Top 5 Telematics Smartphone Apps

Telematics, essentially, involves the driver getting the device, having it installed (usually by a technician), followed by all the costs involved if the owner of the car misplaces it, breaks it, or simply no longer wishes to use it.

Some companies have come forward to offer an alternative – a Smartphone-based app. It can be argued that Smartphone’s are not built for tracking the activities of the car, but they have been created to track the user/driver and have all the necessary tools a telematics device would need for monitoring your driving habits.

MORE TH>N DRIVE

This app has been designed for the customers of the MORE TH>N insurance company. Like most telematics applications, it tracks the user’s information. However, it has one small difference – it uses "Auto-start Technology" to detect when you are driving and starts taking on its own.

Like other telematics operators, it looks at your speed and other driving habits using the phone’s on-board GPS tracker. It then scores your driving on a scale of 1 to 100. To encourage you to drive more safely, it compares your scores with those of your friends and family.

Direct Line Drive Plus

Direct Line has given telematics a big push with its application Drive Plus. The company uses a bespoke tracking unit for picking up all the parameters that help decide how safe your driving is. Additionally, it also has a Smartphone application that provides analytics and feedback.

The telematics unit keeps a track of everything – from speed, braking, miles driven, and acceleration, to cornering – something that not all apps can do. The collected data is sent to Direct Line, which analyses the same and tells you how safe a driver you are in percentage terms. You could also have them break it down to know how safe you are in different facets of your driving.

Drive Plus comes with a live journey map that tells you where you went on your journey, simultaneously showing the areas where you sped and where you’re driving was unsafe.

Admiral AppyDriver

This app is a smart way of roping in new customers. Every new user automatically gets a £10 discount. While this does seem quite regular, it also encourages people to download the app, irrespective of whether they are a customer or not. If a user drives up to 250 miles with the app running, and scores similar to the safest 10 percent of the safest Admiral drivers, then he gets a discount code, which when applied while signing up for new policies, guarantees a 25 percent discount!

While this is an amazing marketing activity feature, the app itself is pretty cool. You will be able to look up your driving habits right on the app. Various details – the distance of the journey, its duration, and the average speed of the vehicle – are available right in the app. AppyDriver also offers tips and advice about improving your driving on the base of each tab and tells you stuff you could do better.

Telematics

Not every telematics app out there has been designed for an insurance company. Telematics is an app that helps fleet managers who do not want to invest in hardware tracking solutions.

Although it is not as accurate or comprehensive as the systems created by big enterprise–focused companies, this application give basic fleet tracking functionalities, provided all the drivers have this app downloaded on their Smartphone’s. Once it is set up, you will be able to see a live map of all the vehicles and their locations. You will also have the details of each of the drivers and let them know if they are going too fast or are being too aggressive while driving.

If you wish, you can keep an eye on your drivers for invalid use of your vehicles for moonlighting. Every trip is tracked and the data is uploaded directly to your handset – in real-time!

Xemplar

This mobile app, quite new to the market, has been designed for customers and insurance agencies.

Xemplar is a comprehensive telematics application that will help track every data you need. For starters, it will show you the best possible route to save time, while letting you know about the traffic conditions that you are likely to encounter. You could use this information to chart out the path of least resistance.

You will be notified of when your vehicle needs a trip to the garage facilities, helping you keep your car in the best possible conditions. It also alerts you of the speed limit, letting you avoid speeding. It gives driving instructions for you to drive safely. You can later check your driving data to see how well you drove.

Our Thoughts:

The telematics seen on Google Play and iOS App Store are quite overwhelming. But, the surface has hardly been scratched.

If you want a new tracking application, do give these a whirl, for they are quite brilliant.

Prime Technology Group, LLC is a global, technology services company with innovation at the core of our business engagements. For more Information visit http://www.PrimeTGI.com