Telematics Companies Helping to Save Lives through Anti-Text Technology

Lynx Telematics and Inthink Technology Solutions Inc., two global telematics companies centered on fleet management and driver safety solutions, have stepped up to the challenge of helping Fleet managers clamp down on irresponsible drivers by attacking the “Texting While Driving” epidemic. While Lynx Telematics has already been working with text and web browsing disabling technology both for Fleets and parents of teen drivers, InThink recently revealed its new patented cell and text detection antenna at the NAFA 2012 Institute and Expo in St. Louis. This ground-breaking technology detects cell phone wave frequencies emitted from the driver seat, verbally warns the user to terminate the call or text and sends real-time alerts to a web portal or directly to a manager. In anticipation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association’s (FMCSA) recent ban on all cell phone use for commercial vehicles—and directly supporting the NTSB recommendation—Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics began working on developing a solution in 2011. “I originally set out to develop a solution that “married” cell phone scrambling technology with the cars computer main frame system that would disable the phone itself when the car was put in gear. However, I found that I could not go to market with that technology so I turned my attention to the telematics industry and developed a complete solution that not only disables texting and web browsing among drivers, but monitors seat belt usage, vehicle speed, engine idling time, poor driving habits and real time ECM diagnostics.” “I saw the texting ban coming down the road three years ago. Originally my mission was to impact teen drivers and their families but now we are having a major impact on commercial fleets.” said Rush. “We typically are able to help our fleet based companies cut 10-28% from their annual fuel budget, which more that pays for the investment into the technology however, more and more fleets are putting safety above operation costs.” Inthink developed their patented cell and text detection antenna technology to help fleet managers remain compliant with federal regulations. According to the rule, commercial carriers may face fines of up to $11,000. “Distracted driving accounts for 16 percent of all traffic fatalities,” said Todd W. Follmer, CEO of Inthink Technology Solutions. “It is important for managers to know when drivers are putting lives at risk by choosing to use a cell phone while driving. Other technologies may attempt to block the signal, but real-time detection and coaching is the only sure way to eliminate any type of cell phone activity on any phone—not just company issued phones.” The cell and text detection antenna will be integrated with Inthink’s Way Smartäsolution, the most comprehensive fleet management device on the market. With Way Smart, fleet managers can monitor driver behavior with features such as GPS-based vehicle tracking and in-cab verbal coaching alerts for speeding, idling, seat belt use and aggressive driving. Both companies’ innovative solutions communicate via satellite to the managed portals, allowing Fleet Managers to reward safe driving behavior and identify drivers in need of additional training. Managers can receive instant notification via email or text message when a driver has been in an accident or committed a severe infraction. For more information, contact Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics at (866) 314-0461 For more information on how Lynx Telematics, an OEM located in Cincinnati, Ohio can help your fleet become more operationally efficient or custom design a solution to meet your fleet management needs, contact Vincent Rush at (866) 314-0461 LynxTelematics is an OEM that controls design, engineering, firmware, software development, IT support and manufacturing processes of our product, allowing us to produce the highest quality product in our industry, while offering our customers competitive pricing. As your partner, we provide ongoing training and support to insure that the product is properly sold to the end user, maximizing the re-sellers profitability. As one of the pioneers in telematics technologies, Lynx Telematics provides our clients with powerful end-to-end vehicle telematics tools. Our technology offers a real solution that delivers safety, saves money and provides an unprecedented level of peace of mind to our customers.