Posts filed under 'GPS'
December 14th, 2006
I’ve been looking for a way to get my field personel under control. It’s not that they’re dishonest, it’s that sometimes they take advantage because there’s nothing keeping them honest. I’m bound ethically to do what I tell my customers we’ll do; our billing must reflect exactly the hours we worked on each project.
- Fudging time won’t keep us competitive…
- Side work using my trucks, materials and equipment has to stop…
- Our PR goes out the window when company trucks are parked at the bar…
- Don’t get me started on drinking on company time and Workman’s Comp Insurance…
I’m positive a GPS Fleet Management System will pay for itself the first month;…keeping it in place will help keep the wheels on my company.
A huge investment took place getting this company rolling. Lots of time, effort, money and sacrifice. I owe it to myself, my family, my ‘guys’ and my customers to manage this company and what’s been built.
This Online GPS Management System gives me tools to:
- Dispatch the closest truck
- Know when maintenance is due
- Check work start and stop times
- Stop week-end trips using my fuel
I’m convinced a GPS Fleet Management System will pay for itself the first month;…keeping it in place will help keep the wheels on my company.I’ll admit I’m a little heavy on the pedal, but when I had the company logo painted on the side of my truck, it changed my thinking. “Leave a little earlier…” you say. Ya, ya, now if I could get my guys to think that way we’d all be better off. I will offer this in fairness; My GPS report for the previous week will be available to anyone that gets a review based on a GPS vehicle report.
I’ll admit I’m a little heavy on the pedal, but when I had the company logo painted on the side of my truck, it changed my thinking. “Leave a little earlier…” you say. Ya, ya, now if I could get my guys to think that way we’d all be better off. I will offer this in fairness; My GPS report for the previous week will be available to anyone that gets a review based on a GPS vehicle report.A small ethical price will be paid for these cya activities but this will provide ‘Review Opportunities’ for the guys and I’ll stick to some good advice, “Review the best; Release the rest.”
My daughter got over it;
So will the guys.
Signed,
The Management
PS: I’m getting a small grin on my face because our bonus plan just got a huge shot in the arm. …theft recovery before vandalism takes place gives me some peace of mind. Hmm, all this is giving me some peace of mind!
I’m glad the guys over at teknia micro figured all this out. I understand it took a while to find a usable, affordable GPS Asset and Fleet Management System. They say it was a challenge to get the right equipment and online management system all in the same package.
There’s a lot of GPS tracking units out there but they are too expensive, bundle the wrong features for us or the Online interface is awful. These guys got it right! I need this…
teknia micro
December 12th, 2006
Many of you have wondered about our coverage of CES 2007 this year and our
focus will be GPS Fleet Management tools and Home Automation Products and
usage. As always, anything of tech interest is fair game and may be on our
radar this year.
Filed under: ‘GPS Fleet Management’ Web tech ‘Home Automation’ tekniaxp
GPS Fleet Management
It looks like the GPS equipment manufacturers have achieved fair pricing levels for their products so that most businesses can take advantage of GPS technology as GPS equipment prices have continued to fall and are now in the $400 - $500 range for a unit that will be a good tool for managing people, vehicles and assets.
GPS Fleet Management systems still suffer from usability issues but on-line
tracking prices have stabilized in the $30-$90/month/unit range. The lower
pricing is for checking asset location; higher pricing is for constant tracking
and dispatch features used by towing, taxi or limo companies.
Last year at CES we saw overpriced equipment and service rates. This year we hope to find ‘asset tracking’ and GPS Fleet Management tools for people that are serious about tracking and managing their wandering assets. We think that GPS Equipment and online tracking systems have the potential to become one of the most cost effective management tools for small business fleets ever sold or imagined.
Businesses are demanding sensible features and maybe the lights are beginning to turn on for some of these GPS vendors. There is finally some acknowledgment that this technology can do more than remotely unlock a car or give someone directions to the nearest restaurant. Not only are these features un-necessary for business owners to have, they are expensive to staff and the features raise the installation costs of GPS units.
We feel that business owners that have a few trucks in their service fleet need less features but better reporting that the current GPS Fleet management offerings. We will be looking for initial service plans that have full time tracking plans for 2-3 months then allow you to back-off to a cheaper plan for maintenance, monitoring and theft recovery.
A normal business GPS equipment install should take a half-hour or less. Complicating the install with remote shut-off (not-recommended due to liability issues) or door un-lock can add $150 - $300 to the install cost, not to mention the down-time of your equipment.
GPS Equipment Installation is pretty straightforward and with equipment that takes advantage of your standard ODB Port Installation can take as little as 20 minutes so beware some of the looks you get as the service rep estimates $400 and half a day with a raised eye-brow to justify his price.
No joke $400, use your imagination to figure out which national installer of automotive accessories gave us that bid with a straight face but when challenged, the manager ran out and said, ‘Oh, we could do it for our standard shop rate of $60/hour if you prefer.’
