• Location data: Latitude and longitude provided in degrees, minutes and seconds. It is accurate to 33 feet, which is as accurate as any commercial GPS device. A vehicle’s location is updated at intervals of between 2 - 15 minutes. The standard update interval varies between manufacturers or can be set by the owner (optional).

• Who is closest to the customer that just called? See where all your employees are by checking the map. Never again call an employee just to find out where they are!

• Speed calculation: Rate of movement in miles per hour. Movement in excess of a preset speed (standard) or owner-set speed (optional) triggers an alert, sent to the owner.

• Are employees routinely speeding? Speeding causes excessive wear and wastes gasoline. Your vehicles represent your company to the public; what kind of an image is presented by a speeding or recklessly-driven company vehicle?

• Present direction: Compass direction the vehicle is traveling, expressed as north, south, east or west.

• Is employee ’X’ en route to the customer or leaving their location?

• Geofence use: A ’virtual’ geographic boundary, created by the owner. Crossing this boundary triggers an alert which is sent to the owner. The alerts are usually e-mail messages or automated telephone calls from the system to the user, including the vehicle identification, date/time of crossing, location of crossing and more, depending upon the system. A Geofence can be 1/4 mile to 20+ miles in diameter.

• Is a delivery truck approaching the warehouse? Is the gate open?

• Alerts: An automatic e-mail, sent to the owner, with the date, time, location, identification and other details related to some event which has occurred and deserves your attention. Alerts are triggered when a vehicle exceeds a preset speed or crosses a Geofence boundary, for example.

• Email alerts can be sent to your Blackberry or portable device. You can monitor your company while out of the office or away from your desk.

• Fastest speed report: A daily report of each vehicle’s fastest speed.

• Why was employee ’Y’ driving 80 m.p.h.?

• Historical data: A record of all data related to each vehicle, maintained for 90 days.

• Which vehicles averaged the most miles driven each day? Export vehicle data to an Excel Worksheet to compare productivity between employees.

• Ignition on/off: Time, date and location of each instance where a vehicle’s ignition was turned on or off.

• When was Hooter’s restaurant put on employee ’Z’s route?

• Idle report: Time, date, location and duration of each instance where a vehicle remained motionless while the engine was running. Owner can adjust the duration of idle allowed before a report is generated.

• Idling the engine wastes fuel and causes unnecessary wear. Employee ’Z’s vehicle idled twice as long as employee ’Y’s vehicle; perhaps employee ’Z’ should shut off his vehicle’s engine when making deliveries.

• Accumulated mileage alert: An alert sent at 3,000 miles, 5,000 miles or at an owner-set interval (optional) as a reminder to perform preventative maintenance.

• Email: time to have the oil changed on vehicle ’A’.

• Location on demand: The ability to locate and display location info when requested, regardless of when the last scheduled
  update occurred.

• Where is employee ’Y’? I need to find him right now!

• Map detail: Vehicle location is displayed on a street map, which the owner can enlarge or reduce to see more or less map detail.

• Employee ’A’ says Main Street is closed for construction, what is the next street West?

• Landmarks: Reference points which may or may not be visible on the map created to designate locations important to the system user. Landmarks could be customer locations, the user’s shop, warehouse, satellite offices, etc.

• Who has been to the warehouse today?

• Breadcrumbs: When requested by the owner, a trail of points can be displayed on the map, indicating a vehicle’s route during a
  certain time period.

• Do routes overlap between vehicle ’A’ and vehicle ’B’?

Many GPS tracking system providers offer additional information, but, as I hope you can see, even this list of basic data will give you all the info you need to manage your vehicles.

Technorati Tags: GPS Tracking Background, GPS Vehicle Tracking

Have you ever thought about installing a GPS vehicle tracking system? Although you may have seen the commercials and have some knowledge of how the system operates, you may still have questions as to how the GPS actually works and how it can serve your personal needs.

1- The most obvious reason to have a GPS vehicle tracking system is in a situation where your car is stolen. If you ever become a victim of vehicle theft and are lucky enough to have a GPS system installed all you will need to do is to inform your GPS carrier of the theft. They can track the cars exact location and its speed, when the vehicle has been located, they will call police to recover it for you.

