Blog Archives - Page 34 of 60

Benefits of Plug and Play GPS Device Installation

Posted on July 24, 2015 | by Courtney redwell

Plug and Play GPS

Our plug and play GPS devices make installation a breeze; it’s quick, easy, and doesn’t require any special tools or the assistance of a professional installer.

Many of our competitors who do not offer a plug and play GPS device, will often argue hard-wire GPS devices are the better option.

They claim that plug and play GPS devices:

Can be easily tampered with
Only work in OBDII port equipped vehicles
Do not receive accurate GPS data

As our current customers are well aware of, these plug and play issues are not the case for our devices.

We offer our customers a T-Harness or EZ-Harness for secure and tamper-proof installation
We are well equipped for handing vehicles without an ODBII port with 6-pin, 9-pin, and 3 wire harnesses available
Our GPS data has a recorded uptime of 99.99% since September 2011

Benefits of Plug and Play GPS Device Installation:

Self InstallationNo expensive install costs.
No Vehicle DamageMultiple customers switched from a hard-wired solution to our plug and play solution because of the bad experiences they had with hard-wired device installers damaging the vehicle.
Engine DiagnosticsAccurate engine data pulled directly from the vehicle to better manage maintenance and monitor engine faults in real-time.
In-Vehicle Driver CoachingIn-vehicle audible alerts that help increase safety and decrease fuel costs.
InterchangeabilityMany of our customers like the ease of changing our devices from one vehicle to another, when they replace vehicles, without having to call an installer and risk damaging the vehicle.
Curve-Based Logic, Accurate Accident DataUsing the solutions patented curve logic algorithms millisecond accuracy can be seen under accident conditions to prove exactly what happened.

When looking for a GPS solution provider, make sure you carefully examine your options. There are many myths about different GPS providers and solutions so it is important you do your research. We are confident in our solution, which is why we are happy to offer a free 30 day trial for you to see just how much we can help you optimize and streamline your business.

GPS Turns 20 Years Old Today

Posted on July 17, 2015 | by Courtney redwell

GPS Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Global Positioning Systems (better known as GPS), a technology many of us have started to rely on daily, turns 20 years old today!

On July 17th, 1995, full operational capacity was announced by the Air Force. Two decades ago, global positioning systems had 24 satellites in orbit, providing global 24-hour coverage. Worldwide, 4 billion GPS-enabled devices currently exist according to the Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency, and that number is expected to double in the next 5 years.

It all started out as a military effort, so that airplanes and troops would know exactly where they are. Since the development of GPS, it has taken on multiple purposes, from navigating your way around, to knowing where your fleet vehicles are located in real-time for better management, to finding things that have seemed to disappear.

GPS helps fight crime, especially when it comes to stolen vehicles. If your vehicle has a GPS tracker installed, and your vehicle gets stolen, you will be able to track down your car and also hopefully the person responsible for the crime.

GPS has improved and expanded so much in the last 20 years, it will be interesting to see how much more it will develop and grow over the next 20 years.

Sources:
9 News: GPS Turns 20 Years Old This Week
Fed Pulse: GPS Turns 20

Fleet Management Solution For Your Small Fleet

Posted on July 14, 2015 | by Victoria Gole

Small Fleet Management Solution

Productivity, Safety, Fleet Optimization, Compliance & Expandability make up the five pillar approach. This supports our ongoing innovation and assists businesses in making improvements in identified target areas. Each pillar offers a different way for businesses to save money and time. Unfortunately, many assume large fleets are the only ones to achieve significant savings; it’s important to recognize small to medium sized fleets can also reap these benefits.

How Small Are Small Fleets?

According to Frost and Sullivan, approximately 80% of fleets have under 10 vehicles, and most of these fleets do not have a fleet management solution (telematics). Also, it’s interesting to note that in order to be considered a “fleet”, a business must have bought 5 vehicles in a year and have a total of 15 vehicles in operation. In the June 2015 issue of Automotive Fleet, it’s explained that any commercial entities with under 15 vehicles are not considered to be a fleet.

