accelerometer: A device that measures proper acceleration (g-force). Most recent models of GPS/AVL boxes installed on vehicles have an accelerometer. The accelerometer makes it possible to measure atypical vehicle operation such as harsh braking, acceleration, and turning. It can also be used to determine when a vehicle has been involved in a collision.


alert: A message notifying users of certain vehicle activity. You can configure alerts to be sent as an email or SMS (text) message. In order to receive this last type of alert, you must have mobile device information entered on the System Administration ›› Users screen.


All-in-One (AIO): A mobile data terminal (see MDT) that combines the LMU and tablet in one device.


antenna (cellular and GPS): A GPS box (such as an LMU) typically connects to an external antenna that is dual mode. This is a satellite-receiving antenna and a cellular transmitter/receiver. Some LMUs have an internal antenna.


application programming interface (API): A means of exchanging data with other applications.


asset tracker: An ATU (asset tracking unit) or TTU (trailer tracking unit); these tracking devices collect location and operational data and transmit that data to Synovia. They are used to protect vehicles in the event of theft; Synovia can locate a stolen vehicle so that the authorities can retrieve it.


automatic vehicle location (AVL): The capability to locate a GPS-equipped vehicle.


bar code: A series of thick and thin lines printed on a product or card that can be read by a machine (a bar code reader). In the GPS market, bar code readers are used to log employee or passenger activity; for example, students can scan bar-code ID cards to record when they enter and exit the bus.


bell time: Typically used to designate the planned arrival and dismissal goals for a school in the K-12 education industry.


boundary: A geographic area used to measure vehicle activity; this may also be referred to as a geofence, or a zone.


broadcast message: A message that is distributed to all Synovia users when they log in. One use of this feature is to inform your users of a database downtime (such as for servicing).


clock-in: The recording of the time designating the beginning of a shift for an employee. This is used in the Time and Attendance module.


clock-out: The recording of the time designating the end of a shift for an employee. This is used in the Time and Attendance module.


Comparative Analysis (CA): A module that compares the actual operation of your vehicles against the assigned routes imported from your routing system. Some routing systems that integrate with Synovia are Transfinder Routefinder API, Versatrans Routing & Planning, EDULOG, Trapeze MapNet, Georef BusPlanner, and Grics Geobus.


Core: The base level of functionality in Synovia and one of the most often-used menu groups; this includes live vehicle tracking, historical data, reports, hardware, and searching for nearby vehicles.


diagnostic event: A programmed GPS event that typically reports around 3 a.m. to indicate that the vehicle's GPS equipment is functioning properly.


engine diagnostics (ED): An assessment of a vehicle's engine, used in particular to identify why an engine is not functioning properly; Synovia's ED equipment can receive and integrate the data transmitted by a vehicle so that diagnostic codes can be read remotely when they are generated.


ESN (electronic serial number): A unique numeric identifier for a GPS device.


events: Calculated, timed, or triggered inputs that are transmitted to the Synovia database. Events provide specific information about vehicle activity and can be used to trigger alerts.


excessive engine idle time: Idling time is calculated based on the ignition state of a vehicle combined with information about its movement. You can define a time threshold to specify what is considered excessive (for example, any amount of idling time over five minutes). Synovia keeps track of idling occurrences so that you can monitor excessive idling, and subsequent gasoline wasted, in your fleet.


geofence: A polygon specifying an area on the map that is used to monitor vehicle activity. In Synovia, geofences are called zones, and you draw them around your locations, map areas important to your organization (such as schools, yards, and landmarks). See location and zone for more information.


global positioning system (GPS): A system of satellites that transmits information and locates devices that are equipped to send and receive GPS data. For information about how the Synovia GPS/AVL system works, see What Is GPS?.


group: One set of your fleet vehicles. In Synovia, you can organize your vehicles in a flexible configuration of groups. Note that a vehicle can belong to multiple groups in the new site (but can be a member of only one primary group). This opens up many grouping options: For example, you could create a group for all special-education vehicles, even if those vehicles already belong to groups that are named by the schools they service (which would be their primary group).


harsh events: Synovia driving events that are extreme, indicating driver behavior that could adversely affect the efficient and safe operation of your fleet. LMUs provisioned with an accelerometer measure vehicle movement and sudden changes and thus can report events deemed "harsh." The following are the current industry-defined harsh events:


  • Harsh acceleration: 250 cm/s/s for 1.5 seconds
     
  • Harsh braking: 300 cm/s/s for 1.5 seconds
     
  • Harsh turning: 400 cm/s/s for 2 seconds


Here Comes the Bus: The Synovia Solutions software product that provides school bus arrival information. With a Here Comes the Bus account, you can receive bus arrival notifications on your computer or mobile device — and set when the notifications arrive, how they're received (by email and/or in the mobile app), and the size of the notification radius around your student's stop.


itinerary: The assignment or workload attributed to one vehicle based on your routing data — in other words, the planned work for a vehicle when looking at Comparative Analysis data.


job: A programming task typically associated with software modules such as Comparative Analysis.


landmark: A specific location you can use to monitor vehicle activity. Landmark locations can be used for job sites, geographic areas where vehicle activity is prohibited, where community complaints are an issue, where you particularly need to monitor the speed of your vehicles — basically, for any region pertinent to your drivers or organization.


LMU (location messaging unit): A GPS device installed on the vehicles that communicates vehicle data to the Synovia database.


location: Map areas important to your organization, around which zones (geofence boundaries) are drawn in order to monitor vehicle activity. The following are the types of locations you designate in Synovia:


  • School: The area where the students will be dropped off and picked up at school — not the school itself, but the actual parking and unloading space.
     
