The market for in-car electronic mobile equipment is growing rapidly, as demonstrated by IVM Automotive, the Munich based in-car communications specialist.

The company's demonstration vehicle shows how it is possible for business professionals to work in a mobile office environment.

Vehicles fitted by IVM Automotive and Data Protect acknowledge communication equipment still needs to be able to transfer information fast on the move.

Video data transfer and use of the internet takes place at twice the speed of ISDN using GSM technology.

In video conferences, the transmission of picture and sound signals takes place at 30 frames a second. Users benefit from a range of telematics services, such as traffic and travel information, and can even conduct stock exchange transactions and banking business. All the data is encoded (kept secure) by advanced security software. There is also a TV, DVD and a video recorder available.

The entire system uses GSM mobile phones, a Router PC Pentium II 233 MHz, CD-Rom drive, backsize NT Server with video card and an infrared touch-pad.

Information is viewed on a 17-inch flat panel monitor, while video conferencing uses a 5-inch flat panel display. All these features can be used at any time, even when the car is stationary.