Teletrac, Inc., provider of metro fleet location information systems, announced an upgrade for FleetDirector, its main fleet tracking system, to run over General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks. The company says the upgrade enables FleetDirector to provide more expansive geographic coverage for its vehicle location capabilities in North America, and higher bandwidth transmission. Teletrac is also announcing Prism, a GPRS location unit that current FleetDirector users can install in their vehicles to upgrade to the GPRS communication backbone. The Prism unit is now part of the FleetDirector system package, which includes hardware installed in the vehicle, and Internet-based software that runs over the main office computer. "FleetDirector's overall mission is to improve fleet owners' bottom line, whether through enhanced productivity, customer service, or security," said Tony Eales, CEO of Teletrac, Inc. "Prism uses the latest wireless technology to improve on the benefits FleetDirector already provides while significantly increasing the geographic availability of our services." According to the company, FleetDirector tracks the location of commercial vehicle fleets in real time, streamlining fleet operations and giving fleet owners the tools to ensure that drivers remain productive and fulfill the needs of their customers. It also increases security by enabling fleet owners to locate and recover stolen vehicles. The Prism unit locates the vehicle using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, and communicates the location information to the Internet-based FleetDirector software via GPRS technology, a packet-based wireless communication service for data. The company says GPRS is designed to give users faster and easier access to data over the Internet with continuous connectivity, enabling applications such as Teletrac's FleetDirector to quickly communicate location information. GPRS also allows users to stay connected to the Internet at all times and download information faster, as no time is spent attempting to access a dial-up connection. The coompany says GPRS is widely considered part of the technology migration to third generation (3G) mobile networks that were built to provide faster data communications to a larger geographic area. With the upgrade, Teletrac now reaches more markets and will leverage third party sales channels located throughout North America. For more information on the Prism unit or Teletrac's full line of commercial vehicle location information systems, call 1-800-835-3872 or visit Teletrac on the Web at www.teletrac.net. About Teletrac
Teletrac, based in Garden Grove, Calif., is the originator of wireless metro location information systems. Teletrac says it has approximately 7,500 commercial fleet and consumer customers and has sold more than 100,000 of its tracking units throughout the U.S. The company's products give commercial fleet managers the tools to track their fleets' movements, ensure that their employees are meeting productivity goals and fulfilling the needs of their respective customers. Teletrac's customers include organizations such as the city of Houston, Texas. The company offers service in major metropolitan areas across the U.S., including Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Miami, Phoenix and Detroit. Teletrac is a private, wholly-owned subsidiary of UK-based Trafficmaster, Plc., the dominant quality traffic information provider in the worldwide telematics market.