Transit AMS’s Jim Nihan on Orion for Public Transit and Transportation

Transit organizations are in a continuous struggle to improve efficiency and safety and provide better rider services or experiences. While the transportation industry is often slow to adopt change, its communications technology has truly lagged behind and is now ripe for modernization and transformation.

In this video, Jim Nihan shares insights into why Orion is the perfect fit for today’s public transit and transportation organizations.

Jim runs Transit AMS and has 30 years of experience with public and private transportation, most recently serving as Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s manager of paratransit operations. His expertise lies in the areas of paratransit transportation, fixed-route public transportation, school busing, aviation, and shuttle services.

Watch the full video :

Or scroll down to see quick snippets on:

• Orion PTT 2.0 for Public Transit and Transportation
• Orion Voice AI Workflows
• Orion Playback and Message Archive
• Consolidating Technology with Orion Floating PTT Button

Orion PTT 2.0 for Public Transit and Transportation

Orion Voice AI Workflows

Orion Playback and Message Archive

Consolidating In-Vehicle Technology with Orion Floating PTT Button

Orion for Public Transit and Transportation

Leading organizations are rethinking their communication solutions as part of their overall digital transformation strategies. Orion PTT 2.0 with Voice AI Workflows is the future of public transit and transportation operations of any size.

Orion ultimately results in improved communication between driver and dispatcher, which makes for a safer ride and improved customer and driver experience.

Want to learn more about how Orion helps Public Transit and Transportation Operations?

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• Case Study: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
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• 4 Issues Facing Public Transportation in 2022 and Their Solutions
• 4 Reasons Public Transportation Operations Need PTT 2.0
• Logistics and Transportation Review names Orion a “Top 10 Intelligent Transport Systems Solution Provider for 2021”
• Article: 4 Ways to Include Deskless Logistics Workers in Your Digital Strategy
• Transportation and Logistics Communications Need to Move Beyond Push-to-Talk and Radios

How Push-to-Talk Communication Enables True Collaboration 

Communicating with frontline logistics teams is challenging because frontline teams often work in remote locations, and they are constantly on the move in warehouses, at depots, or on the road.

Companies rely on radios to communicate with frontline workers, but radios fail when teams communicate across long distances and through physical barriers like concrete walls.

Communication is often disjointed, with workers isolated for extended periods of time. These communication blackouts decrease efficiency and clog the supply chain.

Most companies are beginning to realize the importance of real-time communication for frontline workers. According to a Harvard Business Review survey, nearly 86% of companies say frontline workers need better technology to support accurate, real-time judgment calls. Many companies are investing in collaboration software to connect their entire workforce.

Why Is Real-time Communication So Important in Logistics?

Effective logistics is a complex coordination of warehousing and transporting goods. Successful logistics increases efficiency, lowers costs, and improves production rates, inventory control, and use of warehouse space. Both customers and suppliers are more satisfied, ensuring better long-term relationships.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, logistics has remained in a constant state of flux. Logistics teams continue to face challenges, including high fuel prices, labor shortages, disrupted supply chains, geo-political upheaval, and difficulty sourcing raw materials and securing available transport.

Many of these logistics challenges are exacerbated by communication delays and disruptions, making effective logistics communications across supervisors and frontline teams more important than ever. The world is moving fast, and logistics teams need to keep up.

How Radios Fail Logistics Teams

Frontline employees and management teams need real-time collaboration to operate at the most efficient levels. Radios are the most common communication choice for logistics and warehouse teams, but they are not the best choice. Radios don’t provide the collaboration capabilities required to successfully navigate today’s complex challenges.

