Webtech Wireless announces the launch of its new corporate identity, unveiled last week to employees worldwide, and being rolled-out across all of the Company’s operations over the coming months. The new identity will be applied to all marketing and communications materials, including the launch of a new website slated for early next month.

The new identity organizes and rationalizes the Company’s brands under a single corporate (umbrella) brand, with its three distinct product brands. Each is based on a common visual platform of icons, typefaces and colours, effectively creating a unified brand family.

“The idea of rebranding Webtech Wireless was first raised following the acquisition of Grey Island and its InterFleet® and NextBus® brands. It was clear that we were transitioning from a single solution company (Quadrant®) to one that could offer a comprehensive set of tightly integrated business solutions to an ever increasing variety of customers,” said Scott Edmonds, Webtech Wireless’ President and Chief Executive Officer. Adding, “The new brand identity is a logical step that communicates, to all stakeholders, that we continue to provide very specialized products and services, and that these are strengthened even more as an integral part of the new Webtech Wireless brand family.”

Introduction of new brand identity brings together the Company’s three product brands under one corporate umbrella brand

The new Webtech Wireless logo icon, a “W” constructed of three stylized arrows, will be used for the Corporate, InterFleet and Quadrant brands. Its design subtly conveys both corporate and product brand attributes: precise, efficient, direct, purposeful, fast and focused. The NextBus brand, a leading brand in the transit sector with a significant end-user audience, will sport its own icon—an “N” constructed of two stylized arrows in motion – that additionally conveys a dynamic, friendly brand personality to resonate with transit authorities and transit users. Both icons were designed to work well in web and mobile applications, where their use has superseded more traditional communications mediums.

With the launch, the Company will also reinvigorate its “Telematics for the Planet®” tag line, by applying it to all of its activities. Telematics for the Planet represents a multifaceted commitment to develop cost effective, location-based technologies that benefit our environment by reducing vehicle use and resultant CO2 and pollutant generation, as well as making reference to the Company’s global presence.

The new branding platform also sees the introduction of terminology that groups the Company’s various products into subgroups—MANAGER, LOCATOR, IN-CAB, etc.—thereby presenting a more cohesive and comprehensive solution to the marketplace. The platform also has the flexibility to incorporate additional brands in the future.

Webtech Wireless’ new identity not only encompasses the values of the Webtech Wireless brand and its products, but will also help it stand out against its competitors in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

HELCO truck

In addition to the Hawaii Electric Light Company’s (HELCO) success with reducing fuel consumption, using Webtech Wireless’ Quadrant location-based services (LBS) and telematics solutions (see previous Blog post), HELCO has also found Quadrant to be a necessary tool in times of crisis.

With its own home-grown volcanoes, the Hawaiian Islands are no strangers to nature’s fury. At the center of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii must also be prepared for dangers from its far-flung Ring of Fire neighbors—in the form of tsunamis.

Tsunami from Chile

The effectiveness of the Quadrant system in emergency situations was tested in February 2010 after the devastating 8.8 Mw earthquake in Chile, which put all of the Hawaiian Islands on tsunami alert. HELCO’s emergency plan was kicked into high gear, which meant immediately locating all of the company’s mobile resources and redistributing them to key points on the Island and HELCO installations, away from areas that could be vulnerable in a tsunami event. “It made such a difference to have that information available in real-time and on my computer so that I could easily direct our staff, and if needed, share that information with other emergency organizations,” said Kelvin Kohatsu, HELCO’s Fleet Administrator.

Fortunately, Hawaii was unaffected by the quake, but it was a good test of HELCO’s preparedness and the Quadrant system.

Quadrant GPS satellite image showing HELCO truck locations on the Big Island of Hawaii

Tsunami from Japan

On March 11, 2011, the tragic 9.1 Mw Sendai earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan, again demonstrated Quadrant’s usefulness in times of crises. As Pacific Rim nations raced to secure their coastlines before the tsunami hit, Kelvin was able to use Quadrant GPS to allocate trucks and drivers, and to prepare to assist with evacuations and clean up on the Big Island.

With a tsunami bearing down on the Hawaiian Islands, Kelvin rushed to HELCO’s headquarters to check that fuel acquisition, standby contractors, dispatch, and equipment were available and ready. In addition, he hurried to ensure HELCO trucks located in the tsunami inundation zone were relocated to higher ground.

As Transportation & Maintenance Unit Leader for the Logistics Team at HELCO, he credited Webtech Wireless’ Quadrant solution (particularly Dispatch Management) as crucial in supplying needed vehicles to support Operations. “GPS remote vehicle management technology is invaluable in these situations,” he claimed, adding that “having a comprehensive GSP system allows us to instantly locate units and plan for dispatch of those resources. Other organizations would use two-way communications, if they’re operational.”

During tsunami alerts, the Hilo International Airport runway becomes a main evacuation route

This first operational period lasted until the tsunami warning was lifted, which came the following day. After the emergency period passed, HELCO transitioned to the recovery period, where it supported Operations in clearing and cleaning up debris and damage from the tsunami, which fortunately was minimal.

Quadrant has also been of use in more minor situations such as when a localized oil spill affected Hilo Harbor and HELCO vehicles and personnel were involved in containment and cleanup efforts.

Citing safety and savings as its primary reasons, Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO) has decided to renew its Quadrant Enterprise service contact for an additional two years.

Within the first two years of deploying the Quadrant solution (2008-2009), HELCO realized a fuel savings of over 22,000 gallons (US). In 2010, HELCO saved an additional 18,000 gallons. Kelvin Kohatsu, HELCO Fleet Administrator, credits the impressive reduction and subsequent cost savings for their decision to renew the contract and attributes lower fuel costs to a combination of “GPS technology, driver training (operator knowledge), more fuel efficient vehicles, and improved dispatch management.”

HELCO, a subsidiary of HECO currently has Quadrant Locators in approximately 220 of its 240 vehicles and as part of the renewed service contract, will implement Job Management, using Garmin® in-vehicle navigation devices, which integrate fully with the Quadrant system. With the ability to enhance communication with drivers even more, it is expected that HELCO can expect even more dramatic savings over the next two years.

Hino Trucks hails its newest solution designed—in partnership with WebTech Wireless—to advance GPS telematics’ fleet-management capabilities in their trucks. The new offering, HINO INSIGHT, enables fleet managers to gain daily snapshots of their fleets’ critical diagnostics status and performance against established targets. One of the unique elements to Hino INSIGHT is the “Dashboard” main page of the HinoInsight.com web portal. Fleet managers can now use the INSIGHT Dashboard to access real-time vehicle data and driver information simultaneously.

The following excerpt comes from Hino Trucks’ new release of 31 March, 2011: