LONDON, March 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Kinesis, the fast-growing telematics and vehicle tracking specialist, has selected web map services (WMS) from the HERE Location Platform as an integral feature of its innovative fleet location and driver management solution. Working seamlessly alongside other mapping and data within the Kinesis system, the HERE Location Platform supplied by allmapdata from Mapmechanics makes it possible to deliver instant reports on excess speeding by trucks, vans and other vehicles.
The Kinesis telematics platform has been developed by Radius Payment Solutions, a leading UK-based international supplier of fuel cards and supporting technology, which already has more than 50,000 vehicles using its system.
Whilst Google mapping has been adopted for the Kinesis user portal to display the routes followed by vehicles, the company wanted mapping with more detail and granularity to monitor road speed, and adopted the HERE Location Platform for this.
An extension to the HERE Location Platform provides speed limits for each stretch of road. The on-board Kinesis equipment registers the vehicle's location by GPS every thirty seconds, and by measuring these traces against time, the software behind Kinesis can work out the vehicle's actual road speed. This enables it to compare the true speed with the speed limit held in the HERE data for each stretch of road, and to report any violations to the vehicle operator.
Although GPS location traces are highly accurate, they cannot always differentiate between two roads that run close to one another (for instance, a motorway and parallel local road). However, another service add-on, the HERE Route Match Extension (RME), caters for this by intelligently monitoring the progress of a vehicle along any given road. It checks the locations detected before and after any potentially irregular reading, and repositions the trace automatically to the correct road.
Web map services offered by the HERE Location Platform provide systems such as Kinesis with a readily accessible way to take advantage of online mapping. Kinesis simply connects to HERE maps over the internet via a set of easy-to-use API protocols. A key benefit of the HERE Location Platform is the fact that it is constantly updated, so applications are always referencing the latest real-time data on current road conditions, unplanned road closures and traffic incidents.
As a leading HERE reseller, Mapmechanics helps users decide on their required features and integration strategy. "HERE referred us to Mapmechanics when we first approached them," says Jamie Hillman, "and the Mapmechanics team provided exactly what we wanted."
Among the value-added services provided by Mapmechanics, the company was able to help Kinesis to set up appropriate commercial licensing, and provided advice on using the HERE APIs to integrate the mapping with Kinesis.
The Kinesis team is already working on a refinement in which drivers themselves will be able to check up on their performance via a mobile app. Jamie Hillman says: "Historically, telematics systems have simply reported driver performance data to vehicle operators. We're innovating in a way that helps drivers directly." He sees the information forming an element in driver league tables and other incentivisation initiatives.
The Kinesis telematics platform is available to any vehicle operator on a stand-alone basis. No long-term contract is required; operators simply buy or hire the on-board equipment and pay as they go. Kinesis offers all the classic elements of a full telematics system, including live tracking, route replaying, vehicle and driver performance monitoring and journey history analysis - all available in a wide range of reporting formats.
About Kinesis and Radius Payment Solutions
- Radius, the parent company of Kinesis, is Europe's leading fuel card management company.
- Radius was established over 25 years ago and now has almost 1,000 people in 13 countries around the world.
- It issues over one million cards per year and manages over three billion litres of fuel annually.
- Radius reported a turnover in excess of £1.5 billion in 2015.
About Mapmechanics
For 30 years Mapmechanics has provided map based technologies that help companies to increase profitability whilst offering excellent customer service. We help organisations identify the best solution for their business needs together with consultancy, bespoke development, training and technical support.
We own leading optimisation software brands Truckstops vehicle routing and Optisite for supply chain planning, modelling & analysis. Through the allmapdata brand, we provide a broad range of digital geospatial datasets as well as GIS and locational software solutions. For more information visit http://www.mapmechanics.com
For further information:
Mandy Moss
mandy.moss@mapmechanics.com
+44-(0)20-8568-7000