1. Radio networks are geographically limited with connectivity issues. They don’t effectively link workers distributed in warehouses, shipping depots, and on the road. Radio transmissions are impacted by the number of floors, stairwells, and walls in a given location and communicating in concrete structures with radios is almost impossible. Dispatch centers and supervisors need continuous contact with all team members, but radios have gaps in connectivity.
2. Radios are single-function devices, restricted to voice communications. Voice alone is not always enough to explain a situation clearly or provide detailed instructions to a team member. The longer it takes to accurately describe a situation, the more likely you are to have delayed shipments and deliveries.
3. Radios do not keep track of team members. One of the most common uses for radios is determining the status and location of deskless workers, but radios can’t tell dispatchers where workers are, which vehicles are in motion, and who’s online and listening. The first question dispatchers usually ask is, “what is your location?” Dispatchers must wait for the workers to stop what they are doing to respond to know where they are. It is difficult to optimize operations when you don’t know where everyone is.
4. Radios do not enable automated processes. If a frontline worker has a question, they must contact someone on the radio, ask the question, and then wait for that person to find the answer. There is no quick way to access information from back-end systems, and routine status checks and verifications of procedures require a two-way conversation.
5. With radios, incidents and emergency situations like incapacitations, location breaches, and panic alarms are handled with a call across a radio channel. Someone must hear the call, respond, and manually start emergency procedures. If no one is listening at that moment, the incident response is delayed. If there is a fire in a warehouse or a driver has broken down, you want to begin emergency procedures as quickly as possible.
6. Radios do not record and archive conversations, so you aren’t capturing any information from communications shared between team members. This information is useful for optimizing operations and during incident review and compliance meetings.

The Solution: Push-to-Talk 2.0 (PTT)

Maintaining connection with your entire logistics team doesn’t have to be difficult. With a unified communication platform like Orion’s PTT 2.0, you can reach your team any time, anywhere. Logistics challenges can be solved faster with increased range, complete connectivity, and automated processes.

With Push-to-Talk 2.0, you can:

1. Stay connected with frontline workers no matter where they are. PTT 2.0 does not have the connectivity issues that radios have. Logistics teams located in warehouses, depots, and on the road stay connected over any network, including LTE, private LTE, Wi-Fi, satellite, and mesh. Workers can communicate over any distance, including on-site, on the road, across town, or across the continent and maintain connectivity through floors, stairwells, and concrete walls.
2. Tell the complete story with multimodal communication. If a team member needs to document an event from the road, a warehouse, or any remote location, they can capture the situation using texts, photos, PDFs, videos, and any other supporting documents. Management gets a clear picture of the situation, enabling better incident review and analysis as well as improved compliance reporting if required.
3. Use advanced location services with real-time geolocation of each employee to always know the exact location of every asset and team member. With real-time visibility across the entire logistics team, operational command can monitor and adjust plans, optimize routes, and update delivery estimates without interrupting workers for status checks.
4. Enable automated processes, so routine and structured tasks don’t require a person-to-person connection.
   1. With process automation voice bots, frontline workers use voice-activated checklists and automated check-ins. For example, workers responsible for transporting goods can use voice bots to complete checklists and compliance forms prior to moving goods. This ensures smoother movement of products through the supply chain and provides complete visibility for compliance checks.
   2. Intelligence amplification bots provide frontline workers real-time access to systems, data, and subject matter experts from the road, in the factory, or in the warehouse. Workers can consult manuals and receive instructions from bots, so they don’t have to wait for a person to manually search for information.
   3. AI bots automate safety check-ins to monitor the location, status, and movement of each team member. No one in operational command has to stop work to wait for a response, and frontline workers can quickly click a button to respond without interrupting their work.
5. Use Emergency Response Bots to enable automated emergency response with a single word, ensuring the fastest response. If there is a problem, the worker simply uses a predefined codeword and voice-activated, real-time automated workflows are triggered to manage the emergency response. Push-to-Talk 2.0 AI bots provide multi-step workflows that deliver on-demand intelligence, enabling faster, smarter responses to location breaches, lone worker situations, and other incidents or emergencies. Operational command receives notification of the incident in real time and can monitor the situation and response.
6. Record and archive all staff messages and interactions, including voice, text, and visual media. Operational command can monitor communication groups and process information in real time or on demand. Management can search and retrieve information for incident reporting, reaction analysis, and compliance reporting. This information also helps teams optimize operations.

Learn How PTT 2.0 Can Help Your Logistics Team

As logistics challenges continue to grow, frontline workers need better technology to support accurate, real-time judgment calls. With PTT 2.0, logistics challenges can be managed more effectively, ensuring faster delivery of goods, optimized transportation, and safer work environments.

We know that connecting frontline teams with real-time voice is hard. Teams that rely on outdated technology like radios, unsecure apps, multiple devices, and Wi-Fi-only solutions hinder productivity, safety and customer satisfaction. 

That’s why we invented Orion Push-to-Talk (PTT) 2.0. Orion PTT 2.0 radically modernizes and innovates frontline communication and push-to-talk. 

