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Mapcom Systems Offers Satellite-Based Workforce Management in New Release of M4® Dispatch Manager
New Partnership with Fleet Management Solutions, Inc. Enables Dispatchers To Track and Communicate With Field Personnel
JULY 12, 2007 - RICHMOND, VA - Mapcom Systems has incorporated satellite-based fleet management technology into a new release of M4 Dispatch Manager through an authorized distributor relationship with Fleet Management Solutions, Inc. according to company officials. The move significantly increases the workforce management capabilities incorporated within Mapcom’s M4 Dispatch Manager module, enabling service providers to track and remotely communicate with their technicians and other field staff via satellite while simultaneously viewing trouble tickets and service orders geographically.
Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), based in San Luis Obispo, CA, combines the latest GPS technology with two-way, all-satellite communications, presenting a comprehensive solution designed to improve mobile asset utilization, productivity, safety and security anywhere in the world. The company uses both the Orbcomm and Iridium satellite platforms to collect the GPS coordinates of each technician’s truck and report its location back to the M4 server, which then locates it on the service provider’s system and street map contained within M4. Concurrently, the M4 Dispatch Manager collects trouble tickets and service orders and displays them on the map in M4 – enabling the dispatcher to more efficiently balance work and load with information at their fingertips.
“By incorporating the FMS technology into the M4 Dispatch Manager, we are enabling our service provider customers to significantly enhance their customer service and workforce management efforts,” explained John Granger, President of Mapcom. “Via satellite – without having to depend on cellular coverage at all – the FMS system combined with the M4 Dispatch Manager helps ensure that trouble tickets and service orders are being worked in the most efficient and timely manner possible, at the lowest cost.”
The system also facilitates direct broadband communication between the dispatch center and laptops that are connected to the FMS platform via a serial connection in the truck. Utilizing this connectivity along with the respective “Dispatcher” and “Technician” tools within M4 Dispatch Manager, dispatchers and technicians are able to remotely assign, work and clear work, while maintaining a log of the activity, status and priority of each job. The system also produces performance and status reports at the overall dispatch, and individual technician and truck level.
“With M4 Dispatch Manager, we’ve been able to bridge the gap in communication among the various departments involved with working on service calls. Whether it’s employees working in engineering, installation and repair or in the call center, all have access to the same critical data that can easily be viewed and updated in a geographic display,” said Granger.
“We are delighted that our technology is being incorporated into M4 Dispatch Manager, and pleased to welcome Mapcom Systems as a distributor,” said Cliff Henley, President, CEO and Founder of Fleet Management Solutions. “Trying to effectively dispatch, track and control a dispersed fleet of vehicles and workers can be a daunting task. With an all-satellite GPS solution, you provide your dispatchers and customers with near real-time information on the location and status of all assets and operators. Equally important, you may directly communicate with the technician to efficiently and quickly adjust schedules and stops to minimize wasted time and resources,” Henley explained.
About Mapcom Systems
Mapcom Systems is the developer of M4 Solutions – a map-based Geographical Operations System (GOS) software suite that allows telecommunications providers to enhance their information flow by displaying data in a geographic view. The open-system approach enables users to integrate and correlate data from existing billing, accounting, GPS tracking and network monitoring applications with a geographically-correct land base map of all network elements in M4. Since 1971, Mapcom has developed one of the strongest reputations in the industry working with independents, cooperatives, fiber communities, and campus telecommunications providers of all sizes across North America and the Caribbean.
About Fleet Management Solutions
Fleet Management Solutions, Inc (FMS) provides complete fixed and mobile asset tracking and management solutions to Oil and Gas, Government and Military, Service and Delivery, Marine and Offshore, Trucking and Transportation, Heavy Equipment, and Bus and Motorcoach industries. Combining GPS technology with two-way satellite communications, FMS delivers turnkey solutions which provide customers with measurable improvements in asset utilization, safety and security, and labor productivity while reducing the risk of theft and cost of recovery. Headquartered in San Luis Obispo, Calif., with distribution partners in more than 30 countries worldwide, FMS is a privately held corporation. For more information, visit the FMS website at www.fmsgps.com.