Today at the AEMP Asset Management Symposium in Nashville, members were introduced to the AEMP Telematics Standard. It's been two years in the making, and the reception was positive.
The standard, along with a "Hello World" app, is available here.
Telematics will never be the same, and as Mike Vorster says in my article on the standard's development and potential, the standard might just have saved the technology.
The standard was developed by a subcommittee comprised of equipment manufacturers, telematics service providers, and end-users. There is no fee to download the standard, says executive director Stan Orr. "We're doing it for the industry," he says.
So what are the next steps?
1) Gain a user name and password for each telematics provider, whether OEM or third party. Determine the URLs for each server that you need to access. Use the Hello World app to obtain a sample set of data.
2) Know what system into which you want to feed the data. The standard enables you to access raw data; it doesn't help you use it or manage your fleet with it.
3) Contact/contract with a software development resource to begin your development effort. If you have in-house IT resources, involve them now so they can start development. If you need outside help, find a provider.
AEMP followed the announcement with a panel of fleet managers who currently use telematics. Although each represented a different strategy, fleet makeup, and stage of advancement, no one disagreed that the standard will enable them to better manage with telematics.
"It's not changing what we do, but how we do it," said Dan Samford, VP corporate equipment for Herzog Contracting.
"The standard is not going to be a panacea." said Steve Rasmussen, VP for information and technology, Phillips & Jordan, "It's one piece of the puzzle to manage a large fleet, but it's an important piece. It's an important tool to help with a bigger problem. It will give us more choices as we look at the tools to collect [data]."
