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Satnews Daily
May 14th, 2012

KVH Industries + Boatrac... Fishing For Commercial Comms (SATCOM)


[SatNews] KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) has named Boatracs Inc. as the first...

...Value Added Service Provider (VASP) for the Company's mini-VSAT Broadband service. This collaboration will deliver an end-to-end fleet management package for the commercial workboat and fishing markets, bringing Boatracs’ market leading software applications to vessels via a reliable broadband connection in a single package. Sold under the name “Boatracs Broadband Fleet Management Solution”, this innovative package includes a KVH TracPhone V3 and mini-VSAT Broadband service for global broadband connectivity as well as Boatracs maritime software platforms—Boatracs BTConnect and Boatracs BTForms.

Irwin Rodrigues, President and CEO of Boatracs, said, “We work with small to medium operators in the offshore, coastal and inland waterways, as well as commercial fishing vessels. These companies want voice and data services for crew welfare, increased compliance and greater productivity, as well as a powerful fleet management solution to track, message and operate their vessels efficiently. The Boatracs Broadband Fleet Management Solution provides a complete, reliable, and affordable way to meet these needs.”

The TracPhone V3 is the world’s smallest maritime VSAT antenna, designed for vessels as small as 30 feet. With airtime rates 1/10th the cost of L-band systems, the TracPhone V3 offers downloads as fast as 2 Mbps at $0.99 per MB and phone calls worldwide at only $0.49 per minute. The TracPhone V3’s small size, fast data rates, and affordable service have brought the power of satellite communications within reach for commercial vessels.

Boatracs BTConnect is a web-based solution that integrates message and mapping functionality, providing access to fleet-wide data from anywhere, on any device. With features such as route planning, custom landmarks, and global map layers, this solution ties together the critical functions of visually managing a fleet with two-way messaging to improve dispatching, accelerate invoicing and streamline shore side operations. Boatracs BTForms is an electronic forms solution that automates and simplifies vessel data collection for operations, reporting, and compliance record keeping.

Brent C. Bruun, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development at KVH Industries, said, “This turnkey solution is the first of its kind, offering best-of breed broadband connections and software applications that will make an immediate difference to the bottom lines of commercial vessels. In addition, customers will continue to enjoy the outstanding support they’ve come to expect from KVH’s and Boatracs’ extensive support networks, which include the best maritime electronics professionals throughout the United States.”