Sunday, December 18, 2005
BPO tragedy in Bangalore
It was with shock and horror I read about the awful tragedy of Prathiba, a BPO employee who was raped and murdered in Bangalore. Read here for the story from Indian Express.
And I got thinking to see if there was a technology that is instantly available for companies to track the drivers that provide transportation and logistics services to these firms that work round the clock. Typically third party vendors provide these transporation services to the IT and BPO companies. This unfortunate incident could have been avoided if some kind of tracking techology had been installed to track the movement of the vehicles and their drivers.
I researched on the Internet and found out that there are companies in India that have an instant and off-the shelf solution available to track the drivers of these cars. Among others, there are two companies: Mobiapps and Mobiance that provide a tracking service appear to be a good fit.
Mobiapps offers a traditional GPS solution that requires a tracking device be installed in the vehicle to track the movement of the vehicle and its driver. From what I can gather Mobiapps requires a chip in a device that can help in the tracking of vehicles. This might be an expensive proposition since a special device needs to be installed in every vehicle to track its movements.
Mobiance, on the other hand, uses something called location-based services. It appears that they use the location of the mobile phones to track the movements of the mobile phone user. So, this appears like a feature -based service that a telco or wireless provider offers to their end-users. This technology does not need a chip or a special GPS device to be installed in the vehicle. Therefore this might be an economical solution that can be instantly deployed by the transporation and logistics provider to the IT and BPO companies.
Since there are technologies available to track the movement of the vehicles and their drivers, it only seems logical that BPO and IT companies make it compulsory to install such a service in all their cars. There are thousands of female workers that work round the clock in various IT and BPO companies, and every step must be taken to protect their lives.
And I got thinking to see if there was a technology that is instantly available for companies to track the drivers that provide transportation and logistics services to these firms that work round the clock. Typically third party vendors provide these transporation services to the IT and BPO companies. This unfortunate incident could have been avoided if some kind of tracking techology had been installed to track the movement of the vehicles and their drivers.
I researched on the Internet and found out that there are companies in India that have an instant and off-the shelf solution available to track the drivers of these cars. Among others, there are two companies: Mobiapps and Mobiance that provide a tracking service appear to be a good fit.
Mobiapps offers a traditional GPS solution that requires a tracking device be installed in the vehicle to track the movement of the vehicle and its driver. From what I can gather Mobiapps requires a chip in a device that can help in the tracking of vehicles. This might be an expensive proposition since a special device needs to be installed in every vehicle to track its movements.
Mobiance, on the other hand, uses something called location-based services. It appears that they use the location of the mobile phones to track the movements of the mobile phone user. So, this appears like a feature -based service that a telco or wireless provider offers to their end-users. This technology does not need a chip or a special GPS device to be installed in the vehicle. Therefore this might be an economical solution that can be instantly deployed by the transporation and logistics provider to the IT and BPO companies.
Since there are technologies available to track the movement of the vehicles and their drivers, it only seems logical that BPO and IT companies make it compulsory to install such a service in all their cars. There are thousands of female workers that work round the clock in various IT and BPO companies, and every step must be taken to protect their lives.
Comments:
<< Home
Isnt it ironical? "slow-moving" PSU transport company (KSRTC) already tracks its buses, but Pvt. cos dont do it for their (leased) vehicles!
It definitely is ironical that KSRTC has a tracking system in place. I wonder what it will take for these privae companies to install such tracking sysems. Should the IT and BPO companies make it a requisite that their leased vehicles have such systems installed? And these tracking systems may provide sufficient deterrence for such horrible crimes from taking place.
Hey,
you are talking about thousands of cars/buses. So do you mean that you outsource the tracking part also? And what if the outsourced party as in this case, is also involved? And if you automate the system, you have to have the roads and the route taken by the vehicle mapped to find any deviation. So how do you deal with this?
Yeah, the hi-tech solutions sound good, but then it has to be implemented too.
Regarding the KSRTC part, those buses are checked how long they are standing still, and non-precise location tracking. So you can do the checking after the event has taken place.
But the solution that you are talking about has to happen in real time. Think about it.
you are talking about thousands of cars/buses. So do you mean that you outsource the tracking part also? And what if the outsourced party as in this case, is also involved? And if you automate the system, you have to have the roads and the route taken by the vehicle mapped to find any deviation. So how do you deal with this?
Yeah, the hi-tech solutions sound good, but then it has to be implemented too.
