October 2001

A low-cost Internet-based vehicle and asset tracking system is being developed by a new company, Locavista, which says the cost per installed unit can be as low as £15 per vehicle per month. It uses the GPS satellite network for location and GSM telephone technology for communications.

The company says the system is particularly distinctive for the speed with which maps are downloaded. It went to specialist Kingswood MapMechanics for the underlying technology, which includes the GeoConcept Internet Server geographic information system and Ordnance Survey raster map data.

Rather than selling the system direct to end users itself, Locavista is working with external partners, who will take on sales and marketing of customised versions. The first such arrangement is with Vodafone, which is developing a Web-based tracking system called Corporate Eye Online.

The system works with both fixed and mobile Internet devices, and managing director Paul Fry says that in future his company will be focusing increasingly on location-based services ­ that is, the provision of information specific to the local environs of each mobile unit.

Locavista was created earlier this year by the merger of two existing companies in this field. They were TriNet IMB, a specialist in Web development and database integration and hosting, and Crosland, which offered a range of tracking solutions.