We all remember how mornings used to be when we were in school — waking up late, parents trying to push that last sip of milk down our throats, last-minute polishing of school shoes and waiting for our tiffin boxes to be filled — basically resulting in a lot of shouting, confusion and constant fear of missing the school bus. Fine, you may not have been too scared of missing the bus, but your parents certainly were.
Wouldn’t it have been amazing if, amidst this inevitable and mad confusion, our parents were able to track the arrival and departure of the bus? Parents of students studying at St John’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School now have this option. That’s because the school administration uses Chennai-based start-up Ozone Motors’ latest app FalconGPS.
The start-up, incorporated in March 2016, started with a team of five members. 28-year-old Deepak Mohan, founder of the start-up, explains the idea behind this initiative. “The idea was to use technology to make sure that schools take the responsibility for the safety of the students. At the same time, we wanted to make life easier for parents, especially those who have full-time jobs,” he says.
The first step towards that was a Vehicle Tracking System that they designed in-house using the latest IoT technology. “Installing a small device in a vehicle lets the owner know the location of the vehicle, travelling speed, ignition status, and the vehicle’s diagnostic data,” Deepak explains. As the application also alerts the owner when the vehicle is over-speeding or has a high idling time, it is ideal for schools to keep tabs on the children in their buses.
“We have made mobile apps for schools and institutions and parents can download the app from Google Play or App store and monitor the location and estimated time of arrival of their kids’ bus.
This solution has particularly helped many working parents plan when they head to the bus pickup and drop points,” says Deepak. As simple as this idea may sound, the founders have been having a hard time guiding the schools in the focus areas of the product. Deepak explains why “The old way of transportation management is something that people don’t want to let go of. The school administration and parents show a certain amount of aversion towards technology.”
But trust us, it is not rocket science. All you have to do is follow these simple steps to use the app on your smartphone: The user/parents will receive an SMS link to download the app after the school has installed their devices. They log in with their registered mobile number given by the school. Parents can update their current location on the app. The app pushes notification when the vehicle leaves the school, comes within 2 km of pick up location and returns to school. Parents can also track the bus in real-time.
Moving forward, the team wants to expand its functions to Pune and Hyderabad for a better market base. “We think we have a huge market in the bigger cities where both the parents have an occupied lifestyle,” feels Deepak. Deepak also takes this opportunity to talk about his dream and pipeline venture on electric cars that will be smart, eco-friendly and efficient. “Our team is working to make a good electric car for Indian roads,” he informs. And the man already has a rough plan in mind, “We have successfully validated certain technologies we built in the recent days by converting a Maruti 800 into an electric vehicle with good power and performance. We are working with other start-ups in this ecosystem to make it better and bring this product to market by 2022,” he concludes.
Reach Out: ozonemotors.in