Auto GPS » Cell Phone Technology

GPS Tracking For Fleet Management

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:39:01 +0000

The cost of managing and operating a fleet of vehicles has dramatically increased over the past 5 years. Increased fuel, maintenance and insurance cost bear much of the blame. Probably the biggest variable in fleet management is the human element. Once the vehicle operator leaves the dock you have little control or feedback on their performance. Most of your people are probably good employees that perform reasonably well. However it only takes one or two poor performers to cut into your slim profit margin. New technology in the form of GPS auto or vehicle tracking has the ability to manage your vehicle fleet and save you money and time.

Basically there are two types of GPS tracking systems that are used to monitor and mange vehicles. The passive system consists of a GPS receiver that is placed in a vehicle and at the end of a specified period of time is retrieved and downloaded into a computer data base. This system is great for gathering historical data on the vehicle to include speed, location, direction, time at rest, time at a specific location, travel route and customer service verification. Through the use of a fleet management software program you will be able to determine what management decisions are needed to make your fleet most efficient.

Active or real time GPS tracking systems are designed to work with cell phone technology so that a vehicles GPS data is reported in real time. Data is uploaded to your computer on a timed frequency. Most real time systems complete an upload every 2 to 5 minutes. Again just as with GPS tracking information is provided to you in order to make fleet management decisions. Real time tracking is best used for dispatching, customer care or when vehicles are located over a larger area. The system allows the dispatcher to observe where the vehicles are allowing them to be rerouted to new calls or pickups. All of which saves considerable money in terms of fuel, time and overtime costs.

GPS tracking system benefits include:

Start and stop time managementVehicle speed controlVerify work/wages paidLower Fuel CostLower Maintenance CostLower Insurance costsCorrect billing informationAccident reductionCustomer service verificationCustomer interface timingEfficient vehicle staging May allow employee to take vehicle to their residence.

The use of GPS tracking systems has become an absolute necessity for managing your fleet. Without it there is little chance you will be able to compete in the market place. It is estimated that it costs about $500.00 a day to put a box truck on the road. It is also estimated that you can maximize your fleet’s efficiency by using a $3.00 GPS tracking fleet management tool that will shortly more than pay for its self. The use of a fleet GPS tracking system may be the fast way to increase your bottom line.

By: Jim Kesel

GPS Individual Tracking, Keeping Track of Vulnerable Loved Ones

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:37:44 +0000

It seems that the world is becoming even more dangerous each day. The news reports bring tales of missing children, men, women and senior citizens. Many have medical conditions that require medicines every few hours. Others are victims of crime or accidents. Family and volunteers spend enormous amounts of energy and expense searching for these people. Sadly these incidents end in tragedy. The answer may lie in new technology in the form of GPS individual tracking devices. New GPS device technology has developed individual tracking devices to be made small enough to hang on a belt or around your neck like a pendant or on your wrist just as a watch would. These new non intrusive tracking devices use a combination of GPS and cell phone technology to report its location at timed intervals. Areas that have limited cell phone coverage generally do not offer individual tracking services. New battery technology allows these devices to continue to function for as long as 24 hours before needing to be recharged. Information that is uploaded through the cell phone system is sent to a data base maintained by a cell phone tracking provider where it can be downloaded to your computer, PDA or cell phone.

The system can be programmed to email you if your child or vulnerable individual has traveled out of bounds such as leaving a school, home or treatment facility. This is also handy for keeping track of your teens as well. However many teens feel that GPS individual tracking is an infringement on their personal freedoms. The information on the direction and speed of travel are readily available to allow you to intercept the individual are tracking. Think of the peace of mind that you will have knowing that you can log into your laptop and ascertain the location information of your loved ones day or night. Specialized units even have an alert feature that can be initiated to bring help or medical assistance. Your GPS tracking service provider will automatically notify authorities even if you are not available to respond in a timely manner. The individual that is being track is carrying a cell phone they can be called to ascertain the type of assistance needed. All of which will keep your loved ones safe and reduce your stress and anxiety levels.

The smaller GPS individual tracking devices are relatively expensive. The smaller the device is the higher the cost. In addition the smaller devices require more frequent battery charges to keep them working properly. The cost of tracking varies greatly depending on where you live and what services you require. However considering the value most of us place on our loved ones it may seem a bargain over time.

By: Jim Kesel

Personal GPS Tracking Units With Locator Capabilities

admin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:58:41 +0000

Recent back country disasters have highlighted the value of personal GPS tracking units. Lost hikers, skiers, hunters, mountain climbers and outdoor adventure enthusiasts require massive efforts by SAR (search and rescue) personnel. These efforts cost thousands of dollars each day of effort. SAR personnel risk their own lives trying to locate and rescue these individuals and often as not these operations end in a recovery effort.

