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CENTENNIAL, COLO.– 15 September 2003
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) has contracted
CompassCom Inc. to provide Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology and
GIS mapping support for a major mosquito control program. FKMCD purchased CompassTrac™,
the mobile positioning and fleet tracking component, and CompassFDE™,
the universal AVL server, from the CompassCom suite of products. Central
to this program’s success, the CompassCom AVL solution is being used to
monitor the locations of insecticide spraying vehicles.
Amid concerns over West Nile Virus and other mosquito-borne diseases,
FKMCD has equipped two helicopters, two airplanes and field trucks with
insecticide spray devices. To run an effective mosquito control program,
FKMCD must track where each vehicle is located, what insecticide is being
dispersed and where the disbursement has occurred.
The CompassCom suite of GPS-based AVL products will accomplish this by
monitoring the locations, heading, speed and insecticide applications of
all in real time. This information is displayed on a computer map screen
at FKMCD headquarters in Key West, Fla., where dispatchers follow the
progress remotely and radio instructions to personnel as necessary to
ensure that all target areas receive the prescribed amount of insecticide.
“CompassCom provided the best product for us to track and dispatch our
vehicles. The CompassCom product also provides detailed reports to ensure
personnel are spraying where they are supposed to and not within the
boundaries of the National Marine Sanctuary,” said Mike Spoto, District
Superintendent, FKMCD.
CompassCom provided the agency with hardware, installed the GPS devices,
and designed the AVL system infrastructure. For this project, CompassCom
selected TechnoCom Corporation’s Programmable Event Generator™ smart
mobile device software and LM Exchange™ mobile management middleware, as
well asTechnoCom’s Location and Messaging Unit (LMU) devices that
incorporate GPS location with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). The
District's choice of AT&T Wireless GPRS service will allow for a
significant cost savings in airtime charges and will allow for high
bandwidth wireless access to their servers for remote data collection and
upload.
The CompassCom AVL solution produces a variety of useful fleet reports,
including a “Stop Logs” report to show where vehicles traveled and the
stops made along the way. The “DiscreetReport” shows when vehicles
were in the field, how long they were in the field and the types of work
completed. FKMCD uses this for replaying the day's events. The agency may
also run queries against the database for historical fleet analysis. These
fleet reports include mileage, speed, number and length of stops, and
insecticide spray statistics. The historical report not only clearly
demonstrates the spraying activity over a period of time, but also
provides information useful for cost analysis.
In the future the FKMCD is looking at incorporating CompassTrac™
into the field managers vehicles, which will enable field supervisors to
monitor field crew location and activities from the manager's own vehicle
in real-time.
CompassCom was established in 1994 as a product and service provider
for Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographic Information System (GIS),
and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) markets. CompassCom offers complete
GPS and GIS solutions as a business partner with Trimble Navigation,
AT&T Wireless and ESRI Inc.
For more information contact:
CompassCom
Kevin Corbley
970-266-9292
www.compasscom.com
Florida Keys Mosquito Control District
Mike Spoto
District Superintendent
5224 College Road
Key West, FL 33040
(800)276-7493
mspoto@keysmosquito.org
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