All technologies used to manage, process, and communicate information fall under the umbrella term of information and communication technology (ICT). The French word “télématique,” which combines the words télécommunications (meaning Telecommunications) and Informatique (meaning Computer Science),” is where the term “telematics” originates. The term telematics is also used to describe the widespread usage of mobile communications technology for car navigation systems and the application of Global Positioning System technology combined with computers.
Global IT research and consultancy company Gartner describes telematics as “the use of wireless devices and ‘BlackBox’ technologies to transmit data back to an organization in real-time. Typically, it’s used in the context of vehicles, whereby installed or after-factory boxes collect and transmit data on vehicle use, maintenance requirements, or automotive servicing.”
Vehicle telematics
With innovative big data analytics, and the availability of lots of data, the science of telematics has gained significant traction in recent years. It is placing contemporary understandings into a new light and producing new perspective results that weren’t possible previously, including fleet management.
Telematics is frequently used interchangeably with fleet or vehicle telematics in the automotive or fleet industry. Vehicle onboard communication services and apps connected via GPS receivers and other telematics devices are called “vehicle telematics.” “Big data” is changing everything for the better. According to Matrack, Big data impacts the fleet transportation sector, from vehicle assembly to insurance to visitor modeling and traffic path optimization. It is also changing how vehicles are operated, how people use them, and how they interact with everything else in the world. Big data analytics is crucial to the field of telematics.
The fact of the matter is the science of telematics that entails telecommunications and vehicular technology demonstrates how big data analytics can enhance supply chain management and fleet management, as well as enhance return and radically decrease material costs, and of course, the standard and security problems which never get endangered using appropriate big data analytics. The usage of pertinent data directly contributes to more chances.
The information interchange between a central site and the individual fleet vehicles, such as trucks, ambulances, municipal vehicles, or school buses, is made possible by telematics systems explicitly made for fleets.
Due to commercial demand and regulatory obligations, vehicle telematics is gaining popularity. Fleets rely on telematics data to conduct their operations more successfully and comply with the ELD regulation.
Why telematics?
Telematics provides low-cost, machine-to-machine communications to enable remote asset tracking and management, fixed equipment monitoring, driver-behavior analysis, and vehicle health and maintenance tracking. You can accurately assess customer driving patterns through telematics, offering them customized coverage and having the ability to lower overhead costs.
Additional opportunities in the automobile sector and beyond have emerged due to the integration of sensors and telematics systems. For example, logistics companies can now assess their trucks’ idle time and provide clients with lower premiums for safe driving with the data from telematics.
With features like auto insurance telematics, fuel-theft monitoring, anti-theft, geofencing for safety, and remote diagnostics, most current consumer vehicle telematics systems already consider some of these aspects. This is accomplished by connecting to the car’s onboard computer and gathering information on the driver’s habits and fuel usage, such as miles, speed, braking style, and fuel level. The global positioning system (GPS) makes vehicle tracking information available and can be overlaid on accurate maps and views.
Application of Telematics
The following details numerous technologies that will influence telematics products in the future.
1. Navigation
Navigation services and traffic information are incorporated into smartphones and tablets through GPS monitoring, geofencing, and fuel-saving statistics on mobile devices. On the go, service providers can use this information to lower the likelihood of accidents caused by speeding, control maintenance expenses, and minimize fuel expenditures.
2. Infotainment
While in the past, in-car entertainment relied on portable devices connected to internal platforms, the automotive section now integrates ways the car can be connected directly to the cloud without leveraging intermediary devices.
3. Automated Toll Collection
Onboard telematics systems are being used by many countries, including Singapore, to impose dynamic toll charges along their highways. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) is more affordable than roadside sensors.
4. Monitoring of Vehicle Data
To monitor and analyze the performance of the vehicle, real-time vehicle parameters are collected using On-Board Diagnostics Version 2 (OBDII) (e.g., fuel consumption rate). In-vehicle buses, such as the Controller Area Network (CAN), are used by OBDII systems to enable in-vehicle microcontrollers and devices to connect without needing a host computer. OBDII is now used by telematics device vendors that offer pay-as-you-drive insurance, fuel efficiency monitoring, and vehicle tracking, in addition to professionals and enthusiasts. Although not designed for the uses above, routinely supported OBDII data, including vehicle speed, RPM, and fuel level, enable GPS-based fleet monitoring devices to keep track of idle times, excessive speeds, and fuel theft. OBDII data is utilized to record trip information for insurance purposes and to prevent mobile phone use while a vehicle is in the drive.
5. Convenience feature
Applications for remote air conditioning or heating control, remote vehicle monitoring, and “find my car” services are a few examples of telematics-enabled convenience features.
6. Telematics in insurance
A telematics service that is expanding is driver risk assessment. Small black boxes, utilized by telematics technology, track driving habits such as time and distance traveled, the types of roadways used, levels of acceleration and braking, and accident occurrences. Insurance companies can create risk profiles based on driving behavior using this information and set premiums accordingly. The true benefit of insurance telematics is the possibility for insurers to raise awareness of safer driving habits, thus lowering the loss ratio of accidents. Speeding is a major contributing factor to accidents, accounting for a substantial portion of insurance claims.
Key areas where telematics is applied include :
- Usage-based insurance (UBI), which bases insurance premiums on the type of vehicle operated and measures them against time, distance, behavior, and location, is implemented using telematics. This opens the door for customized insurance premiums based on unique risk profiles.
- Numerous applications for car monitoring exist, including anti-theft and improved vehicle security.
- E-Call will instantly send a call for assistance in a medical emergency or accident.
- Drivers can limit their fuel usage by driving at slower speeds by using fuel monitoring to assess whether fuel may have been stolen or whether it has been used up.
- By identifying when a vehicle needs maintenance and alerting the driver when necessary, remote diagnostics assist prevent vehicle breakdowns.
- Owing to geo-fencing, notification can be delivered to the infotainment system or the driver’s mobile device when a vehicle breaches a virtual barrier surrounding a physical geographic area, thanks to geo-fencing.
Benefits of Telematics
The benefits of telematics can be summarised as follows :
For Business Owners :
- Implement usage-based insurance (UBI)
- Reduce claim costs
- Increase profitability
- Easier to maintain ELD compliance
For Customers :
- Use driving behavior to personalize insurance premiums
- Parental monitoring(speed, tracking, alerts)
- Use location for roadside/collision assistance
- Remote unlock capabilities
- Preventative vehicle maintenance
- Security
- Teen safety
Limitation of Telematics
- Some drivers can see an increase in their premiums if they use telematics. Some policies impose curfews or charge more if you drive during rush hour, and your auto insurance may become more expensive than a standard policy.
- Black box insurance policies won’t benefit drivers already regarded as safe, such as middle-aged people with a clean driving record.
- Privacy breaches are a problem that still has to be handled correctly. Only some appreciate that monitoring level and others can be stressed about the same.
Telematics – The Future
The field of vehicle telematics is expected to continue expanding dramatically. The core of telematics is data, but understanding that data and using it effectively can take time and effort. Customers can receive innovative solutions from telematics providers to assist sort through raw data. The data-driven platforms offer customers reports and tools to help them understand the numbers and transform them into valuable insights.
Telematics applications are being created in sectors other than the automobile industry to track water and air pollution, deliver medical and healthcare information, and facilitate distant learning.
With the usage of telematics, robust evidence of advice is immediately available that may revamp whole branches of their business ventures and change motorists’ driving behaviors.