New cell phone technology and manufacture regulations have placed GPS technology in cell phones. This is a great step forward that will assist SAR personnel in locating lost individuals. The major limitation in using cell phones as GPS tracking devices is the phones short battery life. Granted a lost individual that is thinking clearly will manage the battery life on his or her cell phone to prolong the tracking function. However many lost or injured individuals find themselves very stressed by the experience of being lost which leads to reduced cognitive reasoning skills.

New back country GPS tracking Units with locator capability are designed to be employed by an individual that recognizes that they are lost or injured. These devices use satellite phone technology to broadcast the exact location of the device to within about 10 meter or 33 feet. Pushing the panic button is all that is necessary to activate the device. This has many benefits including the need to worry about battery life and also the need to respond to a contact by cell phone in the case of a serious injury. The injured person can be incapacitated and still expect to be located.

This past year a deer hunter had the misfortune of falling out of her tree stand and breaking her hip and leg. She was located in an area that had poor cell phone coverage. However her husband was wise enough to provide her with a GPS tracking unit with the emergency location features. She was able to push the 911 button between periods of consciousness. The emergency signal was received and local authorities used a hand held GPS unit to literally guide them to within a few feet of her. Because of the extent of her injuries this woman most likely would not have survived the sub freezing temperatures during the night.

The GPS Tracking unit used in this case was purchased on the Internet from Cabalas for less than $200. A casual search on the Internet yielded more than 30 websites where these GPS tracking and locator device can be purchased. Some SAR officials have proposed regulations requiring the mandatory possession of these devices by back country visitors. In fact in some locations these devices can be rented by backpackers and other wild country visitors.

Given the cost of SAR response it would seem very reasonable for everyone to carry such a device when in the remote areas of the world. These devices do in fact work anywhere there are GPS and communication satellites above the horizon. New innovations in technology continue reduce the size of GPS tracking units and make them even more rugged and reliable. It goes without say that it would be wise for every person contemplating a back country trip to invest in this life saving technology.

By: Jim Kesel

Truck and Car GPS Tracking

admin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:28:55 +0000

New miniature GPS technology has made GPS Tracking available to just about anyone. Many people are interested in vehicle or car GPS tracking. Fleet vehicle managers are saving there respective companies thousands of dollars each day with this new technology. In addition private citizens are also using the technology to keep track of there family members and their valuable assets. The cost of a GPS auto tracker has dropped over the last year. However the new smaller portable or personalized units are still relatively expensive.

There are two technologies to choose from when looking to purchase a GPS tracking device. The older logger unit is not only less expensive to purchase but it does not rely on an expensive subscription with a GPS tracking company. These devices are placed in the target vehicle during the period that you want to track then retrieved. The unit then is attached to a personal computer where the tracking information is downloaded into the logger’s software package for viewing. Logger GPS tracking devices have the ability to be very small and discreet. The major drawback of a using a logger is that all the information is relatively stale or historic in nature. Never the less they are very effective vehicle or car GPS tracking devices.

Real time GPS tracking devices just as their name implies provide tracking information that is relatively current in nature. These GPS tracking devices are larger than loggers due to the fact that they must have a transmitter to upload the tracking information to a GPS tracking service provider. The most common method of uploading the vehicle or car GPS tracking data is through existing cell phone technology. The service company will make a query of the GPS auto tracker on a predetermined time frequency and then display it on their website. These tracking service providers charge you a month fee for this service. The more frequently they download the GPS information to their website for your use the more expensive the service becomes. The current standard for tracking updates is about 5 minutes between tracking updates. In many cases you can save a lot of money by selecting longer periods between downloads.

Real time GPS devices are relatively more expensive when compared to loggers. The smallest portable units can cost as much as $1200.00 while standard vehicle or car tracking devices that are permanently installed can cost less than $300.00. It should be remembered that a quality unit is will be more expensive but it will also be more dependable over time. Delivery and fleet vehicles by their nature are not always easy on electronic systems. In other words when it comes to purchasing a GPS auto tracker cheaper is not always better.

By: Jim Kesel

GPS Tracking Devices

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:33:18 +0000

Had it not been for a GPS tracking device in OJ Simpson’s mobile phone, he would not have been found to be tried on his wife’s murder. A GPS tracking device is much like driving around in your car with your mobile phone. It allows a person to locate the current position of a moving vehicle or identify where its been and as well, where it is heading. This is ideal for chasing criminals who has just fled the scene of the crime or finding where a suspicious vehicle will be heading next.

