Mobile Transportation App

Information Logistics GeoTalker

If any of the following are TRUE, then you need this app!

My agency should alert drivers to approaching hazards, so that further
accidents can be avoided.

My agency should inform drivers of lengthy delays that they can avoid, so that
backlogs can be cleared more rapidly.

Drivers should keep their hands on the wheel and not on the phone.

Drivers should keep their eyes on the road and not on the phone.

Drivers should comply with regulations regarding cell phone use while driving
and my agency should help them do it.

 

How it benefits the driver

Drivers start GeoTalker before starting the car and safely stow their cellphone. The application stays “on” in the background, but remains quiet until the vehicle approaches an area where there is a reported travel advisory. Then the phone will automatically start to “broadcast” the reported conditions without any interaction from the driver.

The roadway conditions will be broadcast once, and then the broadcast stream will go quiet until there is an update to an advisory that is still in range, or until a new advisory for the driver’s dynamic location is available. There is no need to subscribe for travel advisories or to specify days or times of travel. The only alerts broadcast are those nearby the current route. Just turn on GeoTalker and it finds the advisories that are nearby – and it will continue to find them as the vehicle continues to move.

The driver does not need to look at the phone or to touch the phone. With hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, the driver stays informed and can stay undistracted while becoming aware of approaching hazards.

Information Logistics' GeoTalker also provides users with the ability to customize their experience by specifying roads that they are interested in, the advisory replay interval and also the number of miles radius they are interested in receiving alerts for.

 

How Information Logistics' GeoTalker benefits your agency

Sponsorship Opportunities
Sponsorship messages can be inserted into the broadcast stream, and can be broadcast to all active users or only to drivers currently within a specific geographic area. Sponsors can also have banner ads or other visuals on any corresponding website and on the smartphone app itself.

Probe Data
Information Logistics' GeoTalker smartphone application uses the phone’s GPS to periodically obtain the driver’s location (approximately every 2 minutes) and sends this information back to the hosting server.

The data transmitted back includes information such as latitude, longitude, altitude and speed. This information can serve as “probe” data to be used in managing roadways, fleet and delivery management, and predictive roadway behaviors. The data transmitted back is designed to be anonymous, however, for a fleet management application the app could be customized to identify users who are connected with specific registered smart phones.

Roadway Management Assistance
With the ability to anticipate roadway conditions with probe data and the ability to notify impacted drivers, your agency can respond to conditions and manage traffic more efficiently.

Underlying Technology

GeoTalker is based on Voicenet’s patent pending “Open Microphone Platform”.

A custom stream of advisories and sponsor messages is created and dynamically modified for each connected driver as they travel. The stream is broadcast automatically to the driver without driver interaction and without interrupting normal cell phone use.

The system is designed using cloud technology, and can be hosted by Voicenet or directly with your hosting provider.

The Data

The data for the system is provided by the agency. The data can be provided as an XML data feed (or other custom methods) with each advisory tagged with a location (latitude and longitude). Please see the associated Data Requirements document for more information.

Availability

Information Logistics' GeoTalker application is currently available, and was introduced by the Pennsylvania Turnpike on September 2, 2011. The PTC named their app Trip Talk. It is available for iPhone and Android use, with Blackberry and other environments in development.