Why Choose GoFleet & Geotab For Small Fleet Tracking?

1) Low initial investment

Some common initial expenses often associated with a new fleet management solution include: installation, testing, calibration and vehicle downtime during the setup process. Lucky for you, GoFleet & Geotab have made it as easy and low-cost as possible to get started. Geotab’s GO GPS devices are plug-and-play, not only do they eliminate install fees, but they also plug directly into the vehicle’s OBDII port, allowing for almost no downtime, and communication almost immediately after install. These benefits makes the Gofleet ideal small fleet management solution.

Minimal Entry Learning Curve

The learning curve involved in a barrier for any new tasks. Since a multi-tasking fleet manager is more likely for smaller fleets, although a fleet management solution may seem intriguing, finding enough time to properly utilize the solution may not seem achievable.

However, some of the features that can save you the most money (like in-cab driver alerts/coaching or maintenance warnings) are very quick and easy to learn and offer a high benefit-to-work ratio. For example, we frequently see our customers experience 5-10% fuel savings as a result of improved driver behavior alone, with other cases reaching beyond that. We also see savings of around 11% (but sometimes even up to 25%) on car insurance by adopting a small fleet management solution. Low initial investment combined with automated savings mean you’ll se a return on investment sooner than ever.

3) Ultimate flexibility and customization

On top of the many saving benefits, many small fleets are currently taking advantage of our customizable solution. There are thousands of compelling and unique ways to optimize and grow your business using our fleet management solution. For example, one of our current customers Boston Pizza, was looking for a solution to track their drivers. Not only did they gain real-time driver visibility, but with our solution they were also able to double the volume of their deliveries. Through the many add-ons we also have available, Excel reports, and the SDK, we are confident we can help you grow and better manager your business.

Our small fleet customers are able to save more than ever through our fleet management solution. We are also happy to offer weekly free training sessions and custom database configurations.

Original Article By: Jay Boychuk, European Solutions Engineer at Geotab
http://www.geotab.com/blog/telematics-untapped-breaking-barriers-small-fleets/

Lower your Operating Costs with OnCommand Connection

Posted on July 10, 2015 | by Vishal Singh

Manage Diagnostics with OnCommand Connection

The Telematics industry is becoming more transparent allowing fleet managers to efficiently track company fleet and gain engine diagnostic information and measure fleet productivity all using fleet management software.

In today’s economy, companies are trying to reduce operating costs by any or all means. As one of the top business operating expense, fleet managers are under pressure to keep costs as lean as possible while continuing to maintain productivity. This often leads to keeping vehicles on the road for an extended period of time leading to a huge cost build-up in the long run.

Company operations and profitability is most affected during vehicle downtime and to help fleet managers avoid make clouded decisions GoFleet has partnered with OnCommand Connection for engine diagnostic information and immediate maintenance. Basically, a partnership to help identify the potential problem beforehand, lower repair costs and eventually increase fleet uptime.

How Can GoFleet Help?

For Sales Managers:

Offering an effective fleet management program will help sales managers offer an all rounded service i.e. Vehicle + OnCommand Connection. This adds value to the dealership by providing customers with the ability to streamline their business.

How we help you sell more vehicles:

We add value to your vehicle sales by offering various Fleet Management Programs for resale:
Oncommand Connect, Tracking, Dispatching, HOS/DVIR Compliance, Reefer Temp Monitoring, Fuel Card Integration and Work Form Programs.
We help onboard new customers with their Fleet Management Program, enhancing purchasing experience.
We help your customers understand how to save money and work with your dealership on service, ensuring they come back to you for future purchases.

For Service Managers:

Maximizing service and providing the best customer experience can be especially challenging when you don’t have up to date information on the health of your vehicles.

