ATX Identifies Three Pillars of T3 Third Generation Telematics

Web Access, Vehicle-Generated Data, DIVA to Highlight Telematics Expansion

GENEVA, March 9 -- A new generation of data-centric services gradually emerging today in the international telematics market eventually will transform the traditional telematics business model away from annual service subscriptions for primarily emergency-related, location-based services. The core benefit of future telematics services will likely be virtual connectivity with the vehicle, enabling telematics to become standard on every vehicle.

That was the prediction offered today at The Fully Networked Car Exhibition and Workshop by Steve Millstein, President and CEO of ATX Group, the world's largest independent telematics provider.

"What we've long considered as the basic tenets of the telematics business will change, essentially becoming ancillary, added-value benefits to a new core of services that leverage the fact the car is simply a node on an information network," said Millstein. "These new services will be data-centric and will integrate vRM (vehicle relationship management), driver interactive vehicle applications (DIVA), voice-activated Web access into the vehicle, information about the environment in which the vehicle is operating as well as real-time, diagnostics information about the vehicle's operation and performance."

The gradual transformation of telematics operations from call-center environments into data management centers has begun, driving the expansion of current telematics programs in both North America and Europe and providing new incentive for additional automobile manufacturers and other players -- new to telematics -- to enter the market.

"T3, or third generation, telematics services will transform every vehicle into a voice browser, a data router, and a node on a wireless communications network," Millstein added. The result will be continual, real-time access to valuable information about the vehicle and its performance, its environment, and its connectivity to the owner and driver."

Millstein cited four specific areas where telematics is in the process of expanding beyond its traditional core of subscription- and location-based emergency, security and navigation services:

Web Access -- Recent advances in the integration of natural language voice technology into the vehicle has finally enabled the delivery of an IP address to the driver's seat. Content providers are now ready to deliver "geo-casts" -- information that could be pushed or pulled to the vehicle depending on customer choice. This enhanced information -- most notably navigational directions and point of interest information -- will replace many of the navigational-oriented information currently provided through embedded and aftermarket navigation devices.

DIVA -- Driver Interactive Vehicle Applications allow the driver to continuously communicate with his vehicle, using any networked communications device to remotely control vehicle functions, to poll the car and its browser for information, or to download information to the car.

Remote diagnosis of the car's environment -- In the past, remote polling of vehicles has primarily focused on potential traffic flow information, but in fact the car can also probe in real-time the temperature, precipitation, air quality and road conditions at any given location as well as in-vehicle consumer behavior.

Remote diagnosis of the vehicle's actual performance -- To date, vRM or vehicle relationship management (measuring the actions of the vehicle and its driver/owner and customizing services based on those actions) has been primarily associated with diagnosing "under the hood" problems prior to a vehicle's arrival to the service bay. Tomorrow, data pulled from the vehicle will be used to better manage aftermarket parts and service, warranty and maintenance, leasing and financing, and to assist in the process of insurance claims.

Millstein cited two key developments in North America that signal the emergence of T3 applications -- BMW's decision to incorporate the four-year cost of its Assist telematics service, provided by ATX, into the MSRP of its vehicles and General Motors' decision to make its telematics service standard on every one of its vehicles. As a result, other Japanese and American automobile manufacturers are working on telematics deployment plans in North America.

Based in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area and Dusseldorf, Germany, ATX Group is the world's largest independent provider of telematics services for the automobile industry, serving both North America and Europe. ATX telematics services are designed to provide enhanced safety, security and driving convenience to vehicle owners. These services include location- specific emergency and roadside assistance, automatic collision notification, stolen vehicle recovery, remote diagnostics and real-time traffic and navigation assistance. ATX, the largest independent telematics provider not owned by an automobile manufacturer or telecommunications firm, also provides telematics services designed to help automobile manufacturers and their affiliated dealerships to use telematics data to reduce costs, enhance vehicle servicing, and more closely manage customer relationships. ATX services are provided to vehicle owners through the brand names of its customers -- Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Maybach, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. For more information, visit www.atxg.com.