Have you ever wondered what the difference is between telematics and vehicle tracking? Are they the same or similar?
Telematics comes from the French word ‘telematique’ which was first used in 1978 to combine telecommunications with computer science. Telematics brings together the worlds of telecommunications, road safety, wireless communication, vehicle technology and computers.
Tracking is one of the smart technologies that comes under the broad heading of telematics, as well as GPS navigation and many more. The technology to achieve telematics was first developed in the 1960s by the Defence Department of the U.S. By the 1980s, the technology was being used in civilian research to improve safety on the roads and factor in the environmental impact of driving.
By the middle of the 1990s, the first vehicle tracking systems appeared for commercial use and by the turn of the millennium, web fleet management systems became readily available to businesses. By 2010, apps on smartphones were created to connect real-time data with people’s mobile phones and tablets, making this information even easier to obtain. For more information on Vehicle Tracking, visit https://www.vehicle-accessories.net/vehicle-tracking/
Telematic devices include several parts, such as:
A GPS receiver which receives data from the satellite
An engine interface which routes messages from the GPS
A Sim card which sends the data to the main server through the mobile network
Accelerometer that senses and records driving data and crash impact information
Whilst the whole system is not complicated, there are a lot of technologies involved …