When Vontas acquired Orion Labs in December 2023, our goal was simple: seamless integration with a CAD/AVL system and enable swift responses with effective incident management. Orion’s Push-to-Talk solution combines advanced voice technology with real-time communication systems, ensuring the safety of passengers and drivers. Vontas OnCall brings these two factions together, combining the power of Orion with the Vontas OnRoute CAD/AVL system.
The safety of passengers and drivers is the number one priority for Orion. With Push-to-Talk, we can significantly reduce the emergency response times with real-time communication and integrated technology. By integrating with OnRoute, transit agencies can customize their safety and operational features. These solutions help reduce accidents and enhance emergency response times through GPS-enabled tracking and communication systems. When agencies pair OnRoute with Orion, they can ensure a safer and more efficient transit environment.
Before Vontas acquired Orion, they had already seen great success in the transit industry with Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Their paratransit service, The RIDE, provides door-to-door transportation for passengers with temporary or permanent disabilities. When it came time to upgrade the communication system from legacy radios, they opted for the Orion Collaboration Platform for Transportation. MBTA easily and quickly deployed Orion over a 24-hour period to 150 supervisory users. By using mobile device management (MDM) to immediately scale and push Orion to tablets installed in over 750 fleet vehicles.
Orion helps MBTA manage dynamic situations quickly and effectively, ensuring dispatchers can add all information and relevant personnel to evolving or urgent conversations. During minor incidents like an unexpected driver delay, customer support operators can quickly communicate 1:1 with the driver to assess the situation and gain the information needed to provide the customer with updates. In urgent situations, dispatchers rapidly communicate with drivers, provide updated routing information, or deploy immediate assistance.
With Orion, MBTA eliminated all manual radio checks and saved up to 10 minutes for each driver at the start of each shift. Over a year, this adds up to nearly 45 hours saved for each weekday driver and 17 hours saved for each weekend driver. Manual radio checks alone may save the MBTA an estimated ROI of nearly $700,000 each year.
“Orion made sure that we received the exact technology we needed to do our job,” said Jim Nihan, Manger of Paratransit Operations, MBTA – Office of Transportation Access. “With Orion, MBTA gained a safer, more productive workforce offering the highest service level to Greater Boston’s paratransit customers.
As transit agencies work to ensure safety, Vontas is dedicated to offering advanced solutions that protect transit agencies, their drivers, and most importantly – the community. Using technology and working together creates a safer and more secure public transit system for everyone.
If you’d like to learn more about how Vontas OnCall and Orion can support your agency’s safety initiatives, stop by booth #301 at APTA TRANSform in Anaheim for a demo.