ATX Group Teams with Aeris Communications to Deliver New Hyundai Blue Link® Connected Vehicle Program

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ATX Group has announced it will provide turnkey network solutions to Hyundai Motor America as the telematics services developer and integrator for its new Blue Link® connected vehicle program utilizing cellular service from Aeris® Communications, Inc., a leading cellular carrier to the connected vehicle marketplace in North America.

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Hyundai announced the Blue Link telematics program Tuesday in a prelude to the 2011 International CES in Las Vegas.  Blue Link will launch on all future Hyundai models in the U.S. beginning this spring on the Sonata.

ATX, a leader in customized connected vehicle services to global automobile manufacturers, utilizes Aeris' enhanced system selection, the first product of its kind within the telematics industry. Enhanced system selection utilizes overlapping cellular networks to provide redundant data paths to vehicles, ensuring the most reliable connectivity possible.

In addition, ATX's will use the Aeris AerFrame™ Web interface to monitor and confirm connections and communications between ATX's recently enhanced next-generation telematics platform and the vehicle, efficiently integrating control of the wireless service to the vehicle and billing systems, as well as providing service protocols optimized to take advantage of the network's unique features.

"Aeris has enabled ATX to provide a 'one-stop-shop' solution in all aspects of service for Blue Link, including the planning, implementation and delivery of wireless account management services for the program," said James Dawson, ATX's director of Customer Solutions. "This solution has been gaining market traction and everything has gone extremely well with this first joint launch."

As a division of Cross Country Automotive Services, a leading provider of driver and vehicle assistance services to automobile manufacturers and auto insurers in North America, ATX's dedicated wireless team focuses on ensuring wireless accounts and connected vehicle configurations are synchronized.  As a result, automobile manufacturers and other ATX clients are assured wireless costs are minimized and network resources optimized for efficiency. This is achieved through services such as asset tracking, phone number forecasts/administration, activations/deactivations, fraud management, incident reporting and management, billing reconciliation, and rate plan management. ATX also partnered with Aeris to help minimize complexities of wireless contract management and negotiation.

"Aeris closely collaborated with us throughout the program development process, and we will continue to work together to guarantee the level of reliability and service that our clients require for connected vehicle services," said Tom Metzger, senior vice president and general manager of Connected Vehicle Services at ATX.

"Providing ATX with real-time visibility into the interaction of their feature software with multiple layers of Aeris' network (elements) resulted in faster, more reliable software development and unparalleled device control," said Paul Drysch, vice president of Telematics at Aeris.

Blue Link is a registered trademark of Hyundai Motor America Corporation.

About Aeris Communications, Inc.

Aeris Communications is the only nationwide cellular carrier focused exclusively on selling to businesses that transmit real-time information to and from remote or mobile devices as an integral part of their products and services.  Aeris customers include technology leaders in automotive and commercial telematics, medical devices, utilities, point of sale, and monitoring and control.

Aeris has the only network optimized for automation and performance combined with the Aeris Aerframe provisioning and device management platform.  This unique combination delivers cellular network performance that is more reliable, more flexible and more cost-effective than traditional cellular carriers.  

Aeris, a privately held company located in San Jose, CA, has the industry's most experienced technical team who design and roll out comprehensive solutions such as Hyundai's Blue Link program.  Aeris brings Silicon Valley technology to the telecom world to offer the leading platform for OEMs such as Hyundai.

About ATX

With operations in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and subsidiary 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