Telematics system uses Wi-Fi, not cellular

Wireless intelligent telematics system combines inexpensive, intelligent vehicle data logging monitors with an end-to-end system that securely replicates the data with a hosted database.

Ezurio is using the Wireless Fleet 2007 event in Miami, Florida to announce their major new telematics platform called WITS - the Wireless Intelligent Telematics System.

WITS is based on Ezurio's latest wireless M2M system and combines inexpensive, intelligent vehicle data logging monitors with an end-to-end system that securely replicates the data with a hosted database.

The system provides an easy to deploy platform that fleet management companies can use to build their own applications.

WITS offers a cellular-free 802.11 (Wi-Fi) transmission scheme that removes the cost of SIMs and network subscriptions.

Until the development of WITS, every telematics system has been built on proprietary hardware and middleware, generally relying on an expensive cellular link.

WITS changes this paradigm by providing a standard hardware unit that populates an SQL database with remote data.

The hardware in the vehicle is intelligent, so that installation can be performed by an unskilled user.

Cellular-free communications offer a quantum shift in vehicle monitoring.

By using 802.11, either when parked at home, at a business location, or using increasingly ubiquitous Muni-Fi networks - data transfer becomes effectively free.

Removing the cost of a mobile subscription enables a wide range of applications that have hitherto been nonviable from a cost perspective.

The greater bandwidth available to short range wireless systems also allows far more data to be retrieved - typically factors of several hundred more is economic with a cellular system, further opening up new business opportunities.

Ezurio's concentration on the underlying platform provides the data acquisition delivery that fleet management companies can use to build their own applications.

The open database structure of the WiTS platform makes it easy for fleet management businesses to integrate the data with other sources, such as geographic mapping, location services, traffic information and driver cellphone tracking.

A wide variety of data can be recorded at intervals as frequent as once per second, and the embedded memory in the hardware units can record up to 45 days of information.

The units are tamper proof and even capable of transmitting data if they are removed from the vehicle.

"Before the advent of Ezurio's WITS platform, fleet management businesses needed to devote a large part of their development resources to areas in which they were not expert", said Chris Shannon, CEO of Ezurio.

"With WITS they have a robust, secure platform that they can use to innovate".

"It allows them to concentrate on bringing new applications and business propositions to market at a fraction of the time and cost".

"We believe that the ease of deployment that the WITS platform offers will result in a step change in telematics usage".

Ezurio's end-to-end WITS platform will be available for sampling in Q2 of 2007.

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