We said, ‘We would prefer a better bid and we’ll get back to you…’
Home Automation Products
We are thrilled with our Control 4 Home Automation system and will compare
Control4 to other vendors as CES approaches. More later…
December 18, 2006 in GPS, Home Automation, Web/Tech | Permalink
September 10th, 2006
Professional installation usually takes less than an hour and I’ve been quoted installation costs of about $50 here in the Denver Metro area. I gave it a shot and my hasty ‘get it working’ install took about 20 minutes. I plugged it into the diagnostic pluggin (on most domestic cars and trucks built since 1998); taped the sensor on the dash and routed the wires out of sight. The unit is located out of sight, under my seat.
After I plugged it in, the led on top of the unit turned from red to blue, then green within 2 minutes.
I went inside and logged into my account at LOCATE and had a locate within a minute. WOW!
Google maps are sweet! The hybrid view placed my truck in the exact parking space of the parking lot I had parked in. The locate at my home placed my address at the neighbors home next door but showed the truck in my driveway.
Details:
Activation and the first 10 pings (locates) are free with purchase.
At purchase, we need you to send us a valid email account and a password you can remember. We will get the unit activated and that’s all there is to it to get you started.
Login:
The password should be changed later and the admin panel will send it to you if you forget it. We can’t see it so it remains under your control.
Admin Panel
The admin panel is clean and straight-forward. It doesn’t get in your way whether you have one or two units to track, dozens or hundreds. You can group the units and assign nicknames if you like.
Control your stuff; Get a grin on your face; Experience peace of mind!Our new GPS Locator Administration interface makes it easy to track and manage your assets:
- GPS Tracking is now inexpensive
- Our unit is easy to install
- The online software is easy to setup and use
- It’s easy to setup and manage lot’s of units
- Reasonable cost of service
You will be delighted!
Retail cost per unit is under $500. We’re seeing online prices of $695 or more for this same unit and the locate software we’ve seen is slow or seems clunky.
Discount pricing for families, or a fleet is available at teknia micro
September 10th, 2006
Until now, consumers have been limited to over-priced “theft recovery-only” systems that utilize outdated radio-frequency technology, this requires local law enforcement agencies and vehicles to be equipped with specific hardware to track stolen vehicles.
We carry an entirely new class of vehicle security system that combines advanced GPS technology and a global digital wireless network with real-time tracking on the Internet.
Now you can track your assets and inform the police where your vehicle is by using our online system which utilizes world-class Google Maps. This is the GPS system we’ve been looking for; we hope you like it too.
We’re set to change a few things…
Online tracking
We use newly designed equipment and better online systems than available with previous GPS tracking systems. (and we’ve been searching for the right solution for a long time) We chose this GPS tracking system from all the current leading GPS equipment and tracking suppliers.
It’s not complicated; we didn’t want to sell something we wouldn’t use ourselves. We needed:
GPS Fleet Management System features:
Fleet Management
- Easy to install and setup
- A breeze to administer and use
- Very responsive online tracking
- Reliability is a given
The GPS web based tracking system is easy to access and use. Report generation is simple and the interface is un-cluttered and responsive.
Extensive Administration Tools:
Management Tool
- Easy to track lots of vehicles (group them for convenience)
- Reports for employee reviews
- Alerts are sent to Email or by text messaging
- This is a powerful management tool!
What can GPS Tracking do for me or my business?
Our GPS tracking service provides a ‘TOOL’ to locate and manage your vehicles. Our online GPS tracking application will show you where your vehicles are, how fast they are going and where thay have been. It will also alert you if your company truck goes outside an area you specify or if the vehicle exceeds a set speed. You can then print a report as evidence to confront employees in a review or a teen entrusted with the family car.
Create useful reports to find out…
- Where is it?
- Where has it been
- How fast is it going?
- How fast was it going?
Use GPS vehicle tracking for…
If you’ve read anything at all about GPS Fleet Management Systems, you’ll probably know at least three things:
-
GPS is an exciting technology
-
GPS can be really, I mean really, complicated
-
GPS tracking systems are outrageously, often unaffordably expensive
Personal Safety:
Personal Safety
-
Easy to track wayward teens
-
Reports that show where the vehicle went
-
Speeding over your set limit triggers an alert
-
Alerts are sent to Email or by text messaging
GPS Tracking Can Solve these Common Issues:
GPS - teknia micro
- In-appropriate use of company vehicles
- parked at bar over lunch
- “I’m stuck in traffic on I-70″ but parked at home
- using company truck for side work
- using company truck on week-ends
- Speeding
- Lying about where-abouts or over-time
- Where the heck is he?
We changed that…
September 10th, 2006
GPS stands for global positioning satellite and was a location and tracking system developed by and for the military and released for public use a few years ago. The GPS system is made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS is extremely accurate; In most cases within 50 feet. GPS works in all weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. Our systems are setup for North America.
What does GPS Asset Tracking and Fleet Management technology do?
Our technology uses the GPS system and cell phone technology to provide real-time asset tracking on the Internet. This makes for a valuable tool to track and manage your vehicles and field personnell. Reports can be generated from the data it gathers and used in many ways.
Ok; Like what?
Our favorite way is to use a weekly report to ‘Review the best; Release the rest.’
..but here are some other uses:
Create reports to find out…
- Where is it?
- Where has it been
- How fast is it going?
- How fast was it going?
Use GPS vehicle tracking for…
Purchase