SAN ANTONIO, Texas — PeopleNet brought together nearly 1,000 customers this week to showcase its expanding communications capabilities, including predictive analytics.

Company president Brian McLaughlin and chief technology officer Mark Botticelli explained how the PeopleNet platform is offering users the ability to identify high-risk drivers and predict parts failures and engine breakdowns.

The announcements were part of PeopleNet’s annual user conference.

“Our vision for the new standard in fleet mobility technology is an end-to-end, fully supported platform with complete ‘openicity’ for streamlined integration,” Botticelli said. “There is virtually no limit on systems and applications that will work in tandem to extend the value of information from operational intelligence to predictive analytics that conveys insight for decision-making about the future. Imagine having answers to questions about the future at your fingertips – answers to questions like: when will an engine break down or an engine part go bad? How soon should a vehicle be serviced? What drivers are likely to pose safety threats? In other words, information that drives precise decision making in cab and back office.”

McLaughlin said much of that information is available today, but the company continues to evolve its Precision Mobility Platform. It also continues to add to the number of display types PeopleNet software will run on, including fix-mounted, tablets and handheld computers. The in-cab hub will be lighter and easier to install, and will link up to the engine bus and display using 4G wireless technology and WiFi, the company announced.

Meanwhile, the back-office platform that is today driven by tri-mode (satellite, cellular and WiFi) connectivity and resides in a data centre, will transition to a cloud-based, machine-to-machine infrastructure. McLaughlin said this will optimize scalability, uptime, expedite deployment of new solutions and improve cost-effectiveness.

“We’re leading the transportation industry into new fertile ground and raising the bar on mobile communications with the integration of best-in-class M2M technology, which will help us accelerate innovation to respond to our customer’s needs more quickly,” he said.

Botticelli added, “The icing on the cake is PeopleNet’s Precision Analytics Engine, largely driven by VUSION and integrated with PeopleNet Mobile and the back-office platforms. It will provide predictive analytics about drivers and vehicles for making decisions about the future that optimize resources and drive profitable growth.”