In December we announced that Synop was the first EV charging and energy management solutions company to achieve Standard Partner Tier status on the Geotab Marketplace. Our blog on the announcement detailed the rigorous vetting process behind this achievement, validating our software’s ability for deep integrations and customization.
In order to demonstrate the cutting-edge capabilities that are possible for fleet managers when Synop’s AI-powered software is integrated with Geotab’s robust data infrastructure, Jared Carson, our Director of Sales, joined Maya Acierto, Marketplace Specialist at Geotab, and Clay Skelton, President at Origo for a webinar.
Safety First
The webinar kicked off with a demonstration of the OrigoInspect app, a tool designed to ensure fleet safety inspections are thoroughly completed by creating a time and location stamped GPS recording of the driver’s journey around the truck. The platform also equips drivers with the ability to immediately report abnormalities to fleet managers, who in turn can quickly provide any necessary feedback.
Through his demonstration, Clay Skelton highlighted the benefits of drivers using the Origo app on their tablets or phones to complete vehicle inspections. Key features included:
- Using both a step counter and timer to measure inspections
- Allowing drivers to combine inspecting multiple assets like the tractor and trailer at once
- Providing managers with a dashboard to view inspection exceptions
- Allowing drivers to take and annotate photos of defects
- Customizable inspection thresholds and defect lists
The Origo platform also automates reports such as: summary reports which surface drivers that need prioritized coaching, rules reports on inspection averages so thresholds remain accurate, and exception aging reports so drivers are given timely feedback from management.
It was clear by the end of the demo that the Origo app provides fleet managers with peace of mind through clear visibility into compliance and safety protocols.
Synop and Geotab: A Potent Partnership
Then our own Jared Carson took centerstage, managing to deliver an excellent demonstration without skipping a beat despite technical difficulties. Jared dove right into the reality that ensuring electric fleet vehicles stay up and running relies on real time data in a way traditional ICE vehicles don't. This makes the integration of Geotab’s telemetry data into the Synop platform a massive value-add, especially for mixed-fuel fleet managers.
To illustrate this difference, he pointed to our Minnesota Coaches case study, where managers and drivers had to account for the way cold weather impacts battery charge. He also shared a more recent anecdote of a client whose hardware stopped charging mid-session due to exceeding its minimum operating temperature of -20ºC! Thankfully, our dashboard made it possible to not only remotely restart the charge, but also to turn on the bus thermal, heating the cabin before the bus successfully completed its route with a full battery.
Jared then provided a product demonstration highlighting the many ways the Geotab and Synop platforms harmonize. Key features included:
- Synop’s hardware-agnostic flexibility, allowing fleet managers to select from over 20 different charging manufacturers.
- The ability to read a battery and its changing charge rate in a specific telemetry area, making home charging reimbursement possible without data privacy or network issues.
- How chargers can be tracked from within the MyGeotab platform and how to create custom alerts that use both Geotab telemetry data (ie location) and Synop data (ie state of charge).
- How to schedule things like charging sessions or site events, including V2G sessions so fleet owners can generate revenue by selling energy back to the utility.
Jared covered a lot of ground in a small amount of time, but what’s so exciting is there is so much more to share and even more to come. A big thank you to all participants and for those who weren’t able to attend, reach out! We’d be happy to schedule a demo just for you: https://www.synop.ai/contact-us.
