British Motoring Organisation RAC Ltd has integrated PTV Group technology into a new telematics service for its members. RAC Advance is capable of diagnosing travel disruptions, detecting accidents, monitoring driver behaviour and can provide faster assistance to RAC's existing and new Business, Individual Member and Insurance customers. The integrated PTV xServer supports this solution with reverse geocoding. The RAC has over seven million members and are expecting a high number of installations of the new system to be carried out in the first year alone.
The RAC's Advance telematics service provides support to the association's members and to the RAC breakdown service. The new solution is housed in a device the size of a matchbox and can notify the RAC in the event of certain vehicle defects such as battery failure. The RAC team can then contact the driver quickly and propose the appropriate action to rapidly resolve the problem. Early detection of faults can also help to prevent more serious damage to the vehicle or even prevent breakdown during a journey.
PTV xServer is applying reverse geocoding for RAC Advance. With geocoding, postal addresses are "translated" into geo-coordinates so that objects with a geographical location can be displayed on digital maps. With reverse geocoding, it is the other way around: the right address is assigned to the coordinates. If RAC Advance registers any incidents, e.g. speeding or accidents, the system receives a GPS signal. PTV xServer converts the GPS track into a street segment (e.g. A 215 Walworth Rd, London, direction Camberwell Rd south) to pinpoint the location of the vehicle's disruption. The street segments are specified inclusive of the speed limit applicable in each case. The street database is updated on a daily basis.
Strong case for PTV
There were several reasons why the RAC decided to choose PTV software: As a large number of people are expected to use the solution, high performance had to be guaranteed with the reverse geocoding so that a high number of queries could be processed quickly. This is also one of the reasons why RAC Advance is hosted in the Cloud to take full advantage of the elastic nature of that environment. PTV's software component makes this possible. "PTV xServer is also extremely flexible when it comes to importing third-party data into the street segment level. This was one of our main requirements. After all, this enables us to use data to which we already have access to create more accurate driver score results. Finally, a competitive pricing strategy was key due to the anticipated high volume of users," said Kerry Michael, Commercial Directorel from the RAC.
PTV xServer offers a wide range of geographical and logistical functions – from geocoding and display of data on digital maps to trip planning and optimisation which can be integrated into ERP and CRM systems. As the software components are modular by design, customers only have to license the modules they require. All of the software components work with current PTV map materials, which are regularly updated. Numerous code samples that come with the software are also available on the Internet, enabling developers to achieve results quickly and easily. Interested parties can apply for a 15-day trial at xserver.ptvgroup.com
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