Learn how Orion PTT 2.0 brings enterprises into the future in our fun whiteboard video:

Orion Partners With TransLoc to Support Sedona’s New Transportation Service

SAN FRANCISCO, April 5, 2022 — Orion Labs, Inc., the only voice-first Push-to-Talk 2.0 intelligent communication platform for transportation operations, today announced The City of Sedona selected Orion in partnership with TransLoc, a leading innovator in transit technology. Orion will provide frontline communications for the city’s new fixed-route service transporting passengers to and from regional destinations. The City of Sedona’s microtransit drivers, dispatch team, and supervisors will rely on Orion for real-time voice-first and multimedia communication, real-time driver locations, and urgent incident response. Orion’s PTT 2.0 will complement TransLoc’s fixed-route transportation management system.

During peak season, the City of Sedona’s population more than doubles, creating traffic delays and backups. The COVID-19 pandemic drove an even more significant tourism surge to the City of Sedona, requiring a solution to address the congestion and mobility needs of residents, visitors, and commuters. The city sought to address this congestion and improve its quality of life and visitor experience by launching new public shuttle services.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped transportation habits in cities like Sedona nationwide as tourists turn towards domestic travel,” said Jackson Lake, TransLoc Director of Sales. “Orion and TransLoc are the ideal partners to support the City of Sedona’s transportation planning and new transit service. We look forward to partnering with the City of Sedona as they build a robust, adaptable transportation system ready to serve residents and visitors now and in the future.”

TransLoc and Orion both use Open APIs to integrate their platforms on a single device and provide exceptional operational control, real-time driver visibility, and instant, reliable communications. The platforms run together on tablets with GPSLockbox mounts in every vehicle. Dispatchers manage drivers and routes via the web-based Orion Dispatch Console.

Orion provides reliable, always-on, real-time voice communications between dispersed, on-the-go shuttle drivers and dispatchers. Dispatchers use Orion Dispatch Console to respond to drivers and facilitate seamless 1:1 or group communication environments. Orion Voice AI Bots automate tasks like Emergency Response, Language Translation, and Status or Radio Checks. Orion enables organizations to archive all messages for safety, compliance, and incident reports.

“Orion’s PTT 2.0 supports frontline operations with an innovative Unified Communications strategy that drives success across industries such as transportation, hospitality, retail, logistics, and more,” said Gregory Taylor, Orion CEO. “Building on our success with Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Orion continues to earn new transportation customers as both fixed-route and on-demand operators innovate to competitively transform services and reduce costs. I am pleased to welcome The City of Sedona as Orion’s newest transportation customer.”

The Orion PTT 2.0 Platform for Transportation transforms how transportation organizations operate. Orion supports a superior rider experience and driver and passenger safety with the platform’s patented Voice AI Bots and platform integrations. Orion future-proofs transportation operations using its Voice AI Bots and integrations to deliver value-added services, process automation, instantaneous support during urgent situations, and on-the-go access to critical information. The Orion platform offers an easy onboarding process and improves employee engagement with real-time language translation and voice-first multimedia communication with voice, text, photos, videos, and files such as PDFs.

About Orion

Orion is the leading voice-first, cloud-based Push-to-Talk 2.0 (PTT 2.0) intelligent platform for frontline Unified Communications. Orion’s patented Voice AI Bots and platform integrations deliver value-added services, automate routine processes, respond instantaneously in critical situations, and amplify team member knowledge. The platform improves frontline team productivity, safety and compliance, and customer and staff engagement.

Orion was recently named a Top 10 Intelligent Transport Systems Solution Provider for 2021 by Logistics and Transportation Review, a Top 10 Industrial IoT Solution Provider 2020 by Manufacturing Technology Insights, and an IDC Innovator. Orion holds 55 patents that support its award-winning solutions. For more information, visit www.orionlabs.io.

Stay in touch with Orion Labs | LinkedIn | Blog

Media contact:

Jacqueline Wasem
Orion Labs, Inc.
415-800-5467
press@orionlabs.io

Transforming Transit Operations with Unified Communications and PTT 2.0

Public transportation organizations continuously strive to improve the passenger experience, on-time reliability, and safety — especially as cities emerge from COVID-19 pandemic measures. Funds from COVID-19 Economic Relief and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act mean many transportation organizations have the reserves to reevaluate longstanding approaches to transit and address some of their biggest challenges, especially when it comes to technology and communications.

