General FAQ

Telematics is literally a combination of the words Telecommunications and Informatics. Telematics, in a broad sense, is any integrated use of telecommunications with information and communications technology. It is the technology of sending, receiving and storing information relating to remote objects, such as vehicles, via telecommunication devices.

Vehicle Telematics is a way of monitoring the location, movements, status and behaviour of a vehicle or fleet of vehicles. This is achieved through a combination of a GPS receiver and an electronic GPRS or 2G device installed in each vehicle, which then communicates with the user and web-based software.

In addition to location data, a telematics system provides a list of your vehicles showing the status of each. You’ll know when a vehicle is started up and shut down, as well as its idling status, location and speed. This information gives you complete, up-to-the-minute knowledge of your fleet activities in one centralised, web-based interface.

Airmax Response is a Vehicle Telematics Platform, reporting vehicle data in near real time, accessible by an Airmax web application ‘Portal’. Creating insight and visibility of your fleet that helps the Authority to ultimately enhance day-to-day operations that may result in reduced fleet running costs, improved health and safety compliance and enhanced environmental management.

• Increase Productivity
• Reduce Labour Costs
• Control Fuel Costs
• Improve Customer Service
• Increase Fleet Safety and Security
• Reduce Operating Expenses
• Go Green
• Reduce Unauthorised Vehicle Use

The Airmax Response, In-Vehicle Hardware is a high performance, vehicle connected, capable of supporting a wide variety of telematics based services for a range of customer needs, which include; leasing, insurance, driver monitoring and training, fleet management, and vehicle security.

The Hardware is connected to the vehicles diagnostics Servicing Connector (EOBD), which gives us direct connection to host vehicles diagnostics: supports all CANBus and legacy K-Line protocols. It is a simple, plug and play installation compatible with around 98% of typical fleet vehicles

European On-Board Diagnostics.

On-board diagnostics (OBD) is an automotive term referring to a vehicle’s self-diagnostic and reporting capability. OBD systems give the vehicle owner or repair technician access to the status of the various vehicle subsystems. The amount of diagnostic information available via OBD has varied widely since its introduction in the early 1980s versions of on-board vehicle computers. Early versions of OBD would simply illuminate a malfunction indicator light or “idiot light” if a problem was detected but would not provide any information as to the nature of the problem. Modern OBD implementations use a standardized digital communications port to provide real-time data in addition to a standardized series of diagnostic trouble codes, or DTCs, which allow one to rapidly identify and remedy malfunctions within the vehicle. – Source “Wikipedia”

A typical “Standard” installation time is estimated to be between 15-30 minutes. Installations including Emergency Warning Equipment, can take up to 2 hours, this is depending on systems that need integration. A pre installation survey is recommended to speed up this process.

No. The Hardware has been designed to “plug and play” and has the advantage of not being an “interference fit” with the vehicles’ systems.

No, the Airmax Response Hardware is discreet hardware and is compatible with the vast majority of UK and European vehicles. The installation will not require any alterations to the body of the vehicle or interior.

No; we have approval from many OEM’s. Our installation is a plug and play system which does not require any cutting of any vehicle cables and uses all Automotive grade components and parts.

We record all vehicle data via the EOBD port, this enables us to have direct access to CANBus network information which include; Engine Speed, ODO, Revs, Key Status and Fault Codes.

CAN bus is one of five protocols used in the on-board diagnostics (OBD)-II vehicle diagnostics standard. The OBD-II standard has been mandatory for all cars and light trucks sold in the Hardwareed States since 1996, and the EOBD standard has been mandatory for all petrol vehicles sold in the European Union since 2001 and all diesel vehicles since 2004. Source “Wikipedia”

All data is transmitted over Cellular Network (GPRS) supported by Binary SMS for “over-air” diagnostics and updates.

The Commissioning Process is when we complete the installation process. We need to verify certain vehicle detail against order details to complete this process. This is completed by the installation technician providing those details remotely.

This process takes 24hrs. We strive to provide a same day service on the commissioning process, however the vehicle configurations and setup files are completed over night. Once received the vehicle will start to report.

Configurations are a predefined set of setup parameters that are agreed during Account Setup based on service level. These instruct the Hardware to report certain data at certain intervals. i.e. Mileage intervals and location points

Yes, if required, but there will is a De/Reinstall cost to carry this out. Please check with your Airmax Remote Ltd contact for vehicle compatibility and to discuss further.

The Global Positioning System is a network of 24 satellites which are used to determine time, location, speed and heading very precisely. The system works anywhere in the world and is free to use. Signals from the satellites are very weak and therefore will not usually travel through metal or buildings etc. In most circumstances, GPS only works outdoors.

