June 12, 2019

Selecting the right telematics partner

There are many large, medium and small telematics vendors in Australia and New Zealand that can provide telematics solutions for specific industry sectors and businesses. The global telematics market is expanding rapidly, mainly due to the improvements in, and demand for, new connected technologies, including penetration of the Internet of Things (IoT).

With so many telematics vendors to choose from, it is important not to gravitate to the easiest answer – simply picking the lowest-cost product. Cheapest is not always the best because it may restrict the long-term viability and growth of your business.

It is important to have a clear understanding of what the business problems are, what requirements other business units have (i.e. Safety, IT, Operations, etc), what others in the industry are using, and how the vendor will work with you in future. These are important questions to answer before looking for a telematics solution.

A quick and easy way to work through the next steps is to identify what the market has to offer and determine which vendor can meet your current and future needs. This can be done using this free telematics vendor checklist.

The checklist is broken down into four categories:

  1. Company Profile (Is this a mature company with a robust platform, experience and references?)
  2. Fleet & Asset Management (Does the vendor solution cater for the recommended specifications?)
  3. Lone Worker and Fleet Safety (Does it protect workers in/out of vehicles?)
  4. System, Security, Integration and Support (Is the data stored in your country, and is the data secure and protected?)

These key categories should help you compare vendors to quickly determine who can meet your requirements. Some of the high-level advantages of selecting the right telematics partner are:

  • A telematics partner with extensive industry experience ensures that you will have a stable and mature partner looking after and supporting your business.
  • A financially strong and innovative partner ensures that the system won’t be switched off and will support your on-going hardware needs.
  • A vendor that is independent does not lock you into a Fleet Management Organisation (FMO) system for fleet vehicle leasing/financing. This ensures that the vendor is focused on telematics, driver safety and other technological fleet innovations
  • Choosing a vendor and telematics solution that is not just an add-on to an FMO system delivers its own productivity, utilisation, efficiency and safety benefits. It can also integrate into other FMO and business systems without restrictions if you decide to change these systems at a later stage.
  • A company with the capacity to give great customer service means that you won’t just be an extra customer: you will be valued and provided with the quality products and services that you expect.
  • Proper research of references and case studies ensures that the vendor has good feedback from other customers and industry peers.
  • The right vendor has solutions for your entire fleet (vehicles, heavy plant and non-powered assets) and has solutions available for your lone workers (working in and away from the vehicle).
  • The vendor will have basic and advanced solutions for innovation and future proofing your investment in the event of any technological advancements (i.e. workforce mobility)
  • Robust solutions with local support that is readily available, means that your business is supported from day one and backed by Service Level Agreements.

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