AT&T Announces LocateMe Venture with Road America

April 27th, 2011

For more information, contact:

Stacey Harth

AT&T Corporate Communications

(404) 986-1833

moc.ttanull@htrah.yecats

ROAD AMERICA ROLLS OUT NEW LOCATION-BASED EMERGENCY ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE OFFERING WITH AT&T

miami –  APRIL 18, 2011 — Mobile location technology is playing a new role in the evolution of emergency roadside assistance, thanks to an innovative location-based solution developed by AT&T and Road America, a leading roadside assistance service provider.

Previously, most drivers needed to have GPS units installed in their cars to be located in the event of an accident or roadside breakdown, but a new solution offered by Road America is bringing this important safety feature to any basic cell, landline or smartphone on any network.

Using AT&T Location Information Services, Road America has developed LocateMe Service® to help capture vehicle breakdown locations for customers calling from any wireless or landline communications device. This innovative, cross-carrier offering helps drastically improve the speed, accuracy and efficiency of locating a customer’s disabled vehicle through the same telecommunications device used to call Road America’s 24-hour Response Centers. In addition, the network-based location solution prevents users from needing to download applications or use a specific platform in order to be located.

“When developing this solution our goal was simple: find a way to quickly and accurately locate disabled vehicles by using the technology drivers often already have on them – cell phones – and we needed to be able to do it regardless of which carrier they were on,” said Dennis Fantis, president of Road America. “We teamed up with AT&T to create this revolutionary offering so we are now better equipped to respond to emergency assistance calls with greater reliability and speed, ultimately enhancing our ability to keep customers safe on the road.”

AT&T Location Information Services are designed to provide AT&T’s enterprise customer base with a highly reliable, operationally managed service where network-based location information can be obtained for wireless or landline communication devices and corporate assets. This service is intended to take advantage of AT&T’s cloud capabilities in order to improve operational efficiencies, increase customer satisfaction and control costs for a variety of industries such as financial services, retail, healthcare, education, travel and hospitality and manufacturing.

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Web Site Links Related Media Kits:
AT&T Web Site

AT&T Enterprise Services

AT&T Mobile Phones

Wireless Choice/Openness

Wireless Networks

Related Releases: Related Fact Sheets:
AT&T to Provide Wireless Services for Enhanced Functionality to Premium Automaker AT&T Network Coverage Map

AT&T and Consumer Wireless Choices

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T │DIRECTV brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.  This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.

About Road America

Road America is a preeminent provider of private label and co-branded roadside and vehicle related services for insurance companies, OEM manufacturers, automotive service contract companies, and other corporations and associations.  Since 1978, they have set the standard for providing high quality assistance services in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to more than 22 million customers of their 120 major corporate clients.  For USA and Puerto Rico services, Road America provides 24-hour assistance from their Response Centers located in Miami, Florida and Columbus, Georgia.  Canadian services are provided through the Road Canada Response Center in Cambridge, Ontario.  Road America is a wholly owned United States subsidiary of MAPFRE, one of the major European auto insurers, with worldwide revenues in 2010 of over $25 billion US.

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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How Does It Work?

February 16th, 2011

The IT Department at Road America has been on a mission to solve this problem for many years, because it’s always been the weakest link in the emergency roadside process.  The mapping engines on which the industry relied previously were not server based and depended on data that was only intermittently updated by the software companies. It was an expensive and time-consuming procedure and one that had the potential to be perceived poorly by the customer. The Telematics devices found on some newer model cars were not widely available and didn’t operate smoothly across all platforms. We knew the technology could be developed; government emergency crews used something like it, based on triangulation, but this development was specifically not available to private companies.

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In the Customer’s Head

February 16th, 2011

The best part, really, is that Melissa Renton didn’t even realize what had happened to her.  Her meeting had run late, it was dark and she was driving on an unfamiliar highway back towards her hotel.  She was able to coast safely to the side of the road when the engine died, but she wasn’t quite sure where she’d ended up.

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Road America Launches New “LocateMe” Technology!

February 16th, 2011

This is the part that sounds simple: if your car breaks down, we can find you and dispatch help immediately even if you have no idea where you are.

LocateMe Service® by Road America is a genuine WOW moment in the evolution of emergency roadside assistance.  For stranded drivers, already stressed by their circumstances, trying to accurately describe the location they’ve found themselves in to a dispatcher on the telephone can be a real ordeal.  This element of the process – figuring out exactly where the disabled car is located – has always been time consuming, stress inducing and an opportunity for mistakes for all parties. Until now.

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Keeping Harley-Davidson Riders Safe

November 23rd, 2010

A quick chat with Marcus Ward

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Marcus Ward has been in charge of the Harley-Davidson roadside assistance team at Road America over the past 4 years. During that time, he has been able to learn about and gain appreciation for the Harley-Davidson culture, its riders, and yes, the bikes as well.

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Mastering the Details

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They say that Retail is Detail. The truth is that ALL business is detail, and the most successful businesses are intensely focused on the execution of details at every level.  At Road America, our training programs teach employees to zero in on the minute details that matter greatly to their customers; every aspect of the business that touches the customer must reflect the highest standards possible.

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Big News, Networking (and some fun) in Madrid

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A team of Road America executives recently attended MAPFRE Asistencia’s annual Commercial Training Program, held in Madrid, Spain.  The event took place September 27th thru October 5th, 2010, and focused on disseminating information related to MAPFRE’s leadership position in the Insurance, Automotive and Financial sectors throughout the world. The conference was attended by Sales and Marketing executives from 17 different MAPFRE Asistencia companies.

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Collision Assistance White Paper

November 23rd, 2010

From Road America’s White Paper Series

SECONDARY TOWING

A Collision Assistance Service

1.  Introduction Claims executives are always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to gain better control of their costs.  Advancing technologies and specialized industry offerings have emerged that enable these executives to target some previously difficult-to-manage costs with great precision.  The issue of managing vehicle transport and towing costs is a classic example.  Continue reading

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