Many of today’s transportation organizations face the same communications challenges — often due to legacy technology like radios. These challenges stall innovation and hinder efforts to improve productivity and safety.

Here are 4 of the top public transportation communications challenges in 2022:

1. Aging Legacy Technology
2. Limited Communications Environments
3. Limited Organizational Visibility and Real-Time Location Information
4. Reliance on Manual Processes

Get the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Case Study

4 Challenges Hindering Communications for Public Transportation Operations:

#1 Aging Legacy Technology:

Many public transportation organizations know they need to move away from legacy technology like radios, whether their operations are fixed-route or on-demand. Radio technology is burdensome to maintain and offers limited value for the investment. Driver connectivity is limited by range, resulting in uncertainty when operating in unfamiliar or remote environments.

#2 Limited Communications Environments:

Dynamic operations require the ability to bring relevant parties into ad-hoc 1:1 or limited group environments. However, legacy technology often locks teams into All-Call communications environments or requires drivers to manually change channels during an incident or emergency.

Legacy technology like radios prohibits expanding the collaboration environment as needed. Support staff, customer service, safety personnel, managers, and more are often locked out of the collaboration environment due to limited scalability and the requirement to add hardware. Today’s operations need to scale their fleet to meet a surge in demand without adding extra, expensive hardware.

#3 Limited Organizational Visibility and Real-Time Location Information:

Driver and passenger safety are mission critical, yet, many public transportation systems lack real-time driver location information. Whether drivers are completing dynamic or static routes, dispatchers need real-time visibility to ensure driver and passenger safety, as well as driver accountability and the completion of assigned routes.

#4 Reliance on Manual Processes:

Outdated technology often leads to outdated, manual processes. For too many public transit operations, manual processes are holdovers from legacy systems. Take a simple radio check. Every driver must complete multiple radio checks per shift to ensure they are able to reach dispatch and are receiving communications. It’s standard practice for radio operators to spend hours each day responding to each radio check. Manual, repetitive processes like these keep operations from achieving greater efficiency.

Learn About Orion for Transportation

PTT 2.0 and Solving Public Transportation Communications Challenges

Fortunately, advancements in technology have created innovative solutions that address each of the challenges outlined above. Push-to-Talk (PTT) 2.0 uniquely brings distributed workers, dispatchers, and support staff together on one scalable platform. As part of a Unified Communications strategy, PTT 2.0 provides the innovative communications solution transportation organizations need to connect their workforce and future-proof their operations.

Here are a few ways PTT 2.0 addresses public transportation communications challenges:

Expanded Collaboration:

Unlike legacy radios, PTT 2.0 is instantly scalable — a non-negotiable requirement for today’s communications technology. Users can download the solution via tablet or smartphone or access the web-based Dispatch Console via browser. Unconstrained radio range, dispatchers access the Dispatch Console from any location, including a home office, operations center, or on the go.

Instant scalability has several advantages for transportation organizations. Dispatchers gain greater flexibility during incident response to control the collaboration environment. They can move a driver into an ad-hoc 1:1 or limited group environment and include the relevant safety or supervisory personnel. Leaders-only groups reduce distractions by limiting the communications drivers hear just to Dispatch messages — and not all online drivers. Drivers keep focused on their tasks, gain undivided attention from Dispatch, and improve safety response.

Dispatchers can also easily add support staff to the collaboration environment. Before, they required additional radio hardware. Now, cross-departmental collaboration is easy between drivers, dispatchers, customer service, emergency responders, maintenance, supervisors, and more. Organizations can quickly scale to meet demand. Adding new or temporary drivers and vehicles to communications is seamless.

Greater Operational Control:

Today’s transportation organizations require a complete view of their operations. Real-time, centralized visibility and locations of a distributed workforce ensure safety and productivity. This oversight results in more effective Control Centers with operations managers, supervisors, customer service representatives, and dispatchers making more informed decisions.

Users never miss a message with the ability to record, playback, and archive all messages. This Message Archive functionality also enables organizations to bulk download and review all prior messages sent and received. Organizations gain the ability to analyze and improve quality control and preserve the archived messages for compliance.