Regarding the KSRTC part, those buses are checked how long they are standing still, and non-precise location tracking. So you can do the checking after the event has taken place.
But the solution that you are talking about has to happen in real time. Think about it.
# posted by 
: 1:33 AM
: 1:33 AM
Hello Anonymous:
I was pointing out that there are solutions available to track the cars and the drivers. You need to search for solutions to prevent such horrible crimes from taking place. Talking about finding solutions is a good and strong staring point. We need to be solution-based, and that is where I was coming from. Obviously this means you have to evaluate the product(s) and see if it works and fits your requirements.
There is a hardware cum software solution provided by Mobiapps, and then there is a software-based solution that Mobiance seems to offer. And, there must be other like these two companies that have similar solutions.
I did not mention anywhere that the solution needed to be outsourced. I said a solution can be implemented, and what that implies is that you need to look at the pros and cons of each solution, and find out which suits you (the company) and implement it.
A tracking system helps the IT and BPO companies, and the supervisor of the transport logistics system (the actual guy on the ground who manages the fleet of cars and vans) assess where a particular driver is located, and you can reach him on his mobile phone.
If you need more technical details you might want to read the white papers (not sure if they are available) for these products or these solutions.)
The KSTRC tracking sysem might have a different goal and they might not be specifically interested in just tracking the driver of the vehicle. I do not know what goals or what KSTRC wants to achieve by implementing this sysem.
And to your point about "you are talking about thousand of cars/buses..." Yes, there are thousands of cars and buses whose drivers have cell phones. How do you provide a billing statement for millions of cell phone users? Simply put you have a central database and a reporting tool that pulls out each user's usage and prints out a statement. And viola! you have your monthly statement. Similarly, you can use the same mobile phone to enable it and track the movement of the user. What that means is that you will have a 3rd party software (Mobiapps and Mobiance) who can help you (the company) with the tracking the users.
I was pointing out that there are solutions available to track the cars and the drivers. You need to search for solutions to prevent such horrible crimes from taking place. Talking about finding solutions is a good and strong staring point. We need to be solution-based, and that is where I was coming from. Obviously this means you have to evaluate the product(s) and see if it works and fits your requirements.
There is a hardware cum software solution provided by Mobiapps, and then there is a software-based solution that Mobiance seems to offer. And, there must be other like these two companies that have similar solutions.
I did not mention anywhere that the solution needed to be outsourced. I said a solution can be implemented, and what that implies is that you need to look at the pros and cons of each solution, and find out which suits you (the company) and implement it.
A tracking system helps the IT and BPO companies, and the supervisor of the transport logistics system (the actual guy on the ground who manages the fleet of cars and vans) assess where a particular driver is located, and you can reach him on his mobile phone.
If you need more technical details you might want to read the white papers (not sure if they are available) for these products or these solutions.)
The KSTRC tracking sysem might have a different goal and they might not be specifically interested in just tracking the driver of the vehicle. I do not know what goals or what KSTRC wants to achieve by implementing this sysem.
And to your point about "you are talking about thousand of cars/buses..." Yes, there are thousands of cars and buses whose drivers have cell phones. How do you provide a billing statement for millions of cell phone users? Simply put you have a central database and a reporting tool that pulls out each user's usage and prints out a statement. And viola! you have your monthly statement. Similarly, you can use the same mobile phone to enable it and track the movement of the user. What that means is that you will have a 3rd party software (Mobiapps and Mobiance) who can help you (the company) with the tracking the users.
Good One, Atleast you are talking something that makes sence instead of just condeming the incidence
# posted by : 2:59 PM
: 2:59 PM
Hello Anonymous:
Whatever made you think I was not condemning the incident? I am outraged that such an incident took place, and I cannot believe that more is not being done by companies to tackle this issue. These BPO and IT companies are IT-enabled companies, with tech-savvy guys who run their operations, and if there are solutions staring at their face then they need to implement them! These are the very same companies who will set up a VPN for you so that you can work from home. They will get your PCs up and running in no time, and they have high-levels of security to enter their buildings?
Kamla
Post a Comment
Whatever made you think I was not condemning the incident? I am outraged that such an incident took place, and I cannot believe that more is not being done by companies to tackle this issue. These BPO and IT companies are IT-enabled companies, with tech-savvy guys who run their operations, and if there are solutions staring at their face then they need to implement them! These are the very same companies who will set up a VPN for you so that you can work from home. They will get your PCs up and running in no time, and they have high-levels of security to enter their buildings?
Kamla
<< Home
