The technology company Continental has marketed a new reader for driver cards and download keys – the VDO SmartTerminal which replaces the DLT Pro download terminal.
This latest generation of the stand-alone device is extremely easy to operate, according to the company. Thanks to a large touch display, and Wi-Fi, it ensures the uncomplicated transfer of data from the terminal to the PC.
“We have now developed a future-proof solution thanks to which fleets can easily fulfill all their legal obligations, from downloading to archiving and visualizing mass storage and tachograph data. This also applies for the new DTCO 4.0 intelligent tachograph,” explains Edmund Mattes, the Continental product manager responsible for the new solution.
The device is designed to accept first- and second-generation driver cards. The developers also claim to have made the software design even more intuitive. The VDO SmartTerminal will be available from specialist retailers or the VDO Webshop at www.fleet.vdo.com from the beginning of December 2019.
The VDO SmartTerminal is stand-alone solution and does not require an operational PC in the background to read driver cards and download keys. It can be placed on a table or mounted on a wall, either in the common room, or in the reception or entrance areas. This provides more flexibility for the drivers and managers of fleets in which the drivers themselves read out the data from the mass memory and driver card at any time, independent of office hours. The driver card or download key is inserted into the download terminal, the data is shown on the display and then downloaded to the device.
The new 7-inch, robust touch display makes the whole procedure easier and faster thanks to the new design’s self-explanatory menu navigation, which also facilitates the checking of drivers’ individual activities and licenses. The card is inserted, downloading starts immediately and optical or acoustic signals inform the user if any manual action is necessary. If a language has been preset on the driver card, the terminal’s menu opens automatically in that language. Twenty-nine languages are available, all individually selectable.
Thanks to Wi-Fi, fleet managers can now transmit data wirelessly from the VDO SmartTerminal to the company network more easily and much faster. The familiar USB and ethernet interfaces remain unchanged. Thanks to the Automatic Uploader transfer tool, just one click also makes the data available in the VDO TIS-Web fleet management software, which enables fleet managers to carry out a wide range of analyses, making their operations much more efficient. The revised software design of the VDO SmartTerminal corresponds to the latest TIS-Web DMM 5.0 version. The recognizability of the two solutions designed for the DTCO 4.0 ensures simple handling in daily operation. Continental has also equipped the VDO SmartTerminal with a Kensington lock to secure it against theft.
There is also a Quick Start Guide that helps users to set up the terminal quickly and easily. If several devices are installed, the settings can be copied, and all the terminals can be put into parallel operation in just a few seconds. The data of the different terminals can be centrally managed by companies which have several sites.
Source: Continental
