A Look at Verizon Telematics and the Challenges of Recovering from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

The movement and deployment of relief supplies and people is a real test for telematics. It pushes the technology to extremes as it has to manage special situations not commonly found in typical logistics operations of goods and services.

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Hurricane Harvey and Irma appear to become two of the costliest and most destructive hurricanes in US history. Telematics will play an important role in the recovery effort.

The flooding from Hurricane Harvey is unprecedented from the storm dumping more than 50 inches of rain. This rainfall is a record for a tropical cyclone in the contiguous US.

Once the flooding recedes, the business end of the recovery starts. Many retailers in the area need a resupply of products. Service industries will deploy cleanup crews and contractors.

Distribution centers will need to be restocked. Grocery stores will require new deliveries, especially perishable products, and relief agencies will require truckloads of supplies and food to help victims that lost everything.

All of this has to happen in areas where flooding destroyed houses, buildings, roads, street signs, and electricity and communications systems are down or operating at minimal capacity.

Enter Telematics

We asked Kelly Frey, VP at Verizon Telematics, to give us some insight on how Verizon Telematics helps solve unusual problems due to a hurricane or other natural disaster.

Mr. Frey, we appreciate you taking the time to answer a few questions on how your company solves the challenges of disaster relief or provides your clients with services in a disaster area.

Q: Please tell us a little about Verizon Telematics and how your company differs from others in the field?

A: Verizon Telematics is changing the way the world connects vehicles, people and the work they do, by developing and bringing to market the world’s leading IoT and connected vehicle and worker. By combining Telogis, Fleetmatics and Networkfleet, Verizon Telematics is now the largest provider of fleet and Mobile Resource Management (MRM) software solutions in the world. Our customers include small and medium-sized businesses, government agencies and some of the world’s largest enterprise fleets.

Q: Wireless connectivity is an important part of Telematics. But with any major disaster, there are wireless outages as cell towers are damaged. As a division of Verizon, how much input do you have to prioritize restoration of wireless services or deployment of temporary cell towers on important delivery routes?

A: In times of emergency, lines of communication are crucial. You can find out more about Verizon’s emergency preparedness capabilities here. Although Verizon Telematics cannot direct their restoration prioritization, our customers see the benefits of communication services that support important delivery routes being restored, along with the communities and businesses they serve.

Q: Most disaster relief efforts are an “All Hands on Deck” operation. Drivers and staff unfamiliar with local roads and conditions are often recruited to help in affected areas. Does your system offer features that help your client’s unfamiliar team members navigate safely through areas with damaged or missing street signs and landmarks?

A: Applying solutions such as Telogis Fleet to determine current location of vehicles without calling the driver and use of real-time traffic and crowd-sourced road data, can have a huge impact when first responders are reacting to emergencies in unfamiliar territory. Telogis Share also helps enable the sharing of fleets between partners to gain visibility into all assets and resources responding to an emergency event. These solutions can be very useful when navigation is hampered by downed street signs, damaged landmarks and where coordination of multiple service providers can improve the speed and efficacy of the response.

Q: How much experience and training can Verizon Telematics provide a client in disaster area operations?

A: Verizon has a long history of emergency preparedness training for our employees, partners and first responders. One of our leaders in this area is Jeff Scweitzer, our Chief Innovation Architect, who is very involved in a program called Operation Convergent Response. Our Operation Convergent Response (OCR) was the first large-scale demonstration of how networked services could be used to instantly provide information to first responders.

Q: Does your company engage in any internal disaster exercises to test your systems to either help disaster relief or provide operations in disaster struck areas?

A: Verizon has a long history of emergency preparedness training for our employees, partners and first responders. One of our leaders in this area is Jeff Scweitzer, our Chief Innovation Architect, who is very involved in a program called Operation Convergent Response. Our Operation Convergent Response (OCR) was the first large-scale demonstration of how networked services could be used to instantly provide information to first responders.

Q: Have you ever developed a feature in your telematics services that came from the experience learned during a natural disaster?

A: Verizon Telematics has a long history of unique and innovative solutions to support fleet operators and first responders in times of crisis. These capabilities were developed out of necessity for our numerous enterprise customers in the energy sector such as electrical and gas utilities, oil and gas producers and distributors, as well as law enforcement and governmental and NGO (non-governmental organizations) emergency service providers.

Q: Specific to Hurricane Harvey. Is there any aspect of this natural disaster that you believe is or will be different from others you encountered?

A: The sheer scale of the event is unprecedented and will be felt for months to come.

HURRICANE IRMA & CENTRAL MEXICO EARTHQUAKE

This story and interview was completed just before Hurricane Irma hit Florida and the Southeast United States and the 7.1-magnitude earthquake rattled and destroyed many buildings in Central Mexico.

Of course, many of the technologies and systems discussed here apply to the relief efforts for all disasters.

eCommerce sellers are genuinely concerned about shipping products to areas that are impacted by natural disasters. How do logistics companies take on the challenge of delivering products in a disaster zone?

With Verizon Telematics, we see a side of logistics that is rarely seen. And this is one being used today to help bring goods to impacted areas by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

The company is able to provide solutions for any size business and NGO to help rebuild areas. Small businesses with local delivery services are able to take advantage of the latest technology to help deliver goods to areas that need them the most.

Out of area suppliers can rely on logistics firms using advanced technologies to efficiently and accurately deliver their products.

Rebuilding will require materials and goods that may not be available in the local area. In that regard, an eCommerce business may be the lifeline for someone who is rebuilding their home or business.

And companies such as Verizon Telematics provide the necessary technology to get those supplies delivered.

We hope you found this in-depth article interesting and we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.