Wireless Communications: Freedom at a Cost
GPRS, 1xRTT, iDEN and EDGE are all examples of wireless networks that have revolutionized the way fleet vehicles communicate with dispatch centers. They allow managers to track vehicle position, dispatch trips, update mobile software and retrieve engine diagnostics in real time—all from the comfort of their desk. The collected information is stored in a database for future analysis and reporting with the goal of optimizing fleet operation and streamlining business processes.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not, but this freedom comes at a cost.
To communicate over a wireless network, each mobile device needs a data plan which is supplied by the network provider (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, etc). These plans are usually billed monthly and allow the mobile device to transmit a certain amount of data over the network. If a device exceeds its data limit, the network provider charges overage fees which are often quite expensive.
Originally, data plan limits were low because there were fewer applications needing wireless data and the messages being sent were small and efficient. Therefore, network providers have historically offered relatively small monthly data limits (e.g. 8MB) for a reasonable price. However, today’s users often exceed their monthly limit and upgrade to a more expensive plan. The recent advent of data-hungry mobile devices such as the iPhone have forced network providers to greatly increase monthly data limits, but they have also introduced the phenomenon of “wasted data”. Wasted data is where wireless applications are no longer designed to make messages as efficient or compressed as they can be because the new wireless plans give the illusion of a bottomless data limit. In reality, huge data plans are often reserved for consumers, while businesses are still faced with smaller limit plans for their devices. To make matters worse, fleet operations must purchase a plan for every device (usually one per vehicle), so costs add up fast.
This is where efficiency and message compression can really save fleet operations money. For example, let’s say a non-optimized wireless application transmits 10MB of real-time information to each device in a 200-vehicle fleet per month. To accommodate this data without overages, a 12MB data plan is selected at a cost of $20 per month. Now assume that an optimized wireless application can transmit the same data in only 6MB per month. The data plans can be downsized to 8MBs at a cost of $15 per month. That saves the fleet over $12,000 a year!
The obvious question is: how can 10MB of data be transmitted in only 6MB? The answer lies in the use of wireless optimization techniques to reduce network usage. These range from simple data compression to intelligent ways of reducing messaging. For example, mobile devices are often configured to send GPS updates every x number of seconds, regardless of speed. To optimize this process, it is much more efficient to send GPS at less frequent intervals when a vehicle is moving slowly or stopped. Techniques like this quickly reduce the amount of data transmitted and save money.
So what lessons can be taken away from this? The importance of choosing a wireless application that optimizes data transmission cannot be underestimated. A well optimized application can save a company thousands of dollars per year in data fees. Freedom from wires comes at a cost, but choosing the right wireless application will ensure that your company is getting the most bang for its buck.
