Real-time text traffic alerts will be available to AA members in Ireland at the start of next year as part of the company’s “location aware” information services.
Developed by Dublin-based Mapflow, the solution makes it possible to detect the location of the user and deliver up to date traffic information to both O2 and Vodafone customers.
The service can also be personalised to cover frequently used routes on a daily basis, such as the journey to work. “Only the most significant incidents can appear in a national or regional bulletin,” said Dennis Firsk, AA membership director. “This capability enables us to respond to each person’s request for traffic information, according to their individual location or route of interest.”
The solution takes advantage of cellsite location technology used by O2 and Vodafone that determines the whereabouts of mobile phones being used on the networks.
Speaking at yesterday’s Integrated Transport System Conference, Owen Keegan of Dublin City Council described it as “the sort of real-time information service we would like to see flourish”.
Mapflow has been developing location-based services, primarily for internet-enabled devices, since 1997.
