More on Fleet Management & Handheld PDAs

My PSO (professional services team) is rolling out a fleet management solution next week that will involve up to 1,200 vans using Win CE mobile applications from MobileDataforce. These vans will pick up and deliver rail crews to different locations at the yard, hotels, airports, etc. The handheld PDA solution has the following requirements:

• Integration with a international dispatch system
• Integration with a GPRS and Satellite
• GPS and mapping
• Dome magnetically connected to the van roof and plugged into the handheld computer for dispatch synchronization
• ID of driver, van, rail crew
• Elapsed time from pick-up to delivery
• Driver Status
• Van Maintenance status
• Odometer and fuel status

This is a fun and challenging solution since it involves synchronizing over both GPRS and Satellite depending on the availability of the GPRS networks.

This solution uses our PointSync software, and Psion Teklogix handheld computers mounted on the dashboard, and a Satellite/GPRS dome from Wireless Matrix.

The architecture involves a database driven dispatch system in Canada, that communicates via GPRS or a satellite uplink with the van based handheld computers in the USA using a Win CE mobile software solution for fleet management from MobileDataforce.