General Motors has launched a new platform specifically designed for small businesses to access key vehicle information such as location, fuel level, distance driven and maintenance needs at any time. The new fleet vehicle management service known as Commercial Link uses data provided by the embedded OnStar hardware and aims to provide small business owners with a detailed, near real-time view of their vehicle operations to more efficiently manage their fleet. Additionally, it saves owners the cost of adding aftermarket hardware to access their vehicle data.
Commercial Link is available on most 2015 model year and newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles, giving customers with an active OnStar account instant access to vehicle information through a website for $10 per vehicle per month. A Commercial Link mobile app will also be available this summer for both Android and Apple devices.
With Commercial Link, users can monitor the following:
Location
View the current location or route of any registered vehicle and access its location history.
Fuel
Monitor vehicle fuel consumption rates and view fuel efficiency reports to achieve cost savings.
Speed
Encourage safe driving behaviours and protect equipment by monitoring vehicle speeds and assigning speed email and text message alerts.
Maintenance
Receive service and maintenance notifications to stay on top of needs and reduce vehicle downtime.
Reporting
View simple to read charts and graphs, including consolidated reporting for year-end analysis and business expense purposes.
Commercial Link can be customised around the needs of each user, allowing for personalisation of account dashboards and the ability to set up text or email alerts around sensitive items, such as if a driver is low on fuel or requires vehicle maintenance.
In addition to Commercial Link, most 2015 model year and newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles have recently been equipped with OnStar 4G LTE, which provides a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot for up to seven mobile devices to connect.
The Wi-Fi hotspot works both in and around the vehicle when the vehicle is on or in accessory mode. This allows drivers to utilise their vehicle as a mobile office, allowing them to send and receive emails while parked at job sites. Most GM vehicles come with a three month or three gigabyte data trial. After the trial ends, 12 gigabyte and 24 gigabyte plans, specifically designed for fleets, are both available for purchase. One gigabyte of data equates to approximately 10,000 emails or 70 hours of surfing the Web.
Here in Malaysia, the only GM brand that is available is Chevrolet, but even that operation is small. However, the idea behind Commercial Link is what companies need for a more efficient fleet management system without resorting to aftermarket solutions.
