Connected Vehicle Provider ATX Group Uses Bing to Co-Pilot Hyundai Owners

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Connected vehicle (telematics) services provider ATX Group (www.atxg.com) integrates and delivers content thru a variety of interfaces with drivers in the United States and will be using Bing, the decision engine by Microsoft Corp., to provide intelligent search tools for Hyundai owners through the automaker's new Blue Link® connected vehicle program. Hyundai announced the program yesterday at the 2011 International CES in Las Vegas.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090303/ATXLOGO)

Blue Link, one of the most comprehensive and feature-rich telematics programs offered for vehicle buyers, will be included on select Hyundai vehicles within the U.S. beginning in 2011.

A key feature of the Hyundai program will be an off-board interactive voice response (IVR) system enabled by ATX's next-generation, connected vehicle platform. Through this system, Hyundai drivers can access via voice activation location-based and dynamic content supplied by Bing, including points of interest, addresses, restaurant ratings, gas prices, weather and more. ATX will also provide Hyundai drivers with access to Bing Maps through a highly customized Hyundai website, which allows the driver to personalize with dynamic content that can be sent to the vehicle. ATX also relies on Bing mapping tools at its response centers, where specialists are trained to provide drivers with real-time, location-specific guidance or emergency assistance.

"Bing's APIs are a critical component to providing Hyundai with a dynamic, off-board, navigation solution that provides the same type of seamless interface previously limited only to embedded, in-vehicle navigation systems," said Tom Metzger, general manager of Connected Vehicle Services at ATX.

About ATX

With operations in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and representative offices in Dusseldorf, Germany and Paris, ATX (www.atxg.com) is one of the world's leading providers of connected vehicle services to global automobile manufacturers. ATX services, among the first to be launched in the consumer vehicle market back in 1996, are provided to vehicle owners through the brand names of its customers: Hyundai, Toyota, Lexus, BMW, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Mercedes-Benz Canada, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Services by ATX provide enhanced safety, security and driving convenience to vehicle owners, and help automobile manufacturers and their affiliated dealerships use telematics data and multiple customer contact channels to reduce costs, enhance vehicle servicing, and more closely manage customer relationships and contacts with the vehicle through its lifetime.

ATX is a division of Cross Country Automotive Services (www.crosscountry-auto.com), a leading provider of roadside assistance programs in the U.S. on behalf of global automobile manufacturers and U.S. insurance carriers. Cross Country provides solutions for the nearly 6 million roadside service events experienced by their consumers each year.  In addition, Cross Country provides accident scene management, vehicle release management and total loss screening services for insurance carriers, and customer care services for a number of automotive manufacturers.

SOURCE ATX Group