Motorola and Vanguard Announce 'Navigation Station' LBS
Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:30 pm
Motorola and Vanguard Car Rental, the operator of National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car today announced the roll-out of Vanguard's "Navigation Station," a new portable GPS navigation system.
Vanguard's new offering, based on Motorola's VIAMOTO technology, will provide National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car customers with spoken turn-by-turn directions, point of interest (POI) information such as hotels, restaurants, meeting locations and more via a Motorola mobile device.
How does it work? Consumers conveniently punch in location information or connect with the call center to provide an operator with a destination address or desired point of interest in the area. A route is then calculated and downloaded to the mobile phone from a server.
The server leverages GPS technology in the phone to pinpoint the exact location of the handset and starts providing turn-by-turn directions, communicated aloud through the handset's speakerphone, as soon as the driver begins driving. Directions are street-specific and repeated often as the consumer drives from point A to point B. If the driver takes a wrong turn, the directions stop and the route is recalculated, helping to ensure the customer never gets off-track.
"With the deployment of ‘Navigation Station,' we are able to offer our customers an improved, stress-free travel experience," said Jeff Parell, Chief Operating Officer of Vanguard. "Whether renting a car for business or leisure, customers will enjoy an innovative, easy to use navigational service."
Location based services are increasingly in demand by consumers, according to industry analyst reports. A recent consumer mobility study by In-Stat, a leading research firm, found consumers are most interested in navigational services that provide driving directions, local city guides, maps and traffic updates while on the go.
"Motorola believes that simple, seamless technology is key to unlocking the full potential of the location-based services market," said Mike Bordelon, Corporate Vice President, Seamless Mobility, Motorola. "Our VIAMOTO suite of software is designed to give our customers a solution that meets their needs by creating new revenue generating services that meet the needs of their consumers, worldwide."
Navigation Station is now available at select National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car locations in major markets including Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C. for an additional $9.99 per day and will be available in more than 50 cities nationwide within the next four months. For more information about National Car Rental or Alamo Rent A Car, please visit their respective web site at www.nationalcar.com or www.alamo.com. For more information on Motorola's VIAMOTO please visit www.viamoto.com .
