56k modem - to data in the cloud

A 56k dial up modem and data stored on 18 DVDs. That was the technology that Navman Wireless used fifteen years ago to bring OnlineAVL to the market. It was Navman Wireless’ first GPS software solution, and it proved to be something of a game changer.

Veteran Navman Wireless staffer Chris Chapman remembers that Online AVL was quite revolutionary at the time.

“Being able to see where people were in real time on a computer screen was a pretty cutting edge concept in 2001,” says Chris. “Customers would say, ‘You mean we can tell where our people are?’

“You have to remember that this was long before Google Maps came on the scene. Mapping data for OnlineAVL came from a specialist map company, and was such an enormous data set it had to be loaded onto a computer using 18 DVDs.”

Navman Wireless customers would log on to the system, using the original OnlineAVL client to get the mapping information, to see where all their fleet vehicles were.

The original version of OnlineAVL gave customers some key things:

• Ability to see all fleet vehicles
• See a list of where the vehicles had been
• Send and receive messages to the vehicles
• Produce reports, for example, on where the vehicles were driven that day
• Create up to 20 geofences to mark important sites

Today, DIRECTOR – the newest version of the GPS software platform which started life as OnlineAVL – retains the core features, but now provides a whole lot more.

• The software is available directly in the browser, making it faster and easier to access
• The system uses satellite mapping and includes aerial photographs and street view, making navigating far more accurate
• Improved functionality and scalability means it can be used for small fleets right up to vast fleets (2 to 5000)
• Create 600 Active Sites (previously known as geofences)

Chris reflects on the changes the software platform has seen.

“It’s incredible when you look back on what the software could do when we first launched it, compared to what it does now. With data stored in the cloud and access directly through a browser, vast amounts of information is available instantly, not to mention the analytics now available to interpret the information. Businesses can make genuinely data-driven decisions to improve their performance.”