John Deere and QUALCOMM Create Remote Monitoring System

John Deere Construction & Forestry Co., Moline, Ill., and QUALCOMM Inc., San Diego, have entered into a partnership to create an equipment monitoring system that will be sold across North America by John Deere construction and forestry dealers.

Beginning in the fall of 2006, customers can order factory- or dealer-installed JDLink on select John Deere construction and forestry equipment.

JDLink automatically collects, transmits and manages information about where and how the machine is being used, as well as machine health data. Additionally, it issues special alerts to notify customers if the equipment moves outside pre-set boundaries, according to a news release from John Deere.

Four levels of service will be offered with JDLink. The Standard level will provide machine location status, machine service hours and location monitoring capabilities. The Advanced level will provide the Standard level, plus dash indicators and fuel and equipment utilization information via engine load monitoring. The Ultimate level expands on the first two offerings by adding current and stored monitoring of component pressures and temperatures, fuel consumption as well as transmission gear selection and full-featured diagnostic information retrieval. The Direct level enables customers to download machine operating history and diagnostics directly to a laptop.

The Standard level will be available in the fall of 2006, while the other three levels will be available in 2007 on select models.