  • Yard: Where the vehicles will park when they are not in use, often some kind of depot — in other words, where they’ll be when they’re done driving for the day. This location can tell you what time a vehicle has left the yard to start a route, for example.
     
  • Landmark: Any other type of specified area you need — something pertinent to your drivers or organization, such as a construction job site, frequent field trip destination, speeding-complaint location, or non–state-maintained road.


location update frequency: The interval used to report vehicle location. This value is typically set to once per 30 seconds, but that can be adjusted. This rate can affect the data consumption and thus should be balanced against the cellular data plan for the GPS equipment.


machine-to-machine (M2M): Technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same type.


manage by exception: The capability to filter out only the data that pertains to an area that can be affected by changes in human behavior or organizational protocol. That data is classified as an exception from normal operation.


maps: Synovia migrated to ALK maps in 2017 and 2018, which load much faster than our previous map service, have more up-to-date satellite data, and determine ETAs using real-time traffic data. The maps Synovia has purchased include a premium posted speed limit data set, so speed limits on the site will be more accurate out-of-the-box.


MDT (mobile data terminal): A multifunctional device that can be installed on vehicles that enables the vehicle operator to clock in and out, choose an assignment to perform, navigate to the next assignment, send and receive messages from a dispatch center, display and record information about passengers, and mark items as pass or fail in a pre-trip or post-trip inspection. Also referred to as a tablet.


operator panel: A device used to collect clock-in and clock-out information for Time and Attendance.


over-the-air (OTA): A method used to transmit programming scripts to the LMU and peripheral devices.


peripheral: A piece of equipment attached to a GPS device for the purpose of gathering additional data — for example, employee login, ridership information, and vehicle information such as engine diagnostic codes.


pre- and post-trip inspection: Forms on the MDTs that drivers can use to check for specific inspection items. Pre-trip inspection forms are filled out before the driver begins a route; post-trip forms are filled out after route completion.


proximity reader: A device that senses an RFID card or key fob device that is waved close to it.


radio frequency identification (RFID): A technology that uses electromagnetic fields to uniquely identify objects or people carrying electronic tags, which typically are in the form of a card or key fob. The identification information is read from the card or fob by a proximity reader device. For Synovia's customers' purposes, RFID systems are often used to identify employees or passengers who have an assigned card.


report: Detailed information regarding a variety of vehicle activities and other data, depending on which Synovia modules you have. See Core ›› Reports for more information.


role: The position a user has in your organization. In Synovia, roles determine the software privileges your users have. The Administrator role has the ability to set configuration parameters, and other roles have limited abilities to view and report data. Roles can be created, renamed, and customized as needed.


route: The assignment of a vehicle within a routing system. A route consists of work performed for a designated time frame, such as in the morning (typically with "AM" as part of the name).


run: The portion of a route typically associated with delivery to one dedicated location, such as an individual school. Also called a tier.


scan: A term used to indicate the clock-in or clock-out of an employee in the Time and Attendance module -OR- the registering of a passenger on to or off of a vehicle for ridership data (such as for Student Ridership).


schedule (what gets imported into TAA from the route planning system): Routing data from a routing system can be used to generate master schedule templates that, in turn, can be associated to an employee for the purposes of comparing scheduled work time to actual work time. As long as the routing system information can be converted to a schedule, the option to import the information into the Time and Attendance application will assist in establishing schedules for your employees.


scheduled reports: In Synovia, you can set parameters for the generation of reports on a scheduled basis.


scripts (firmware): The programming used to configure the GPS tracking units.


seasons: In Synovia, you can set seasons for the purpose of calculating certain events with variances allowed for operating vehicles in different weather conditions. For example, idling time may need to be extended in the winter months in order to warm the vehicles and build air brake pressure.


sensor: A device that detects a physical property and responds by taking a specific action — for example, a GPS sensor picks up a signal and relays that information in the form of directions.


Slice and Dice: The term used in our legacy software, Silverlining, to describe the substitution of one vehicle for another that typically runs a route (assignment). In Synovia, this screen has been renamed Substitutions. The slicing of the new vehicle into the data allows it to become the data collector for the date and time specified in the Substitutions tool.


stop (bus stop, traffic stop, school stop): Where a vehicle ceases movement for the purpose of picking up or dropping off passengers or products. You can specify the events used in Synovia to define a stop; for example, the Entrance Door Open and Entrance Door Close events are often used to define the start and end of a stop.


student tracking: The ability to monitor the travel activity (boarding and disembarking) of student passengers through the use of a scanning object, typically a bar-code card or RFID card.


tablet: See MDT (mobile data terminal).


tap points: Connections to inputs on a vehicle in order to collect information about vehicle activity, such as stop arm events, entrance door events, and sand/salt spreader events.


telematics: The collection of locational data via GPS tracking devices.


threshold: A value used to trigger some action in the software. An LMU can be programmed for thresholds for amount of idle time and maximum speed. When those thresholds are exceeded, an event is generated and sent to the database.


tier: The portion of a route designated for a specific delivery. See run.


Time and Attendance (TAA): A Synovia module that allows the capture of employee data related to tasks performed and absences from work, for the purposes of tracking employee work hours and optionally integrating with a payroll system.


transceiver: The device within an LMU that transmits and receives information via the cellular network in order to log activity to the Synovia database.


wire harness: The wiring that connects an LMU to a vehicle for power, ignition, and other inputs.


yard: A designated location whose zone is drawn around where the vehicles park overnight or during periods of inactivity.


yellow distance: The travel distance between the activation of the amber lights on a school bus and the activation of the stop arm and associated red passenger warning lights.


zone: A geofence or polygon drawn on the map around your locations to collect information about vehicle activity. See location for more information.