Telecom Lead India: Based out of Bangalore, iTrans
Technologies is a provider of GSM-based wireless security and tracking
solutions with applications for both consumers and businesses.
The company was launched in 2008, by Mallesh Reddy, Ram
Honnavalli and Seetharam. The company offers Tcop, which is a mobile-phone
sized device which enables consumers and businesses to have network service
provider-independent two-way communication with their vehicles via SMS.
Mallesh Reddy, co-founder and CEO of iTrans Technologies
speaks about the company’s investment and expansion plans along with the market
challenges.
What are your marketing strategies?
The company markets its products via various modes, which
include participation in automotive exhibitions, tie-ups with auto accessories
department at car dealers and advertisements in print media.
The company also conducts market survey for awareness
among Bangaloreans about vehicle security is on the cards.
What are the new challenges in the market?
There is very Low awareness of the importance of vehicle
security and tracking. Also, many unreliable look-alikes are available in the
market with no clear differentiation which poses challenge for us.
In addition, uncertainty in the regulatory scenario for
network service providers further creates hurdles for the industry. Meanwhile,
convincing OEMs to install Tcop in cars and bikes in the factories is another
challenge that needs to be taken care of.
What are your future investments and expansion plans?
iTrans Technologies offers mobile wireless product
solutions, focused initially on the transportation sector. Other sectors such
as energy and facility Management will soon be added. Beginning with Karnataka,
the company has embarked upon a well-planned marketing exercise, to provide
affordable solutions to connect and secure vehicles – be it a four-wheeler or a
two-wheeler – through mobile phone technology. In the near future, the home
security product will be launched. The revenue target for the current fiscal is
Rs 5 crore. iTrans Technologies closed FY 2011-12 with revenues of Rs 2.5
crore. Currently, iTrans has a presence in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh and Kerala the firm intends to expand to pan-India in 2 years.
What is your business model and your partnerships and
alliances with telecom operators.
iTrans Technologies has a strategic relationship with
Vodafone for Technology, Network Access, Channel Sales and Customer Support.
The device runs on proven GSM-based technology.
Furthermore, iTrans Technologies has made an alliance
with Arrow Electronics for Research & Development, Sourcing and
Procurement. Arrow Electronics is a global provider of products, services and
solutions to industrial and commercial users of elctronic components and
enterprise computing solutions.
Some of the components are imported and are assembled in
Bangalore as per the customer demand. iTrans has tie-ups with car and bike
dealers and customers are educated about the significance of vehicle security
while they purchase the vehicles from there.
Which are the new technologies coming in for the vehicle
security segment?
The GPS technology has been used extensively in the West
and also in many developed Asian nations. In India, GPS technology is being
used mostly by high-end and luxury cars. GSM technology based security systems
are slowly gaining traction among the vehicle owners.
Car keys are expensive and also one of the items people
tends to lose quite often. Fingerprint door lock technology provides the
convenience of just touching and entering the car instead of digging into the
handbag and trying to find keys or sorting through several keys on a key ring.
Performance and image quality have become the main focus
in product development for vehicle security. In addition, in the West, mobile
cameras, mobile DVRs, ANPR cameras , specialized security vehicles,
vehicle location/ tracking systems and much more are increasingly becoming a
part of the emerging vehicle security ecosystem.
What are your products and offerings? What are your new
products in pipeline?
iTrans has core competence in telemetry products &
solutions. iTrans Technologies has products and offerings for several
categories that include Car and Bike Security, Personnel Tracking, Fleet
Management, Movable Assets Management, Public Bus Information System and Home
Security.
For Car and Bike Security, the company offers an
end-to-end solution that is built around unique and superior technologies to
enhance your car security system by enabling a two-way communication between
the car and its owner.
For personnel tracking, the company’s tracker solution
can be used to track the onsite employees of the office (Eg. salespersons,
Support or Service person) those can miss use the time or tell lie. While most
of the most of the features mentioned in personnel tracking are applicable, an
additional feature is also available.
For fleet management Tcop device can be used for fleet of
vehicles; for example taxis trucks, school buses and office transport buses or
cabs. The device helps in tracking all vehicles from the base office. The
supervisor in the base office can view the vehicle route traversed on Google
Maps.
iTrans Technologies launched a new technology solution on
March 17th,2011 to track the movement of public bus on your mobile. To find the
location of the bus, the commuter will have to send “FL” and reply
would give the exact location and status of bus, i.e, if it’s moving or
stationary.
During a trial run, five Bangalore Metropolitan Transport
Corporation (BMTC) buses were fitted with devices to track their movement and
convey the information to waiting commuters through cell phone messages. The
trial took place on March 17th, at one of the busiest stops in SG Balekundri
Circle, also known as Indian Express Circle. Commuters waiting for their
respective buses coming from Shivajinagar bus station showed much interest in
this technology pioneered by iTrans.
The solution tracks Bus fleet centrally from base office.
By using this solution, user can view latest location of any Bus fleet on
Google Maps. It also sends alert reports in case of route violations.
The company will soon launch its home security product in
a couple of months. iTrans also plans to launch solutions for sectors like
energy and facilities management.
What is the uniqueness of your products that makes you
different from your competition? What are your strengths?
For Tcop, there is no additional hardware required to
operate other than a mobile phone. It offers easy and quick installation
without altering the systems of the car/bike. It takes less than 15 minutes to
install and activate.
Furthermore, we offer remote customer support for 4 years
and s/w upgrades. We’ll soon introduce new features like sending the image of
the intruder via MMS to owner’s mobile phone and lock/unlock feature for cars
will be introduced soon.
Danish Khan
editor@telecomlead.com