News & Notes

Azuga

Azuga, a provider of connected vehicle and fleet technologies, recently announced the launch of Azuga Marketplace, a new digital platform that connects fleet customers with IoT sensors and back-office applications to help customers streamline operations, improve customer service and reduce costs. The suite of integrated applications, which includes tools such as fuel card integrations, video monitoring, enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management systems, seamlessly operates with Azuga software to help fleet managers reduce time spent on duplicative tasks between stand-alone applications.

“The Azuga Marketplace further enhances our value to our customers by tying critical field data with incumbent customer applications to provide better operational insight,” said Ananth Rani, CEO and co-founder of Azuga. “Azuga’s fleet tracking technology solutions already provide measurable ROI to our customers by reducing costs that typically result from employees’ risky driving behaviors, unexpected vehicle maintenance and inefficient routes. With the addition of Azuga Marketplace, customers will now be able to leverage their existing investments in back office applications and IoT sensors in connected vehicles.”

By combining Azuga’s fleet telematics solutions with the applications available through Azuga Marketplace, like Elite EXTRA, Salesforce and Milsoft Utility Solutions, fleet managers can now oversee payroll, dispatching, billing and other fleet-related tasks within the same software that they use to manage routes and monitor driver behavior. Additionally, by generating reports that demonstrate its technicians are practicing safe driving behaviors, businesses can also work with their insurance carrier on premium reductions.

Delta Five

Delta Five, makers of automated pest detection technologies for the pest management, hospitality and security industries, recently announced the launch of a new responsive website design.

The new site design highlights Delta Five’s refreshed look and feel with expanded resources and a greater focus on the applications and technology behind their remote pest detection system. “The website launch was a highly anticipated project for our team,” said Melanie Brinkley Ferlito, vice president of Delta Five. “We are pleased to provide users with a cleaner, friendlier user experience and are committed to becoming a leading online educational resource for remote pest monitoring. The Delta Five team is dedicated to growing our online content and resources for our website in the coming year.”

The new website has been fully reorganized with an easier to navigate menu and optimized for desktop, tablet and mobile use. Included are pages specific to the user’s applications as well as an in-depth product overview in the Features and Benefits tab. The site also contains easily accessible How-To video tutorials with an in-depth look at how the product works, customer reviews, a compilation of Delta Five in the news and a blog that will be regularly updated with value-added educational articles for its audience.

Massey Services Bridg

Massey Services, Orlando, Fla., recently signed an official partnership with BRIDG, which will provide Massey Services with the ability and opportunity to co-develop products utilizing BRIDG’s state-of-the-art microelectronics facility.

Located at NeoCity in Osceola County, Fla., BRIDG is a not-for-profit, industry-led public-private partnership for advanced sensors, optics, photonics and other advanced manufacturing devices. BRIDG provides research and development capabilities and microelectronics fabrication infrastructure for manufacturing processes and materials geared toward enhancing smart sensor innovation.

The partnership will continue to provide Massey Services the opportunity to leverage cutting-edge sensor technology that will benefit its customers and businesses. For example, the partnership helps drive innovation that can be applied in real-world situations, such as detecting pests inside the home due to sensor recognition and therefore contacting Massey Services. In return, Massey Services can contact and communicate to the customer exactly where the pest was located and schedule a time to service the home.

Harvey Massey, chairman and CEO of Massey Services, has been heavily involved with the evolution of BRIDG since the beginning stages of its inception. “I have always believed that BRIDG will be one of the most successful technology projects this community has ever seen,” said Massey. “The best-in-class research and development facility will continue to drive forward innovative products that will have significant impact on how companies can influence their customer’s daily lives.”

Chester Kennedy, chief executive officer of BRIDG, added: “With our facility now open and tools being installed, we are ecstatic to reach the stage where we can partner with Massey Services on the continued evolution of smart sensors technology. By leveraging our growing list of industry partners and the existing strengths of academic partners such as UCF, we strengthen Florida as a global leader of innovation. This partnership with Massey Services is instrumental in our forward momentum, and we look forward to this collaboration.”

PestRoutes

PestRoutes, a provider of business management software for the pest control industry, announced it has taken an equity investment from Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm that invests in fast-growing software companies. The company said it will use the capital to accelerate development of its cloud-based, mobile friendly software platform used by pest control firms to run their day-to-day operations. Additionally, PestRoutes will further invest in customer service to deliver high quality service its customers.

“This is an exciting moment in our company’s history,” said Jared Green, founder and CEO of PestRoutes. “We are proud to have built a product that makes such a big impact on our users’ daily lives. But we feel like we have just scratched the surface on the value we can provide with this platform and recognize that the opportunities in front of us are outpacing our resources. The time is right to bring on a partner who can help us move fast. Mainsail has not only demonstrated they have the experience and resources to help us scale the company, but fit very well culturally with the values which are foundational to our continued success.”

PestRoutes was created by Green to help with his door-to-door pest control sales. Green focused on building a solution that was powerful, yet easy-to-use by pest control businesses of all sizes. He also recognized the importance of mobile functionality for the end-user and took a “mobile first” approach to building the product.

“This is another case where a smart and resourceful entrepreneur created a solution to solve a very specific business problem,” said Stephanie Gaufin, vice president at Mainsail Partners. “Jared was his own first user as the sales manager in a pest control company which we have found tends to result in a very customer-centric approach to product development and top tier customer service,” added Gaufin. “PestRoutes is well positioned as an innovator in a growing and resilient market and we are excited to partner with the team to scale the company.”

Verizon Connect

March’s launch of Verizon Connect marks the completed integration of its existing connected vehicle division with two recently acquired fleet and mobile workforce management software companies under a single, combined brand. Verizon Connect is the culmination of more than $5 billion in investments, and offers customers a one-stop approach to connected vehicle software solutions and services that help drive safety, productivity and efficiency, the company says.

Verizon Connect provides the connectivity and data insights to enable its customers to be more informed about vehicle and worker location, efficiency, safety, productivity and compliance. Verizon Connect customers also benefit from the combined experience of 3,500 dedicated professionals and nearly 20 years of telematics, mobile workforce and fleet management expertise.

“One of the things we’re most proud of at Verizon Connect is the potential our current and future technologies have for massive societal impact,” said Andrés Irlando, CEO of Verizon Connect. “We’re working with customers to maintain cold chain integrity and keep perishable items safe during transport, routing customers’ vehicles more efficiently to reduce emissions, monitoring vehicle diagnostics to improve fuel efficiency, and providing a gamification app that helps customers recognize and reward their safest drivers, just to name a few.”

The Verizon Connect portfolio of solutions and services includes comprehensive fleet and mobile workforce management software platforms, embedded OEM hardware, and Hum by Verizon, a connected vehicle device that helps create a safer, smarter and more connected driving experience for consumers.

Former brands within Verizon’s connected vehicle portfolio including Verizon Telematics, Fleetmatics and Telogis have all been rebranded as Verizon Connect.