Waveon 738P data terminal: Faster response and GPS-based navigation.

December 2008: Booking a taxi is now much easier and faster even on rainy days. InfoWave has supplied its Waveon 738P Mobile Data Terminals to local partner, ST Electronics (Info-Comm Systems), as part of the latter’s Integrated Transport Management System project for ComfortDelGro’s fleet of Comfort Taxis.

The transport management system replaces the old Private Mobile Radio system. The new system allows the taxi call centre to automatically select a taxi that is closest to the customer's location using the GPS receiver in the Waveon 738P. Built-in GPS also offers vehicle tracking and location mapping capabilities, even when the terminal is in power-saving or standby mode.

The Waveon 738P enables taxi drivers to receive bookings and respond to calls quickly and efficiently, which in turn, allows fleet operators to provide an overall efficient taxi booking and dispatch operation to its taxi customers.

As for drivers, the data terminal in the vehicle facilitates prompt display of booking reminders and digital maps for the taxidriver’s navigation to the customer’s pick-up location quickly, which in turn reduces the waiting time for the passengers. Its anti-glare, wide-screen 7-inch TFT display is also built for all weather and driving conditions.

In an emergency, the system allows the drivers to transmit alerts via Waveon 738P to the taxi call centre so that help can be dispatched to them immediately. The Waveon 738P also facilitates text-to-speech feature where text messages such as pick-up locations that are displayed on the terminal are converted into speech. This ensures that the driver’s concentration is not taken off the road.

To-date, ComfortDelGro’s fleet of 12,000 Comfort and CityCab taxis have been equipped with InfoWave’s Waveon MDTs.

Other projects

In the Middle East, InfoWave is supplying 4,000 units of the Waveon 738P terminals for the Taxi Dispatch and Management Project for Sharjah Public Transport Corporation in Sharjah, UAE.

By early April this year, the Waveon 738P will support STEE-InfoComm’s iCab automated taxi booking and dispatch system to offer automated booking and intelligent data mining to assign the most appropriate available taxi to the customer in the shortest possible time via wireless technologies.

“InfoWave has established a history of successful projects with the world’s leading taxi companies, which is why we are confident that we have the experience and vision to satisfy the hardware requirements placed on the taxi booking and dispatch project by Sharjah Transport,” said Mr Loh Choon Seng, Managing Director of InfoWave.

InfoWave has also recently been awarded a grant from the Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation to develop a wireless mobile data and dispatch solution with Israeli partner Micronet Ltd. The grant will enable InfoWave to develop a device application known as Waveon Dispatch, which will be made available in the new hybrid mobile data terminal offered by Micronet.

Mr Loh says the solution is targeted at system integrators and fleet owners in the transport and logistics industries with the aim of reducing time and resources needed for the implementation for a complete system by up to 40 percent.

InfoWave, a spin-off company from STEE-InfoComm, was started in 2002 for the development of telematics devices. InfoWave also works with partners to offer turnkey solutions for the transport and logistics industries.

For 2009, a new advanced vehicle tracker, Waveon 618 and a next-generation Mobile Data Terminal, Waveon 739, will be launched in the first and second quarter of 2009.

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