Page 52: of Marine News Magazine (April 2012)

52MNApril 2012companies stay competitive and compliant. The second area is around compliance and making it easier to collect, manage and retrieve critical vessel data. Finally, we see demand for affordable and scalable fleet management soft- ware that integrates a variety of data ? fleet positions, mes- saging, navigational, regulatory, AIS ? into a single visual interface that is hardware agnostic. Scalability is an impor- tant factor ? today, Boatracs has fleets that range from 1 vessel to over 200 ? solutions need to be able to address the business challenges for a spectrum of fleet sizes today and as they change over time.? Noting the sometimes vast differences between blue and brown water operators, Rodrigues says, Some programs take millions of dollars and multi-years to install. How much time to get value? Inland operators typically cant afford either. And typically, customers dont have IT departments.? And, as provider of both operating software (adaptable to subchapter M applications for small vessels) and SATCOM, Rodrigues knows both sides of the equa- tion well and adapts his solutions to meet those chal- lenges. SEATEL: PERFORMANCE& CHOICEAtul Chawla, Sea Tels Product Marketing Manager, also weighed in. He says, Only about 7 percent of the 17,000 inland vessels around the world have VSAT communica- tions. It is a cost and they have to ask themselves, why do I need it? However, for many of these vessels, it is truly their home and their office, so broadband communication is important. VHF communication and cellular commu- nications is fine to a point, but there is a growing need in this market. Previously, there werent that many solutions available.? Sea Tel has a full range of low cost, high performing sys- tems that are easy to install in a few hours, in some cases. These include a 24-30? reflector for this market. A newer product ? their 3011 ? is a newer product for those going a little further out. Chawla also says that one size does not Royal Coatings Inc. EASY KOTE & VOID KOTE A one component water based modi? ed asphaltic coating providing good corrosion and mic resistance. Over 7000 vessels have been internally coated in over 16years. Disbributed by: Coating Systems & Supply 800-867-3127 www.royalcoatings.net Some of these customers pay less than $100 per month pervessel for airtime using our narrowband solution bundled with mapping and messaging fleet management software. At that price point, satellite becomes an affordable tool for companies of all sizes to be more competitive, efficient and profitable in a down economy.? Irwin Rodrigues, President & CEO, Boatracs