Process Automation with Voice AI Bots:

Today’s teams need voice automation bots that take on the routine work that teams repeat each and every day. PTT 2.0 uses Voice AI Bots to supercharge innovation and automation to improve the transportation industry’s productivity, safety, and customer service. Automated Voice Bots can take on challenges like SOPs and checklists. Drivers quickly complete equipment inspections, radio checks, and status updates quickly and on time.

Geofence or location-based triggers are also a possibility with PTT 2.0. If a driver hasn’t moved for a designated amount of time, bots can trigger an alert to a dispatcher starting safety workflows. Dispatchers can quickly ensure the driver is safe, has the information they need, or is completing routes as assigned.

Voice-First Communication for Incident Response:

Rapid response in incidents is paramount for transportation operations to keep passengers and drivers safe. PTT 2.0 brings incident response into a centrally managed web-based console. Always-on Voice Bots are triggered automatically or manually by pre-determined voice commands, events, or actions.

Voice commands like “Help-Help-Help” or “Code Blue” kick-off emergency workflows sending email or SMS, audio, and geolocation information to dispatchers, response teams, and managers. Dispatchers can quickly create an ad-hoc communications environment, moving the driver out of an all-call group and adding all relevant personnel for rapid response. All communications are archived, enabling analysis post-event and supporting any compliance needs.

Learn More About PTT 2.0

Innovating Transportation Operations with Orion’s PTT 2.0

Labor constraints, rising costs, and public safety requirements mean transportation organizations need innovation now more than ever. PTT 2.0 was built for the challenges of public transportation’s distributed, frontline workforce of drivers, dispatchers, customer service, operations managers, and more. Advancements in PTT 2.0 mean innovation is now more accessible than ever to the public transportation industry.

Ready to learn more about how PTT 2.0 can transform your operations? Contact me today.

Contact Me Today

You Might Also Like:

• Case Study: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
• 4 Reasons Public Transportation Operations Need PTT 2.0
• Logistics and Transportation Review names Orion a “Top 10 Intelligent Transport Systems Solution Providers for 2021”
• Article: 4 Ways to Include Deskless Logistics Workers in Your Digital Strategy
• Transportation and Logistics Communications Need to Move Beyond Push-to-Talk and Radios
• E-book: 12 Reasons Radios Are Holding Your Company Back
• E-book: The Future of Voice at Work

It’s Time to Modernize Communications for Public Transit Operations

Too many public transportation organizations know they need to leave their legacy communication technology behind. Aging vehicle radios tether their operations to the past, creating silos, inefficiencies, and reliance on obsolete processes. Ultimately, outdated technology hinders the full realization of any digital transformation efforts.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Greater Boston’s public transportation service, faced these challenges and turned to Orion’s Push-to-Talk (PTT) 2.0 communications platform for their paratransit service, The RIDE. MBTA knew that today’s transportation operations need a unified communications solution that offers the full advantages of next-generation PTT 2.0.

Get the Case Study

How Greater Boston’s Public Transit System Innovated Operations With Orion

MBTA’s The RIDE provides door-to-door transportation for passengers with temporary or permanent disabilities. Their operations manage up to 7,500 trips (pre-COVID) in its 22-hour operating day, seven days a week, in 58 cities and towns around the Greater Boston area.

When MBTA decided to replace their legacy radios, they searched for an innovative solution that would not only offer a better technology alternative but also improve their operations. Orion’s comprehensive, unified communications platform met their requirements and helped MBTA to:

• Save an estimated $700,000 in ROI each year by automating radio checks with Voice AI Bots
• Send over 30,000 messages every day with All-Call, ad hoc 1:1, or limited group environments
• Centralize incident response and customer service support with the Orion Management Console
• Archive all driver and control center messages for safety, compliance, and incident reports
• Integrate with apps like Adept and GoogleMaps

Is your transportation organization ready to digitally transform your communications and operations? Learn more about how Orion addressed each of MBTA’s technology requirements in our MBTA case study.

