1,500 per vehicle. To keep costs down, the system can be programmed with only the phone numbers of that day's customers, plus standard numbers such as dispatch. And unlike OmniTracs, OmniExpress offers an optional mobile phone handset. Messages are sent and received via Sprint PCS. Where Qualcomm's OmniTracs unit uses satellite technology to send and receive messages as well as positioning, OmniExpress uses the GPS only for positioning. But instead of the large white dome found on many truckload rigs these days, the new system has a small, conical black antenna that combines a cellular antenna and a small GPS receiver. OmniExpress uses the familiar Qualcomm in-cab keyboard and display unit. After serving the long-haul truckload industry with satellite tracking and communications for over a decade, Qualcomm is rolling out a lower-cost system for fleets serving metropolitan areas.