AMI launches Falcon-i in India

CHENNAI, INDIA: American Megatrends India (AMI India), the Indian subsidiary of US based American Megatrends Incorporation today launched Falcon-i, the real time vehicle tracking system (VTS) in Chennai.

S Machendranathan, IAS, principal secretary - Transport Commissioner unveiled the Falcon-i VTS. "It's a great honor and privilege to launch such an important device. It's very important for people in the logistics and transportation field. For us, such product can help to keep check on the buses and also bring the cost down," said Machendranathan.

According to S. Shankar, president, American Megatrends Inc., “This is a proud moment for our India operations as we see the Vehicle tracking market is expected to grow beyond the current USD 35million. The customizable VTS is fully developed, conceived and designed by the AMI India.”

He added that their faith in their people is reflected in the launching of a branded VTS solution suited to the Indian market. AMI India is an extension of our research and development operations in US. Falcon-i is fully conceived, designed, developed and manufactured in India. This is a first step for AMI India towards developing other such solutions and products in the Telematics market.

The BIOS, diagnostic and storage company is targeting Falcon-i at the logistics and BPO industry. The fleet and tracking monitoring solution provides desired information to vehicle owner and helps to take informed decision to enhance the productivity of operations.

The tracking device, consisting of a GPS/GPRS unit, constantly send out information about the vehicle position, speed, distance traveled and even a duration of each halt. This information could then be accessed from a central location via a website or a mobile phone.

Features includes validation of time departures, identification of the nearest vehicle from place of pick-up/ accident, instant alerts against any threats to vehicles and driver, reports on detour and over speeding, along with authenticated trip summary reports.

Technically, the system offers real time tracking, IP 65 compliant, SiRF Star III GRS receiver, dual compatibility for redundancy, and extensive reporting support.

For the BPO industry, it offers personnel tracking that ensures safe and efficient transport system for employees and institutions with two way communication. Supports multiple methods of tracking and alerts including GPS, GRPS and RFID.

"Falcon-i will help to streamline entire logistic operation. Our VTS will cater to more then 40 percent of the current market needs in terms of monitoring, controlling and managing large fleets," said Sridharan Mani, director and CEO, AMI India.

Mani added that its took over a year to doing researching and testing out the technology and there after developing firmware, hardware, software and manufacture the unit completely. The pricing of VTS depends on the model and its features; however Mani said a single unit ranges from Rs.10000 to Rs. 58000. It will be available in the market via AMI India's channel partners and distributors.

According to Frost and Sullivan study, the revenue earned in Indian Telematics market was US 6.4 million dollars during 2005 and is estimated to reach US 78.2 million dollars by 2011.