Download the Case Study

You Might Also Like:

• 4 Reasons Public Transportation Operations Need PTT 2.0
• Logistics and Transportation Review names Orion a “Top 10 Intelligent Transport Systems Solution Providers for 2021”
• Article: 4 Ways to Include Deskless Logistics Workers in Your Digital Strategy
• Transportation and Logistics Communications Need to Move Beyond Push-to-Talk and Radios
• E-book: 12 Reasons Radios Are Holding Your Company Back
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Insights From APTA’s TRANSform Conference & EXPO 2021

Over three days at the recent APTA Expo, I had the opportunity to meet with leading public transit professionals and discuss what’s next for the industry. It struck me how ready the industry is for innovation following two years of pandemic-related disruption.

Learn More About PTT 2.0 For Transportation

But what was my biggest takeaway? The public transportation industry is focused on the future. Transit leaders know the time for transformation is now — especially as ridership levels return and the recent $1.2 trillion infrastructure package opens new doors.

Here are a few of my top takeaways from my conversations with public transit leaders:

#1: Public Transit Needs Better, More Reliable Voice Technology

Public transit organizations are tired of old-school radios with limited functionality and range. The reality is that today’s public transit workers need more than one channel to communicate effectively. Particularly, they need ad hoc 1:1 or limited group environments that enable undivided attention on the matter at hand. Dispatchers should be able to create and move drivers, supervisors, customer service representatives, emergency responders, or even maintenance workers into groups ensuring an incident receives undivided attention while other drivers remain undistracted.

Public transit leaders have also been let down by push-to-talk alternatives. They need reliable and scalable voice technology that is available on any phone or tablet device and that runs on any cellular network. Transit organizations are tired of being locked into one PTT network that frequently suffers from spotty coverage.

Learn more about Orion’s PTT 2.0, the next generation of push-to-talk for public transportation.

#2: Public Transit Leaders Want New Ways to Innovate Incident Response

The safety of passengers, drivers, and personnel will always be the single most significant priority for public transportation operations. And today’s leaders are searching for new, innovative ways to improve upon the industry’s already high standards.

Transit executives at APTA were closely considering technology that offered automated safety workflows to enhance existing protocols. Solutions that provide reliable, always-on advanced location services are non-negotiable. Voice-triggered emergency alerts were also a notable topic. Combined, advanced location services and voice-automated responses can streamline incident response.

Drivers need solutions that support them during urgent moments. They want the security of knowing they can trigger automated emergency notifications with words like “help-help.” These voice triggers can automatically transmit their locations to dispatchers or managers who can escalate emergency response.

Learn more about Orion’s Emergency Alerts. 

#3: Public Transit Operations Need Automation

Transit organizations regularly deal with manual, everyday tasks that are time-consuming and burdensome on an already taxed workforce. Not to mention the common plight of driver shortages everywhere. There’s a very real opportunity to leverage automation via the very same operational tools in use today.

Automation can address simple tasks like a “radio check” for example. In the traditional radio or PTT-only world that many agencies still live in, and in particular across fleets that number in the hundreds or thousands, a finite dispatch team is quickly inundated with a very harmless check-in by literally every driver at the start of a shift. Why not put a bot in front of that and free up that precious dispatcher time?

Tremendous value can also be achieved through the automation of forms and checklists. For example, with an Orion voice bot, the completion of a simple pre- or post-operation vehicle inspection can be automated with voice instead of perhaps what may be in place today with paper. Checklists are instantly accessible, completed on time, in the right order (no pencil whipping!) and are digitized and archived for compliance purposes.

Real-time language translation is another powerful example of automation that’s available right now. And this one in particular has the ability to provide an immediate impact on the driver labor shortage. English-speaking dispatchers can communicate in real-time with non-English-speaking drivers, and vice-versa. ESL team members in place today are less inclined to leave. And this capability unlocks access to an expanded labor pool. Win-win.

Learn more about Orion’s Process Automation with AI Bots and Workflows. 

#5: Interoperability with Third-Party Software Offers Transformative Opportunities

Transportation organizations know the future is a single pane of glass in each vehicle. Instead of switching between applications, drivers want to use their vehicle tablets to view critical information all in one view.

The possibility of layering voice over third-party software offers the potential to be a real game-changer. Transportation industry leaders know innovation will really happen when they can interoperate voice and critical systems. Voice-first collaboration platforms built with open API platforms will be game-changers for the industry, allowing simultaneous use of routing software, voice, mapping, and more.

Learn more about Orion’s Third-Party Integrations.

