Ford Telematics maintenance extension connects fleet vehicle data to service center

For businesses using the Ford Telematics fleet management platform, a new option arrives this summer: connect your vehicle maintenance and diagnostics reports and data with the Ford service center of your choice.

Ford Motor Co. and Telogis, the automaker's telematics partner since 2011, are announcing the service at Ford's Fleet Preview event this week in Dearborn, MI.

According to Telogis, Maintenance Connect will be available for new and existing Ford Telematics customers and will:

— Deliver "an easy, proactive and efficient path" to improved vehicle maintenance,

— Provide access to certified Ford service technicians and parts, and

— Help reduce costs associated with unanticipated service needs and vehicle downtime.

Diagnostic capabilities

Through the Ford Telematics solution, Maintenance Connect delivers the severity of Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) and Ford's recommended course of corrective action, according to Telogis, and the service ties maintenance to actual vehicle usage. "Vehicles are very smart today; there's a lot of electronics and diagnostic capabilities in them to tell you when service is needed," says Greg Dziewit, the company's vice president of OEM business.

"A dealership could get an alert that there's a trouble code," he tells Fleet Owner. "They could proactively call and say, 'We've diagnosed this trouble code. We have availability for service tomorrow, and we actually have that part in stock.'

"That's really what we're trying to do," Dziewit contends. "We're creating a proactive relationship between the dealership and the customer around service and maintenance."

Fleet benefits

So the idea behind the new Maintenance Connect service is to create that relationship between Ford Telematics business users and the service center for more efficient vehicle maintenance and less vehicle downtime. And it can take pressure off the fleet in terms of having to manage maintenance, says Krys Grondorf, vice president of global corporate communications at Telogis.

For fleet managers using Ford Telematics, "reports coming in tell you your vehicles need to be serviced or there's some sort of issue," she says. "This new service capability can take the onus off them and automate that process.

"Now the dealership can help them schedule time or order parts, for example. It gives the dealership a larger role in the maintenance program," she continues. "This can take the worry out of it for fleet managers in not knowing whether their vehicles are being maintained, whether it's three vehicles or 300. It's a huge advantage."