ORBCOMM is a well-known satellite IoT communications provider, but the technology company actually covers a ton more ground (pun intended); ORBCOMM (News - Alert) delivers smart solutions for a diverse customer base that spans supply chain, warehousing, inventory and heavy equipment, maritime, natural resources, government, and transportation.
Let’s dial in on that last one for this news – IoT and transportation.
Earlier this month, ORBCOMM announced that it launched a new smart dashcam for service fleets.
The goal? Improve their safety, visibility and efficiency.
Here’s the rundown:
ORBCOMM’s dual-facing (i.e. driver and road) smart dashcam combines next-gen video AI with engine data and IoT sensors to help light commercial vehicle fleets in detecting unsafe driving behaviors; these include speeding, distracted or drowsy driving, phone use, tailgating, stop sign violations, and even patterns involving harsh accelerations, braking and turning. Its voice coaching functionality allows fleets to quickly react to risky driving behavior, which a.) promotes proactive driver education, b.) highlights the significance of voice-powered solutions in IoT, and c.) enhances overall fleet safety, ideally preventing rising insurance and liability costs. With driver-specific reporting and video examples, fleets can highlight and reward their top drivers, encouraging a new way to achieve driver satisfaction and retention as a bonus.
In addition, fleets can set up to receive notifications on unexpected trips, unnecessary idling and excessive acceleration, which can lead to reduced fuel consumption and vehicle wear and tear (while meeting sustainability goals, to boot).
In terms of intuitive use, customizable alerts allow fleets to see when incidents occur so they may react accordingly. Reliable telematics data and video footage can reconstruct incidents, including the time and date, location, the driver’s awareness , and the event’s traffic and weather conditions. This, as ORBCOMM describes, leverages “virtual witness” technology for gathering evidence when needed, which could theoretically exonerate drivers from liability and assist in resolving insurance claims. Fleets can also make use of location data and geofencing through the smart dashcam to optimize routing and to monitor arrivals, departures, and dwell times, which can be converted into metrics that lead to better customer service (and potentially even expose any unauthorized usage of service vehicles).
Per Gregg Plonisch, ORBCOMM’s Senior Vice President of Product Management:
“Safety should be a top priority for every fleet, whether they have 50 vehicles or 5,000. Integrating ORBCOMM’s smart dashcam is a great way to promote a safety-first culture and extend a fleet’s real-time visibility of events happening on the road and in the cab. By leveraging our telematics-enabled video solution, service fleets can truly keep their drivers, vehicles and reputations safe. They can also reduce risks to their operations and optimize fuel efficiency and maintenance costs, all of which deliver a strong, long-term ROI.”