A well-organized in-campus transport system can be a blessing for any university; if it’s in place, well, otherwise things often get worse. Therefore, to avoid such eventualities, Arba Minch University recently has recently launched ‘Fleet Management and Tracking System’ to serve its community better. Click here to see the pictures.
With a fleet of 93 vehicles, AMU often faces unpleasant situations where staff members are left fuming owing to untimely, unplanned and dilatory services. FMTS system jointly devised by a team comprised of Computer Science and ICT staff members will remove traffic snarl-up and communication gaps to make services satisfactory.
ICT Directorate’s Director, Dr Hussein Seid, said, ‘‘It is an effective way to monitor vehicles and support drivers. The bottom line is customers, employees and vehicles will benefit from it as it improves delivery time, driver’s accountability and maintenance alerts.’’
‘‘It allows viewing onscreen vehicular movement live at any time. The route overlays will show exactly where fleet travels and utilizing a patented color-coded speed designation, it can show precisely where vehicle is moving, halted or has traveled and at what speed,’’ he adds.
Computer Science staff, Mr Animaw Kerie in his presentation said, it’s a package of multiple users with own set of privileges that supports simultaneous tracking of devices from different vendors. Linked to other mapping service providers, it allows one to customize by creating local address, wherein generated data will inform about vehicle’s arrival/departure time.
To ensure vehicle use in the assigned areas, it sends a text alarm if it does otherwise. It gives instant access to location and status of a vehicle and other mobile assets, thus improves maintenance, fleet supervision, and employee accountability. It also monitors unsafe driving and helps improve safety and security. The fact-file reports panel of a vehicle in general and specific plate number will enable costumer to customize reports to their needs.
Soon after the formulation of a policy document, issues like installation of hardware tracking devices for existing 93 vehicles; fuel consumption calculation and analysis module, SMS and E-mail alerts on vehicle's status quo, security and store photos taken from a camera connected to a GPS device will be looked into, Mr Animaw Kerie added.
Dr Hussein further said, the responsibility of maintaining this software rests with Transport Directorate. Few individuals are already being trained for its upkeep; the launching of FMT System has evoked overwhelming response from different quarters.
(By Philips Joseph: Corporate Communication Directorate)