A GPS device calculates its position by measuring distances between itself and other GPS satellites. In return, the signals emitted by the GPS tracking device are transmitted to tracking service provider by cell phone technology. Then this information is made available to you via the internet. Aside from absolute location, other civilian benefits in GPS tracking devices include direction of travel, average speed and time of travel. This information is very valuable to the fleet manager of any business.

Other benefits of GPS tracking devices is the ability to know the location of each vehicle or carrier on a map. This technology can also create a digital view of the vehicles current position in a geographic map which is also an additional feature for vehicles with GPS. This allows you to track vehicles that are operated in remote locations without named roads or operated off road.

More advanced GPS devices can even tell you which turn to take or which roads to take to reach a destination. Life is now easier drivers who simply get in their cars and start their engines without knowing where to go. GPS in vehicles have given eyes to the almost blind driver. The world is much smaller these days as a result of this new technology. For each geographic location we are at, have been or going to, can now be identified with a simple click of a button.

So, if you ever wonder where your car may be, your GPS can track where it is. If for instance your car gets stolen, you can easily find where it is heading or where it currently is. Suppose a vehicle stops in the middle of nowhere because of some car trouble, the driver could easily ask for help, or his location could easily be tracked for emergency assistance, that is for as long as there is a signal and cell phone coverage is available. Real time GPS tracking systems will not work without it. These features will definitely decrease car theft or even robberies with getaway vehicles. This can also give cheating husbands or spouses a second thought on their actions. Moving around in vehicles with GPS can very well ruin a secret affair because of its non-discreet ability to identify ones exact location.

With the advent of such technology, GPS in your mobile phones or GPS in your cars, we are giving away a part of our private lives to know where our vehicles and loved ones are. We are giving up away our privacy and that is a big concern for many people. If you do install a GPS tracking device, then you should expect that somebody else can have access to your tracking information.. But, for as long as knowing where we are can do no harm and you are not doing something illegal, then GPS tracking device information will do us no harm.

By: Jim Kesel

How To Detect GPS Tracking Units

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:47:36 +0000

The new GPS auto tracker technology allows just about anyone to track anyone else. In addition almost all new cell phones have GPS tracking capabilities built in to them. Some even have the ability to transmit location information even with the battery removed. All of which make you wonder what happened to personal privacy. The answer is that there really is no privacy. Granted there are legal restrictions as to how and when you can use the new tracking technology however detecting GPS tracking units can sometimes be difficult.

There are basically two types of GPS tracking device technology available to the public. The simplest is called a passive or logger tracking device. This device is also the most difficult to detect and defend against. These devices can be as small as a matchbook and can be hidden just about anywhere. They are attached to a vehicle or individual and after a specific amount of time they must be retrieved. After retrieval the device is usually attached to a personal computer and the information is downloaded into a data base that is provided by the device manufacture.

Probably the best defense against passive/logger tracking devices comes in the form of a GPS blocker. These small units normally plug into your automobiles cigarette lighter port and provide protection for about 30 feet in any direction. Small handheld units are also available that run on batteries that also provide short range blocking. These units can range in price from $200 to $850.

The second type of GPS auto tracker or personal GPS tracking units are called real time tracking devices. These units do just as the name implies, provide current real time location information on the individual or vehicle that is being tracked. This accomplished through the use of cell phone technology. Recent technology improvements have greatly reduced the size and reliability of these tracking devices. You can purchase a battery operated unit the size of a small cell phone that will provide tracking information for up to a week before the battery requires charging. More commonly these units are attached to a vehicle and use the vehicles power supply to provide power to the tracking unit.

Real time tracking devices generally require the user to contract with a GPS tracking service company. These companies frequently provide the tracking devices and the software necessary to track the device on your personal computer. Depending on the contract the information is uploaded to you at time specific intervals. The most common information uploads range from 5 to 10 minutes.

Defending against this type of tracking device is relatively easy with a combination cell phone/GPS blocking device. These units range in cost from $300 to more than $1000. Of course either a cell phone or a GPS blocking device may accomplish the same affect. In addition if you feel that you are being tracked illegally you can contact your local law enforcement agency and let them do a scan of the vehicle or personal effects in question. Many small law enforcement agencies do not have this capability and in that case you have the option to purchase a scanning unit and do the scan yourself.

A word to the wise if you are involved in a criminal enterprise. Much of what we have outlined here will not prevent US government agencies from tracking you and your vehicles.

In most cases it is illegal to track just about anyone without their permission. However given the fact that is so hard to detect many tracking devices it is likely that illegal GPS auto tracker and personal tracking device technology will continue to be used.

By: Jim Kesel