GPS signals available to civilian GPS receivers can be used to compute position to within 10 meters (33 feet) most of the time. However, GPS signals are sometimes diluted in certain sensitive areas. GPS signals are available all over the world. However, please note that GPS receivers need signals from three or more satellites to compute position and, in general, this requires that an antenna connected to the GPS receiver be placed with a clear view of the sky.

By using multi constellation technology including antennas and GPS receiver to improve signal strength and availability of satellites in operation and first time to fix.

Dependent on a number of conditions, it is possible to accurately plot the location of a vehicle to within 1m, although this is dependent on the HDOP and number of satellites used in the fix which could be dependent upon factors outside of our control such as weather conditions.

You will view the data within the Response Portal which is an application that can be viewed on your Computer or any smart phone or tablet. The Website can be found at www.airmaxremote.com

The Portal supports the current and prior major release of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on a rolling basis.

The Portal will be capable of handling at least to 1000 concurrent users

From the login screen click the link which states “Forgot your username or password?”.

Historic location and route history can be found within the Portal in the Vehicle Activity Report.

Vehicle Near Real time Live Track and Trace can be located within the Portal in the Fleet Position and Status report.

No End point or local software is required for the Portal, simply visit the Portal URL and Login. Almost any computer that browses the web can access the system and all you will need is the latest browser such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari.

The Portal, dependent on your local settings and security, can be accessed from anywhere in the world. All you need is latest browser and have Adobe Flash and Java Script enabled (standard settings).

Nothing needs to be installed on the user’s PC to make the system work and, all maintenance and upgrades are completed by the team at Airmax Remote Ltd.

Our in-vehicle Hardwares use positions derived from high sensitivity GPS receivers, incorporating industry standard chip sets (based on a SiRFstarIV core) and sourced from a major receiver supplier.

We use the GPS positions as reported; there is no augmentation of the GPS positions (e.g. differential GPS). Stated accuracy of our receivers is “better than 2.5 metres, CEP50”, which means that 50% of the positions will be within 2.5 metres, but that is under ideal conditions. The final position accuracy can degrade to 5 – 10 metres under normal conditions, but, on rare occasions, perhaps 100 metres or more. This may be as a result of many factors, including:

• Attenuation due to foliage (trees), blockage caused by buildings etc.
• Multipath, where the signal from a particular satellite is reflected and is received by the GPS antenna in addition to or in place of the original line of sight signal.
• The effects of the in-vehicle installation, etc.

The time taken to obtain an accurate position (or a position at all) after the vehicle is started (Time to First Fix) is typically a few seconds, since the GPS receiver will have stored recent data for any satellites it was using previously. However, this time may increase significantly if the vehicle has not been used for some time, and/or has been used in a location with poor satellite coverage. Under these circumstances the GPS receiver has to reset itself. The time taken to obtain a position after a reset is normally within 30-40 seconds, but at times may take longer.

The primary source of time is UTC (Universal Time Clock), which has an accuracy of better than +/-1 second. Our firmware implements strict error checking on the time used from the GPS receiver to ensure we do not inadvertently make a wrong adjustment in the time of the real-time clock. The hardware will report system error messages if there are large differences between the real-time clock and GPS time.

Odometer is obtained via one of 2 methods:

1. ‘Direct Odometer’ readings providing the same Odometer value as the dashboard which is typical is most modern vehicles.

2. ‘Calculated’ from the read vehicle Speed via OBD and the time interval between Speed reading, this requires an initial offset for all vehicles that is Hardware installed Odometer value, the Calculated Odometer is 98%-100% accurate

NOTE: Vehicle Dashboard Odometers can be up to 5% in accurate unless calibrated.

The OBD provides Odometer values in steps of 100m, 1Km or larger and the intermediate values are calculated the same as calculated odometer and synched with the OBD odometer on each change in value.

There are three variables that can be achieved, but our data is only as accurate as the data the car will allow us to retrieve.

1. Absolute

• Is absolute direct2dash mileage which reads the mileage cluster within the vehicle, ultimately what the driver will see.

2. Synchronised

• Is a process which is similar to absolute and as accurate, but will only read the cluster once the vehicle has been serviced. Each time the vehicle is serviced, it will sync with the cluster. This will sync ever 15000k miles or 12 months on average depending on maintenance policy.

3. Calculated

• A reading that is collected at point of install, and will be recorded at commissioning. This will then calculate the mileage based on GPS distance. A to B = X + start mileage. This we would expect to be on older models, but some newer vehicles could actually have older ECU’s installed and potentially could have sat at a PDI centre for 24months. This could be inaccurate by up to 1%.