Moline, Ill.-based John Deere Construction & Forestry Co., Qualcomm Inc. announced an alliance to create an equipment and machine monitoring and information delivery system that will be sold across North America by certified 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 construction and forestry equipment is being used, as well as critical machine health data for superior equipment utilization, improved productivity and increased revenue. The system leverages Qualcomm's GlobalTracs equipment management system to provide customers with vital information about equipment location, machine health and service status. Additionally, it issues special alerts to notify customers if equipment moves outside pre-set boundaries.