Not long ago, IntelliTrac, Australia’s leading telematics provider, joined forces with Insurance Box to bring telematics car insurance systems to the Australian market.
According to IntelliTrac Founder and CEO, Dean Calapai, this new technology helps drivers, “review their ‘Drive Scores’ and provides helpful hints on how their driving behavior may be improved to possibly further reduce premiums, and at the same time reduce carbon emissions, fuel consumption and wear and tear on their vehicles. It’s a game changer for Australia; it promotes safe driving and in time may result in safer roads. ”
Telematics combines telecommunication and information technology into one solution that sends, receives, or stores information in a vehicle. The transmission of information can be machine to machine (M2M) or machine to human. This technology is used primarily for tracking and communication and can be either integrated with various other systems of the vehicle or used separately and operated using mobile applications.
Telematics is used in various applications such as vehicle tracking, satellite navigation, in emergency warning systems, and in fleet management. Telematics also plays a major role in providing improved security to drivers and passengers which is a huge reason for the rapid adoption of telematics technology, driving the Global Telematics Market at a CAGR of 22.67 percent for the 2012-2016 period.
The countless benefits of telematics have prompted several leading automobile manufacturing companies such as Toyota, Nissan and GM to collaborate with various telematics device manufacturers to provide telematics services to vehicles belonging to all automobile segments. Earlier, only the vehicles in the luxury car segment used telematics systems. That being said, recent consumer demand has led to the introduction of telematics systems even in small and medium-sized cars with the eventual goal of including telematics devices as a standard feature in all cars which will no doubt give the market a huge boost.
There are three main segments that automotive manufacturers are focusing on developing for inclusion in all vehicle models:
- Embedded Telematics Solutions: These are the solutions that are built within the vehicle to provide telematics connectivity, intelligence, immense security, reliability and are already widely adopted by major automobile manufacturers.
- Tethered Telematics Solutions: These solutions use a phone as a modem to provide connectivity with the help of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi services and are extremely beneficial for navigational purposes.
- Integrated Telematics Solutions: These solutions integrate smartphone applications in a vehicle to provide safety features to the automobile driver.
Another factor aiding market growth is the fact that consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the safety measures that one can adhere to when driving. With the increasing availability of technologically advanced products, end-user requirement for innovative telematics systems has risen. Advanced telematics systems play a vital role in providing improved safety features to vehicle owners.
Furthermore, the need for advanced products has also prompted service providers to increase the number of features delivered by telematics systems. One of the recent additions to the telematics systems is the integrated speech recognition feature. These devices can be Bluetooth-enabled and also have inbuilt digital cameras. The speech recognition feature allows customers to perform operations when driving without having to touch the device. These new features give customers an additional reason for end-users to adopt telematics systems and is expected to help drive market growth to new heights in the years to come.
For more information, view our latest Global Telematics Market report.