The Orion Collaboration Platform for Public Transportation

Public transportation operations need better than the legacy technology many of them still use every day. Fortunately, innovation offers manifold advantages simply unavailable when transit operations use radios or limited PTT apps.

Orion offers game-changing PTT 2.0 that will revolutionize how public transportation organizations operate. When public transit organizations can capture each data point, voice message, text, image, or video, they gain a voice-operations system of record that will prepare them to offer the modern transportation riders have come to demand and depend on.

Learn More About Orion For Transportation

You Might Also Like:

• Logistics and Transportation Review names Orion a “Top 10 Intelligent Transport Systems Solution Providers for 2021”
• Article: 4 Ways to Include Deskless Logistics Workers in Your Digital Strategy
• Transportation and Logistics Communications Need to Move Beyond Push-to-Talk and Radios
• E-book: 12 Reasons Radios Are Holding Your Company Back
• E-book: The Future of Voice at Work
• Frontline Collaboration Solution Buyer’s Guide

By: Jacqueline Wasem

Deskless workers need communication and collaboration solutions built for today’s business challenges and obstacles. But, these frontline teams have been forced to use dated and unsecure devices like radios or push-to-talk (PTT) applications.

Until now.

Innovative organizations in industries such as transportation, logistics, retail, health care, hospitality, and more are turning to Orion’s intelligent collaboration platform to support their frontline workforces in dynamic, complex environments.

Orion is changing the way organizations with deskless and frontline workers communicate and collaborate. Real-time collaboration, operational control, process automation, intelligence amplification, and analytics are now mission-critical for organizations competing in today’s marketplace.

Watch Our Video to Learn How Orion Takes Frontline Communication into the Future.

Can’t see the video above? Watch on YouTube

A Collaboration Platform for the Frontline Workforce

The Orion Platform’s Voice AI bots and workflows are designed to take organizations on a digital transformation journey. Each pillar of Orion’s platform modernizes and innovates team communications and collaboration:

Real-Time Collaboration That Begins with Secure Push-to-Talk 2.0 (PTT 2.0)

Orion empowers teams with voice-first multimodal collaboration that includes high-quality push-to-talk audio, text, and visual media across any device. Teams communicate in ad hoc, 1:1, or group environments that enable managers to connect directly with relevant workers. All communications are secure with end-to-end encryption (E2EE). The platform is instantly scalable over any distance on any network, including LTE (5G-ready), private LTE (CRBS), Wi-Fi, satellite, and mesh.

Operational Control to See Live Locations of All Team Members

Orion’s operations console with advanced location services provides real-time location and contextual data so managers always know where employees are, what they’re doing, and how they’re performing — no matter if they operate indoors or subbterranean. Management gains greater flexibility to deploy resources when and where they are needed, including in urgent and dynamic situations.

Process Automation That Eliminates Routine Work and Responds Faster in Urgent Situations

Orion’s voice-activated automation empowers the on-the-go workforce to focus on higher-value tasks by automating routine tasks like checklists, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and more. A command like “Help.Help.” deploys workers in the closest vicinity to provide assistance in urgent or dynamic situations. All processes are recorded and archived offering management greater control and actionable insights to improve operations.

Intelligence Amplification to Provide Real-Time Access to Systems and Subject Matter Experts

Orion’s Intelligence Amplification (IA) unlocks limitless potential for the deskless workforce. IA workflows enable frontline workers to learn more about new processes and products in real-time by connecting them to manuals and best-practice guides at their point of work. Deskless workers connect to knowledge bases or subject matter experts (SMEs) for real-time information and their backend systems for SOPs, key steps, and precautions.

Analytics to Gain Insights and Optimize Operations

The Orion Collaboration Platform captures 100% of an organization’s message stream, including voice, text, image, video, and attachments, creating an entirely new ability for organizations to gather situational awareness, conduct pattern analysis, and uncover untapped opportunities for improvement and greater efficiency. Organizations measure, report, and manage performance for internal and external improvement, ultimately revealing unique deskless operations insights for the first time.

Learn How Orion’s Collaboration Platform Transforms Operations

Orion creates a path for true innovation and digital transformation for the deskless and frontline workforce. Learn how Orion’s voice-first, multimodal collaboration, operational control, process automation, intelligence amplification, analytics can improve your workforce productivity, safety and compliance, and customer engagement.

Learn How Orion Can Transform Your Operations Today

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