THE SMART WAY TO DRIVE BY A LONG STRETCH

Big Brother housemates may not have found themselves in the house, but they sure won’t get lost once they are evicted. A1 Limousines, a prestige chauffeur company, has a number of celebrity clients, including the voted out Big Brother participants. The vehicles come with all the latest technology and are all being fitted with Smartnav, an advanced satellite navigation system from Trafficmaster.

A1 Limousines has 35 vehicles that range from stretched Hummers, which seat 20 people, through to Bentleys and a chauffeur driven fire engine. Most cars are imported from America with state of the art lighting and in-car entertainment. However one thing they were missing was a satellite navigation that would help make the chauffeurs’ job easier and provide a more professional service.

As part of a company review, A1 brought in Sunley Communications Ltd, a communications solutions provider, to look at how administration and booking processes could be improved.

Marc Hurworth, sales manager at A1 Limousines, comments:
“Every time a booking is made the amount of paperwork generated is enormous. Not only do we have to raise invoices and order forms, but we have to print out up to 15 maps from Multimap or Streetmap to provide enough detail for our drivers to reach the collection point and get to the final destination.”

He adds: “With a lot of high profile clients and important events such as wedding and business meetings, quality of service is critical and this depends on the driver getting to the job on time with calm professionalism. Having to read maps on bits of paper just makes the drivers job stressful and complicated.”

Sunley Communications offer a comprehensive service that includes both provision of consultancy and product. In this capacity it looked at cost effective ways that would reduce the paperwork and help drivers to provide a better service.

Director of Sunley Communications, Nick Frangione, says:
“The solution to all this paperwork and stress free driving was satellite navigation. However the system had to be easy to use - so that the driver could also concentrate on the passengers’ requirements, it had to be accurate - so the service would not be compromised and unit had to be discrete – so that the dashboard’s existing equipment was not obscured. Smartnav ticked all these boxes.”

Smartnav is operated through one simple button on the dashboard, which connects the driver to a Smartnav PA, a real operator who takes down the destination details and puts them into a central computer. The computer uses Trafficmaster’s up-to-the-minute traffic information to calculate the optimum route, which is downloaded straight to the car. The driver is then given clear turn-by-turn verbal instructions right to the door.

Hurworth comments:
“Our drivers are all eagerly awaiting Smartnav to be fitted into all the cars. Working on some of the busiest roads in the UK, means that drivers are often at risk of arriving late. However Smartnav will warn them of any delays and where possible, guide them around the traffic jams. With Smartnav drivers will have greater control of their day and can accurately advise clients of their estimated time of arrival.”

With round the clock support from Smartnav PAs, the system also has the advantage of helping drivers find the nearest cash point or nightclub, a priority on a fun night out! The PAs also provide emergency and breakdown assistance.

Sunley Communications has worked with Smartnav to provide the complete ideal satellite navigation system for A1 Limousines. The system has been customised so that drivers have headphones and can therefore receive instructions without disturbing the passengers. There are also plans for the routes to be accessed by the administration office so that the company can locate a car easily and send it onto another job within the vehicles vicinity.