Trafficmaster launches Message Display Terminal with navigation

Trafficmaster’s award winning, Fleet Director, fleet management solution has just been enhanced with the launch of its Message Display Terminal (MDT). This robust dash board fitted terminal allows fleet managers to directly communicate with their drivers in the vehicle. It is also the first system to offer satellite navigation to help drivers find their destinations easily.

The MDT uses a number of simple canned messages that allows fast response data exchange between driver and manager. These include clips to be used by the driver such as: At Depot/ Started Job / Delay - Customer Not Ready, through to clips for the manager, such as: Return to Base / Job Complete – all of them appropriate for daily use and relevant to ‘on the road’ service industries. In addition MDT also provides free flow text capability, so that customised messages can be exchanged.

The MDT integrates with Fleet Director’s reporting applications and all messages are date, time and location stamped. This means that a driver’s activity can be logged and verified, helping the manager assess workloads and timesheets. Using Fleet Director and the MDT, the manager can broadcast messages to all drivers in the fleet at the same time, as well as to selected drivers.

Trafficmaster is also the first to offer navigation through a message terminal. This enables the driver to get a route using the MDT address entry functionality. In addition office based managers can also to send routes to the vehicle from the Fleet Director application on their PC.

The driver receives a message to say a route has been sent to the vehicle and turn-by-turn verbal instructions are then provided throughout the journey. The navigation is provided by Trafficmaster’s Smartnav, which uses up-to-the minute traffic information to calculate the best route and stores its mapping on central servers. This means that drivers are able to avoid time wasting congestion and benefit from the latest mapping information that is automatically and regularly updated by Trafficmaster.

This new addition to the Fleet Director system has been eagerly awaited by many of Trafficmaster’s existing customers, who not only need to know where their drivers are, but what they are doing and if jobs are running to schedule.

John Lawrence, Sales & Marketing Director at Trafficmaster, comments: “The MDT will prove to be very valuable for drivers and companies that want a practical and easy communication channel. Furthermore because the MDT integrates with Fleet Director’s reporting tools, messages can be logged for timesheet analysis and payroll, as well as helping businesses achieve high standards of customer service.”

The MDT costs around £425 (excluding fitting and VAT). The Smartnav satellite navigation subscription is an additional £109 per year.