Draft:Forward Thinking Systems

Forward Thinking Systems

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Introduction

Forward Thinking Systems.[1] is a company that provides telematics, video telematics, and fleet management solutions to the public and private sectors. These solutions help organizations manage their fleets, drivers, and assets, as well as overall driver safety. FTS utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify events that require driver coaching to encourage safe driving habits. Their main clients include transportation, logistics, & trucking; construction & heavy equipment; police & first responders; food & beverage service industries; waste management; and government municipalities and agencies. Additionally, Forward Thinking Systems offers U.S. Department of Transportation regulated emissions compliance solutions.

History

2005: Forward Thinking Systems (FTS) was established by CEO David Isler, CIO Stuart Lowenstein, and Aaron Slonim. The company launched with its first product "Fast Forward ERP”, an Enterprise Resource Planning platform. Although this product is no longer commercially available, it continues to be employed as their internal ERP system.

2007: Launched IntelliHub, a real-time fleet management platform to track, manage, and analyze fleet and field operations.

2014: Released FleetCam, a fleet vehicle camera system that includes road cams, driver cams, and externally mounted vehicle cams, as well as a single, all-in-one device equipped with a built-in MDVR.

2016: Launched Route Matrix, the fleet routing software that automatically creates optimized routes based on distance, travel time, and additional customizable factors.

2016: Field Warrior, mobile workforce management app, launched and released on Android and iOS.

2020: DriveShield, driver coaching system, launched and released on Android and iOS.

2021: Awarded a cooperative purchasing contract in the fleet and asset tracking solutions category at Sourcewell[2], a self-sustaining government organization offering cooperative purchasing of competitively solicited contracts to government, education, and nonprofit entities throughout North America.

2022: Collaboration with Toyota to offer embedded connected technology integration in IntelliHub to businesses with Toyota fleet vehicles, allowing vehicles to instantly stream data through IntelliHub without additional hardware. Additionally, several new features are added to the core products:

  • March: AI capability and a new learning management system introduced to the DriveShield application, providing managers a hands-off approach to both managing and coaching their drivers. Advanced AI facial recognition tools can detect who is on the road and when, and integrate with facial recognition technology to detect smoking, distracted driving, driver fatigue, cell phone use, and other behaviors.
  • July: An advanced weather module and new specialty icons added to IntelliHub geared towards government operations customers. The new map overlays include wind speed, temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, and sea level pressure.
  • September: Low-power mode and remote wake features added to FleetCam. This functionality allows users to download footage from a historical event or live stream without having to start up the vehicle. Low-power mode prevents the cameras from excessively draining the vehicle battery and, in the event that low battery voltage is detected, safety measures were added to ensure the camera powers down completely.
  • October: A time-lapse video feature introduced to the FleetCam and IntelliHub platforms. This feature allows customers to compress up to 60 minutes of footage into a single 4-minute time-lapse video, enabling users to review key historical video at 15X the normal speed.

2023:

  • January: Awarded a 60-month contract to provide telematics services to the County of Riverside, California, equipping Riverside County fleets with state-of-the-art GPS tracking software, including angle-based reporting and customized hierarchy.
  • February: Awarded a telematics contract[3] to provide GPS tracking services for the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD). The contract provides RTD’s non-revenue fleet of support vehicles with GPS software and hardware to optimize the Regional Transportation District’s transportation operations. This technology allows RTD to track its vehicles in real-time, monitor driver behavior, and optimize routing, fuel efficiency, and maintenance scheduling
  • June: Introduces Stream by Driver feature to FleetCam. The feature allows fleet managers to select and aggregate video streams based on a specific driver, rather than through vehicle-specific streams. Stream by Driver works with both live and historical video streams, tracking drivers across multiple fleet vehicles while capturing vehicle information, all camera footage, driver behavior events, breadcrumb trail snapshots, and more based on the selected driver. July: Awarded telematics contract to provide GPS tracking services for the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority. The contract includes approximately 700 support vehicles.

Products Forward Thinking Systems provides the following products:

IntelliHub Real-Time Fleet Management Software The IntelliHub platform provides a browser-based fleet management system to track, manage, and analyze fleet vehicles and assets. The platform compiles GPS location tracking, vehicle dispatching, route optimization, activity alerts and reports, IFTA reporting, video telematics, breadcrumb trails, and more in a single interface.
FleetCam The all-in-one fleet vehicle camera system An all-in-one fleet vehicle camera system, FleetCam performs live streaming of drivers and the road with views from up to eight fleet vehicle cameras. The system uses AI dash cams with an integrated driver coaching system and real-time, in-cab notifications to detect and alert drivers about unwanted driver behaviors, and connects with the DriveShield app to automate driver coaching. The system supports internal SD storage to automatically save video footage from all fleet camera angles, making the historical footage available to download without physically accessing the vehicle.
DriveShield Driver Behavior Coaching System The DriveShield app connects with the FleetCam system to automate driver monitoring and coaching of driver behavior events. Using a Driver Scorecard, drivers can review event videos, accept or dispute events, self-coach through minor safety issues, and enroll in video training lessons to correct unsafe behavior.
Field Warrior Mobile Workforce Management App The Field Warrior app is a mobile workforce management application that runs on Android, iOS, and approved Garmin devices. The app combines real-time GPS tracking, electronic logbooks, digital DVIRs, dispatching, navigation, signature capture, and more into one device.
Route Matrix Fleet Routing Software Fleet routing software that integrates with the IntelliHub management platform to build routes by automatically optimizing fleet stops into the most efficient order. The software customizes sorting preferences for time, distance, service, and other factors within an intuitive interface.

Awards and Recognitions

Forward Thinking Systems received a 2020 Bronze Stevie Award from the American Business Awards program in the New Product & Service – Business Technology category for Artificial Intelligence,/Machine Learning Solutions[4].

Patents and Certifications

Forward Thinking Systems was awarded several patents around compliance, driver behavior, and video analysis all based in the U.S.

Forward Thinking Systems FleetCam is certified by the FCC. FCCID: 2BBMVFCPRONA22[5].FleetCam awarded PTCRB certification[6].

Forward Thinking Systems is a certified service provider for the Emissions Continuous Monitoring program[7] for the state of Nevada.Forward Thinking Systems is a certified entity participating in the California Bureau of Automotive Repairs Continuous Test Program (BAR CTP)[8]

Forward Thinking Systems received an FMCSA exemption allowing motor carriers to operate CMVs equipped with the FleetCam device in the center-top of the front windshield.

Corporate Structure

Forward Thinking Systems has evolved into a multinational entity specializing in telematics and video telematics solutions, with an emphasis on driver safety and comprehensive data analysis. Headquartered in New York, United States, FTS maintains a dynamic global presence with significant operations in Europe. FTS has a team of over 80 professionals, providing services to thousands of clients located in 20 plus countries.

  1. ^ https://www.inc.com/profile/forward-thinking-systems
  2. ^ "Forward Thinking Systems: Contract 020221-FWD | Sourcewell".
  3. ^ https://www.canadiantransportationandlogisticstimes.com/article/610591664-forward-thinking-systems-provides-telematics-services-to-the-county-of-riverside-ca
  4. ^ "Search All Past Stevie® Winners and Finalists".
  5. ^ "Patents Assigned to Forward Thinking Systems, LLC - Justia Patents Search".
  6. ^ "Certified Devices | PTCRB".
  7. ^ "Emissions Continuous Monitoring". dmv.nv.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  8. ^ "Continuous Testing Program (CTP) Pilot and Enrollment Application".