Lytx introduced the Unisyn platform, a wholly new video telematics model that gives video access to fleets and field operations of all sizes and profiles.
Lytx launched the video telematics category in 1998, combining video capture of road incidents such as hard braking or sudden swerving, data analysis of those incidents, and personalized coaching insights to improve driving behavior. Today, Lytx helps protect more than 600,000 commercial and government fleet drivers under its DriveCam exception-based video program.
"Our award-winning DriveCam program has been the gold standard for exception-based video safety programs for coaching drivers, and nothing changes – it will continue to serve clients who want video captured solely upon triggered events," said Lytx Chairman and CEO Brandon Nixon. "But for some organizations, another priority is visibility into their fleet and field operations in a way that can be tailored to their business intelligence needs."
The new Unisyn video telematics platform works side by side with the DriveCam platform for those fleets that wish to take advantage of their complementary benefits – using DriveCam's exception-based video to help prevent collisions through programmatic coaching, and Unisyn's video to track, monitor and act on fleet and field operations.
The Unisyn platform features always-on access to up to seven days – or more, depending on the user- chosen resolution -- of cloud-connected video. Organizations can access, review and manage video from their fleets and field operations when, where and how they want, in real time, or a few days after an incident has occurred.
"For some fleets, safety may be balanced against operational efficiency and/or security priorities, which can be addressed through the ability to observe and track vehicles in all aspects of their day," he continued. "In DriveCam, we're focusing on the driver, and with Unisyn our primary focus is the fleet operations."
Expandable, flexible and configurable cameras
A proprietary combination of hardware and wireless network technology enables the Unisyn platform to integrate and synchronize high-definition video from as many cameras as a client wishes, including, but not limited to:
- Forward-facing to capture what's in front of the driver
- Side view to capture activity adjacent to the vehicle
- Side-mirror to capture activity both adjacent to and near the front of the vehicle
- Rear view to capture activity behind the vehicle
- Cargo interior to capture activity within the cargo hold
- Dock/warehouse to validate activity in the presence of the vehicle
- Interior to capture situations of security concern within the vehicle
- Resulting video and corresponding telematics data can be accessed from the cloud in real time or on demand, from virtually any cloud-connected device including iOS and Android mobile devices.
Fleet decides what video to access
"Access to video telematics has, until now, largely been driven by safety needs, and dictated by fleet size," said Sathyanarayana K, research manager for Automotive & Transportation for Frost & Sullivan. "The Unisyn platform's flexibility and elegant simplicity essentially democratizes access to the power of video. It's a turning point in the telematics industry."
"The Unisyn platform revolutionizes traditional video telematics in a number of ways," Nixon said. "It clears a path for all fleets, regardless of size and complexity, to put our world-class video capture to work protecting their businesses."
Unisyn puts power into the client's hands to configure not only their own slate of safety and fleet optimization services, but also to choose the precise level of risk they wish to monitor in their fleet. Because the Unisyn platform gives fleets the freedom to configure their own solution, organizations can start with video capture of collisions and consequential driving events and at the same time adopt services to enhance fleet productivity and performance, such as fuel management or fleet tracking. They can, in essence, assemble their wish list of features that can help them achieve their unique business objectives.
Customized risk management on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis
In addition to choosing which cameras and where they're placed, vehicle-by-vehicle, Unisyn users will be able to tailor their program configuring myriad settings, including:
- Event recorder sensitivity. Company policies, state regulations, routes and even vehicle type can influence what a fleet manager may want the cameras to capture and to what degree. The Unisyn platform gives fleet managers the choice to turn on specific event types and set parameters for each event type.
- Flexible, customizable video tags: Unisyn's tags are used to capture, categorize and catalog video according to each organization's individual needs, whether by location, time of day, by driver, by vehicle, by type of driving event or more. You choose the tags that will help you access the video you need to inform your fleet and field operations.
- Video retrieval policies and escalation rules. Set up video retrieval policies and escalation rules based on the data accompanying tagged video. Flexible data filters allow you to extract actionable insights for your fleet and field operations in real time and at any time.
Tagging video, in particular, can deliver powerful benefits to a variety of business. For example:
- For loss prevention: Video can be tagged each time a cargo door is opened, making it easy to identify who is touching cargo, where, and when.
- To mitigate false claims: Video can be tagged to trigger when a passenger boards or disembarks a transit vehicle to help show the facts in the event of personal injury claims.
- For proof of delivery: Video can be tagged at specific destinations to serve as proof of conditions at a loading dock on a particular day, at a particular time.
The Unisyn platform delivers the full spectrum of pure visibility from events to assist with driver exoneration to leveraging that visibility to take action for prevention of future collisions.
"There are dozens of dynamics at play when a video telematics solution is deployed that affect just how much risk a fleet manager can address, and needs can change over time," Nixon said. "We are providing every option for Unisyn platform users, giving them the ability to extract more risk and add new features when they're ready."
