May 21, 2008
Fleet Safety Program Sends Driving Concerns to E-mail, Cell Phone
SANTA BARBARA, CA – Mission Linen Supply has recently contracted with
National Driver Accountability Program (NDAP) to use the latest technology to
monitor employees’ driving habits. The program is fully automated, using voice
recognition and the Internet as tools of accountability.
NDAP relies on the driving public to call a toll free number
on a bumper sticker when they see someone driving recklessly. Mechanical issues
and driver compliments can also be reported.
What sets the system apart is its use of the latest voice
recognition and Internet technologies to make the process automated and
seamless. Rather than using a call center full of telephone operators (and the
overhead required to support such a system), calls to NDAP are answered by an
automatic computer attendant that handles the call quickly and efficiently.
Participating vehicles have a sticker with a unique ID
number, in order for the caller to identify the vehicle, leave a message, and
then hang up.
Immediately after the message is left, the NDAP automated
attendant logs the call time, caller’s phone number, and the message in the
database. The system then contacts whoever is responsible for the vehicle that
was reported, and plays back the message. An e-mail is also simultaneously sent
to the responsible party. Included in this e-mail is the caller’s message,
which is attached as a .wav file for easy playback, as well as the caller’s
phone number and reported vehicle information.
The responsible party can then access the NDAP Web system to
associate the message with a specific driver, and build up a driver history.
Any steps taken to manage driver behavior can be tracked through the NDAP site.
Monthly and weekly reminder reports are generated automatically as PDF file
attachments to e-mail.