GPS navigation, a blessing for parents
Deccan Chronicle
Thursday August 06, 2009
The long wait for school buses in the morning is a major headache for parents who have a tight schedule. Often, parents end up waiting for hours at bus stops for the bus to arrive so that they can drop or pick-up their kids safely. Thankfully, this wait will finally be over. Some city schools have come up with an ingenious solution to the problem. They are using a unique GPS navigation system that sends parents an SMS 10 minutes before the bus reaches the assigned stop.
School managements claim that this is an attempt to save time for the parents and improve the safety of the kids. “Around 40 per cent of our students commute by school transport,” says Ravi Kumar, director of Sanghamitra School. “We are using the GPS navigation software which has a hardware device in the bus. It sends out SMSes to all the parents who need to pick their children from that particular area.” In case of a delay, parents too can make use of the system to send SMSes and find out where their kids are.
Explaining how the system works, Savitha Gundu of Chekhra, a GPS service provider, says, “each bus is fitted with a hardware that functions like a mobile phone. Every bus stop has a radius and as soon as the vehicle enters the radius, parents get an SMS alert to inform them that the vehicle will arrive in a few minutes.”
There is also an emergency button in the hardware. The driver can press it if there is a breakdown or an accident and the management will get to know of it immediately and can take the necessary action.
Managements are also employing this GPS navigation software to keep a vigil on the speed limit and route taken by the bus. “If the bus doesn’t reach on time, we can question the drivers,” says Shaam Bhagath, director of the Niraj Public School. “We can also keep a tab on the speed at which the vehicle is travelling. Earlier we had complaints from parents on the delay caused by traffic jams. They had to wait at the bus stops for hours. But now, they can get a user ID and password and can track the bus sitting in their offices too. If they wish to, they can also get a monthly report of the school bus trips.”
The trend has caught on and school managements now plan to install the system in the buses used by the staff too. “This kind of communication helps the transport in-charge know about breakdowns, traffic snarls et al,” says Seema Kumar, administration director of the Sreenidhi International School says, “Since drivers can’t change routes according to their whims now, we also hope to reduce the fuel consumption,” adds Ravi Kumar.
Date 06/08/2009
Chekhra Fleet Management Solutions is a monitoring device for vehicles. It has been launched by Chekhra, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based EC Manager Inc. Savitha Gundu, Chekhra’s business manager, says vehicle tracking plays a vital role globally in the logistic business. The device works on the GPS/GSM tracking system, widely used in mobile phones, and is pre-configured with a mobile number of the owner. A similar device is also fixed in the vehicle. The owner can call the device and talk to the driver as he does on his mobile phone.
The device, fixed in the vehicle’s dashboard, is fitted with a sim card of any service provider. The card is activated to transmit GPS data to the person sitting in front of a computer. The device gives the latitude and longitude co-ordinates to the card, which then sends the data to an IP address, which is the computer. This data is correlated on the digital map and the location is displayed on the computer screen. The frequency of knowing the location will range from 3 seconds to 24 hours.
The speed at which the vehicle travels or has travelled can be checked out. The system provides details of the distance travelled on a particular day. The location can also be viewed through a mobile phone, if it is GPS-enabled.
The cost of the hardware device would vary according to the features on offer. The price of one unit varies from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 12,000. The software interface would be Rs. 500 a month on a rental basis. The rental covers the cost of storing the continuous data coming from the client’s vehicle and maintenance and technical support.
Date 19/07/2009
Chekhra Fleet Management Solutions
Chekhra Fleet Management Solutions is a monitoring device for vehicles. It has been launched by Chekhra, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based EC Manager Inc. Savitha Gundu, Chekhra’s business manager, says vehicle tracking plays a vital role globally in the logistic business. The device works on the GPS/GSM tracking system, widely used in mobile phones, and is pre-configured with a mobile number of the owner. A similar device is also fixed in the vehicle. The owner can call the device and talk to the driver as he does on his mobile phone.
The device, fixed in the vehicle’s dashboard, is fitted with a sim card of any service provider. The card is activated to transmit GPS data to the person sitting in front of a computer. The device gives the latitude and longitude co-ordinates to the card, which then sends the data to an IP address, which is the computer. This data is correlated on the digital map and the location is displayed on the computer screen. The frequency of knowing the location will range from 3 seconds to 24 hours.
The speed at which the vehicle travels or has travelled can be checked out. The system provides details of the distance travelled on a particular day. The location can also be viewed through a mobile phone, if it is GPS-enabled.
The cost of the hardware device would vary according to the features on offer. The price of one unit varies from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 12,000. The software interface would be Rs. 500 a month on a rental basis. The rental covers the cost of storing the continuous data coming from the client’s vehicle and maintenance and technical support.
Date 19/07/2009