2- If you happen to be traveling in your car and it begins to show signs of a mechanical issue, or perhaps it completely breaks down and leaves you stranded in the middle of nowhere, you will have the peace of mind of knowing that you only have to push a button and help will be summoned. Most systems will have this particular button labeled as a communications button.

3- Perhaps one of the most important and emotional reasons to have a GPS vehicle tracking system installed in your car is the panic button. This button is to be used in cases of emergency. This can include everything from a fender bender to a carjacking, what ever the reason, when this button is pushed an operator at the GPS carrier can immediately listen to what is happening. If it is safe, and there is no robbery taking place, they will talk to you and help to asses the situation. If, however, they determine that it would be detrimental to speak to you, they will contact the authorities for you.

4- If you happen to be directionally challenged, you have the capability to press the communication button. This will put you in contact with someone who can give you directions that will lead you to your exact destination. In fact, a GPS vehicle tracking system is great for many of life’s little mishaps.

5- For instance, if you, or your children, lock you out of your car, it can easily be unlocked by phoning into the call center of the service you choose. This is also a very handy feature if you tend to lose your car in a crowded parking lot, they will find it for you and send the lights flashing and the horn honking for you. Maybe the best thing about being able to call for help in these types of situations is that you don’t have to actually see the grins on the faces of the people you are speaking with.

6- For many parents, this device can give them peace of mind. It gives them the ability to call and check upon the exact whereabouts of a car that is being driven by a child without directly interfering with their plans.

7- The advantages of having a GPS vehicle tracking system installed are numerous, but beware of what you are paying for before you sign on the dotted line. Find out exactly what options your plan covers and what the monthly service fee is. Make sure also, that your system is being installed by someone who is licensed to do so.

Technorati Tags: GPS Tracking Background, Gps tracking, Vehicle tracking

It seems that everywhere you look there is a GPS advertisement, and for good reason. This system, when installed in a vehicle can help you in a variety of different situations. However, while all of this technology can be a wonderful thing to have at your fingertips, knowing how to use it can be a bit overwhelming. The following information is a general guide to most GPS vehicle systems and will help you navigate through the buttons and options with ease.

Perhaps one of the most important and emotional reasons to have a GPS vehicle tracking system installed in your car is the “panic” button. This button is to be used in cases of emergency. This can include everything from a fender bender to a carjacking, what ever the reason, when this button is pushed an operator at the GPS carrier can immediately listen to what is happening. If it is safe, and there is no robbery taking place, they will talk to you and help to asses the situation. If, however, they determine that it would be detrimental to speak to you, they will contact the authorities for you.

For instance, if you, or your children, lock you out of your car, it can easily be unlocked by phoning into the call center of the service you choose. This is also a very handy feature if you tend to lose your car in a crowded parking lot, they will find it for you and send the lights flashing and the horn honking for you. Maybe the best thing about being able to call for help in these types of situations is that you don’t have to actually see the grins on the faces of the people you are speaking with.

If you happen to be traveling in your car and it begins to show signs of a mechanical issue, or perhaps it completely breaks down and leaves you stranded in the middle of nowhere, you will have the peace of mind of knowing that you only have to push a button and help will be summoned. Most systems will have this particular button labeled as a “communication” button.

For many parents, this device can give them peace of mind. It gives them the ability to call and check upon the exact whereabouts of a car that is being driven by a child without directly interfering with their plans.

The most obvious reason to have a GPS vehicle tracking system is in a situation where your car is stolen. If you ever become a victim of vehicle theft and are lucky enough to have a GPS system installed all you will need to do is to inform your GPS carrier of the theft. They can track the cars’ exact location and its speed, when the vehicle has been located, they will call police to recover it for you.

The advantages of having a GPS vehicle tracking system installed are numerous, but beware of what you are paying for before you sign on the dotted line. Find out exactly what options your plan covers and what the monthly service fee is. Make sure also, that your system is being installed by someone who is licensed to do so.