PeopleNet Automates Data Entry

Wireless service provider PeopleNet Communications is expected to release new software this quarter designed to further automate load status and route information for fleet managers, dispatchers, and drivers.

Called PeopleNet Automated Circle of Service, or PACOS, the system promises to free drivers from having to physically enter information about their trip into an onboard computer so it can be relayed to dispatch. Instead, using PACOS, the dispatcher can download a manifest to a computer on the vehicle prior to the trip. The computer automatically collects information about vehicle’s progress and location on the fly. Using a combination of cellular communications and Global Positioning System technologies, PACOS can alert the dispatcher if the vehicle varies from the schedule outlined on the trip manifest. It can also recognize when a vehicle reaches and leaves a delivery point, automatically updating the load status for the dispatcher.

The company also announced new bar code scanning and signature capture capabilities for the company’s fleet management system. The two wireless features run on Palm OS-based hand-held computers, and the software has already been automatically uploaded to all units through its over-the-air system upgrade technology.

Other recent initiatives include four new billing plans, based on 100, 250, 500, and 1000 transactions (prices range from $60 to $140 a month), and “guaranteed viability and accessibility” of the wireless network for the life of a customer’s contract. In Canada, PeopleNet uses the Bell Mobility and Rogers analog cellular networks.