CoPilot Product Line Case Study
Sue Rimsky
RV Traveler
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything!”
For Sue Rimsky of Bradenton, FL, the advertising slogan, “Don’t
leave home without it,” has a very specific meaning when she talks about
her CoPilot Live | Laptop 7 system from ALK Technologies. “CoPilot Live
| Laptop 7 is especially suited to RV travelers,” notes Rimsky, who travels
the country extensively with her husband in their 1994 Bounder 34-foot motor
home. “The CoPilot GPS navigation solution is loaded with features that
cater to the needs of recreational travelers like us who require reliable navigation
and updated map data.”
Rimsky’s initial experience with CoPilot was with the 2003 version of
the software. “We were comparing navigation software and decided that
CoPilot had many more features than any of its competitors,” she relates. “We
used CoPilot 2003 for one year and were so impressed we upgraded to the CoPilot
Live | Laptop 7 version. We power the laptop in the RV with an adaptor, plug
the GPS receiver into the USB port and we’re ready to go.
“Every few months we take a long trip lasting anywhere from two weeks
to two months,” Rimsky continues. “Our longest trip was 8,000 miles.
Regardless of how far we go, though, CoPilot is always along for the ride.
We bought CoPilot for its many exclusive features and we haven’t been
disappointed. The mileage calculation feature is very helpful, for example,
and we especially like the fact that it can help us find routes that are RV
friendly, that avoid bridges and roads that we shouldn’t travel in this
type of vehicle.
“A large RV doesn’t turn on a dime,” Rimsky points out, “and
for that reason CoPilot excels over other programs. For instance, the advance
warning about upcoming turns that CoPilot provides makes it very useful. In
addition, there’s an automatic route recalculation feature that gets
you back on track within seconds of missing a turn or going off route for any
reason. CoPilot will automatically give you new directions based on the best
way to get from where you are now to your destination. Other systems we’ve
seen only tell you to turn around in an effort to get you back to your original
route.”
Rimsky goes on to relate how in more than a few situations, the CoPilot Live
| Laptop 7 navigation system’ really proved its value. “Last year,” she
says, “we took a trip to Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. In Atlanta,
we visited the Coca-Cola Company, which is located in the city in a busy, congested
area. After our tour, we began to wonder how we were going to get out of the
city, from an area we weren’t familiar with at all. With CoPilot, we
simply entered our desired destination and it took us to an Interstate entrance
in less than five minutes.
“On the same trip,” she also relates, “we were at The Print
House For The Blind on the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky. Again, we were
amazed at how easy it was to get out of a busy city with a big vehicle. CoPilot
routed us through a residential area right to an Interstate entrance ramp.
It’s like having a lighted path that shows you the best way to go.”
“Last year, we had incident where CoPilot really helped us a lot,” Rimsky
continues. “We broke down in a small town about one hour south of Louisville
on a Saturday morning. We had parked in a gas station and the manager told
us where to get the part we needed to repair the RV. But the store was an hour
away, it was already after 11 am and it was closing at noon. If we didn’t
make it there we’d have to spend the weekend.
“With CoPilot,” she explains further, “we simply entered
our destination address and it routed us there quickly and safely. We made
it by 11:55 am, to a place we never would have found otherwise. That’s
an example of another great thing about CoPilot. You just type in a destination
and it automatically finds your exact starting location. It knows where you
are at all times so it doesn’t need you to know where you are to get
you from point A to point B.
“Another thing I like about CoPilot,” Rimsky states, “is
its Route Optimization feature that can automatically provide the most efficient
route for up to 50 stops, or let you manually customize your itinerary. This
is very important to an RV’er, especially pulling a big rig using up
a lot of gas at today’s prices. The Route Optimization function is a
really great feature. Its power lies in its ability to continually calculate
the shortest route from one stop to the next-- not just on an overall trip--
based on where you are and where you’re heading.
“On a trip to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, for example,
we purchased a book called Where It’s Made that lists places across the
US where you can take free tours,” she adds. “In the book there
were six places in Indiana we thought would be interesting to visit. We typed
the addresses in to CoPilot and it automatically took us on the most efficient
route. We estimate that saved us 100 miles, which not only saved time-- at
6 MPG it also saved quite a bit of money.”
Other CoPilot features that Rimsky says are very helpful include its Detour
and Selective Routing function that quickly gets you around delays and congestion
caused by traffic or construction, and its various Points-of-Interest functions.
In particular, she likes viewing POIs, including RV parks and gas stations,
when planning trips. On the road, she notes, being able to access customized
POI lists and have CoPilot notify you as you approach selected Points-of-Interest
along your route is very helpful, and reduces some of the stress of traveling
in unfamiliar places.
Closer to home, Rimsky also uses CoPilot for personal and business reasons.
For instance, it’s useful as she plans local and long distance trips.
On a recent trip to pick up a friend at the airport in Tampa, for example,
she was able to enter a restaurant address and have CoPilot guide them there
easily. Currently, she is also using it to plan a trip for next summer to Colorado,
Montana and the Dakotas.
As a self-described “hands on computer teacher” Rimsky has spent
the past ten years volunteering in her community to teach people how to use
their computers. “I go to a lot of locations within 25 miles of my home
that are in areas I’ve never been to before,” she relates. “There’s
also a lot of development and building activity so streets change and there
are detours to navigate. With CoPilot, I never get lost and always arrive quickly
and safely at my destination.”
Rimsky has also brought CoPilot Live to the attention of a computer users
club that she belongs to. “I wanted to share my CoPilot experiences with
- others,” she says. “As a demonstrator of various programs, I’ve
found that applications are not always easy to use. CoPilot, however, was very
easy to learn. It took me less than one day.
“My message is that while other programs may claim to do what CoPilot
does for less money, you get what you pay for,” Rimsky concludes. “CoPilot
is great when you’re at home planning a trip, but CoPilot really shines
when you’re on the road traveling. I never leave home without it. I rely
on it all the time. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
CoPilot Live | Laptop 7 Database Features:
- US map database with over 250,000 new and updated roads, over 7 million
miles of roads, 100 million addresses, and 3 million points-of-interest
- 31,000 new and updated exit numbers throughout the US
- Canadian street-level data, including 830,000 miles of roads, 10 million
addresses, and over 5,500 Points-of-Interest
CoPilot Live | Laptop 7 is available directly from ALK. For more details,
visit www.alk.com/store.
ABOUT ALK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Since its founding in 1979, ALK Technologies, Inc., a Princeton, NJ based company,
has recognized the power of information technology and its direct link to competitive
advantage and customer satisfaction. For over 20 years, ALK has helped companies
and individuals navigate the growth and transformation of transportation technology
through consulting, customized information systems and packaged software solutions.
For more information on ALK visit www.alk.com.
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