Navman Wireless teams with Telstra to put vehicle tracking on the phone bill

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 20 October 2011 00:00

IT Industry - Deals

Navman Wireless' GPS fleet management system will be available through all of Telstra's channels as the result of a renewed partnership between the two companies.

The Navman Wireless vehicle tracking system uses GPS location and cellular communications to keep track of the vehicle's position and movements. The data can be used for a variety of purposes, from ensuring that vehicles are only used when they are supposed to be, checking that a vehicle is actually on the road and not parked somewhere, or determining the closest vehicle for an urgent customer pickup.

An extra-cost option gives the driver a screen and keypad to receive and respond to messages from the dispatcher and turn-by-turn navigation instructions.

An extended partnership with Telstra means customers will be able to take a 36-month contract for the system and have the cost added to their Telstra bill. "This exciting new offer provides our customers with the added flexibility of receiving a turnkey vehicle tracking solution inclusive of hardware, software as a service and carriage - with a single monthly payment on the Telstra bill," said Mike Cihra, director of M2M and partners at Telstra.

Ian Daniel, vice president Asia Pacific at Navman Wireless told iTWire that while most of the company's dealers were already aligned with Telstra, the new partnership with the carrier would accelerate Navman's growth which is already running at 100% per year. The expected additional growth would result from an increase in the number of outlets, and from the convenience of monthly payments and a single bill instead of paying for the hardware upfront or arranging separate finance.

He said the two companies had been working together since 2003, with Navman using Telstra SIMs in its devices, and locating its servers at Telstra facilities. "We've done the apprenticeship with Telstra in the market, and this is the coming of age," said Mr Daniel

He predicts that almost all businesses will eventually want to take advantage of vehicle tracking, as it provides "a very strong return on investment."