Track24 Solo helps Mongol Rally team stay on course
Tracking specialist provides charity team, the ‘Social Media Syndicate’ with satellite tracking, communication and emergency alert capability through 10,000 mile drive
24 June 2011, London – Global satellite tracking expert Track24 Solo is sponsoring 2011 Mongol Rally team, the ‘Social Media Syndicate’. The company will provide the team with its state-of-the-art online Solo Viewer and a PackMaster Lo-Pro tracking and two-way messaging device. This will allow family and friends of the 4 team members to track their route as they drive unsupported from London, England on July 23, to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, covering 10,000 miles, 15 countries and 2 continents. The team is raising money for the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, which helps homeless and abandoned children in Mongolia.
The Packmaster Lo-Pro (right), is a small, mobile, two-way personal satellite tracking device. It uses the Iridium global network for two-way messaging and connectivity across the entire planet. Secure online access will allow the team’s supporters to log in and track the team’s location, progress and status on the Solo Viewer. Satellite images showing the team’s progress will be uploaded to Track24 Solo’s Facebook page, making it available to anyone who clicks ‘Like’ on the page.
The PackMaster Lo-Pro also has two-way satellite messaging capability, providing the four adventurers – top travel bloggers Deb Corbeil, Dave Bouskill, Sherry Ott and Rick Griffin – with a communication channel to stay in touch as they drive across some of the world’s most isolated and unfriendly terrain, including mountains and deserts (route pictured below). The device also has a panic button which allows the team to instantly notify their friends and family in case of an emergency. More than 300 teams took part in last year’s rally, many of them not making it all the way to Mongolia.
Tim Grant, CEO of Track24 Solo, comments: “We are delighted to be able to offer the Social Media Syndicate the new Solo solution for this year’s Mongol Rally. As the team will be travelling across such secluded, often-unmapped areas, it is very important they have a means of communicating. With 90 percent of the world lacking GSM coverage, the Solo solution will allow them to alert the appropriate parties should they encounter any trouble, or divert from their route. We are only too happy to equip them with the Solo solution to keep them safe, in contact and on the right track, knowing that they are raising money for such worthwhile causes.”
Dave Bouskill from the Social Media Syndicate says: “It gives us real peace of mind to know that our friends and family can watch our progress in near real-time on Google Maps. The two-way satellite text messaging is also a benefit, as it gives us a communications channel in areas with no cell phone coverage – of which there will be many on the Mongol Rally! The panic button means that if something goes wrong, we can notify someone within a minute, safe in the knowledge that our position and status is being monitored across the Track24 Solo network.”
“Like” Track24 Solo’s Facebook Page to view daily updates of the team’s progress.
For further information, interview and product review opportunities, please contact:
+44 (0)207 580 6502
About Track24 Solo
Track24 Solo is a subsidiary of Track24. Track24 is the leading global provider of security tracking and crisis management solutions, providing tracking hardware and software to enable organisations to track personnel, vehicles, aircraft and maritime vessels. At any given time the company facilitates the tracking and management of thousands of people across 40 countries.
Track24 Solo is designed to be a simple, affordable solution for small businesses and individuals.
For more information please visit: www.track24solo.com
About Iridium Communications Inc.
Iridium is the only mobile voice and data satellite communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables connections between people, organizations and assets to and from anywhere, in real time. Together with its ever-expanding ecosystem of partner companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions for markets that require truly global communications. The company has a major development program underway for its next-generation network – Iridium NEXT. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbols IRDM (common stock), IRDMW ($7.00 warrants), IRDMZ ($11.50 warrants) and IRDMU (units). For more information about Iridium products, services and partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com.