How we help you increase service and improve customer experience:

Get up to date odometer and engine hours without having to call the customer
Get notifications on high priority faults in real-time via OnCommand Connect

To learn more about OnCommand Connection contact us and we will be happy to discuss its benefits and features with you!

The Advancement of Telematics Technology

Posted on July 7, 2015 | by Victoria Gole

Telematics Technology

Your company is using Geotab’s GO devices and the MyGeotab software platform to manage your fleet, increase productivity levels, improve safety, and integrate data into other internal applications. It’s interesting to look back and see just how far telematics technology has changed and developed and how it will continue to change in the future.

Telematics of the Past

If we wind back the clock and look at how fleet management worked 10 years ago, we remember a very basic product with a GPS and position recorder. Back then an external antenna was required because GPS’s used to need direct view of the sky. Unfortunately, the external antenna was an obvious failure point. It had a long wire, connector, was always subject to interference, and was often the cause of needing installers to return to vehicles. Back then nobody was connecting into the vehicle’s OBD port. Because of this, intricate wiring had to be done in order to power the device, another failure point. Any time a wire was cut or a connection was made, the wire could break down. There was also absolutely no engine data available; for example there was no way to tell if a driver was wearing a seatbelt. Any fault lights and statuses or fuel data was completely unavailable.

Old GPS devices had little to no expansion capabilities. They had dedicated I/O wires and possibly a serial port. Today we have come a long way from there and now have IOX expansion; there are over 30 different IOX’s that can be plugged into the Geotab GO device. Essentially, the wide variety of add-ons turns our tracking device into a very specialized data gathering computer. For example, a module that connects to the Iridium satellite network so that the device will work anywhere in the world, can be added at the same time as Mobileye integration, reefer temperature monitoring unit, and driver ID keys. The possibilities are almost endless.

Old devices were also missing an accelerometer. The accelerometer is an extremely sensitive micro machine (MEMS) that measures when you brake or accelerate too hard. It also has the capabilities to reconstruct what happened in an accident.

In the past, databases and software had to be installed in your own IT infrastructure. You also needed an expert staff member to manage the systems and install the end user software. Thankfully, today all systems are cloud-based through the web.

Initially, there were no API‘s for MyGeotab. Through the SDK, hundreds of partners are integrating data from MyGeotab into other systems like risk management, invoicing, maintenance, safety systems and route planning. There is an entire ecosystem of partners that are adding even more value to the existing Geotab solutions, in order to help customers solve business problems that are very specific to their industry that couldn’t be solved in the past.

It’s obvious new technology has brought amazing improvements to fleet management:

Reliability (no more cutting of wires, unreliable installs or mounting antennas)
Simplicity (plug & play installs in the OBD port, emailed reports, Web-based services, server rules & driver feedback)
New Engine Information (valuable measurements directly from the vehicle like ODO, seatbelt, fault codes & fuel consumption)
Expansion (new IOX’s that address virtually every use case, from weight scales to driver identification to temperature monitors)
API’s and Integration (automating data & connecting customers’ systems to solve any new tricky business problems)

It’s truly amazing how far fleet management technology and telematics has come and how much it has improved fleet management. We will constantly continue to add value to how customers manage and measure their fleets.

The future holds a ton of exciting opportunities including connected vehicles, big data, and customer benchmarking.

GoFleet & Geotab are your partners at the FOREFRONT of changing fleet management. Between Geotab’s always improving technology and our incredible support staff and in house development team, we are sure to meet all custom needs to fit your business.

Original Article By: Niel Cawse, CEO at Geotab

http://www.geotab.com/blog/advancing-use-technology-telematics/

Remote Diagnostics with OnCommand Connection

Posted on July 2, 2015 | by Vishal Singh

Know how your fleet is performing with OnCommand Connection

GoFleet has created a platform for fleet managers to be in tune with their vehicles at all times. Using the Go Device, companies are able to track their vehicles in real-time, measure performance and improve business productivity through reports containing important fleet data.

Maintaining a fleet whether large or small can be challenging when drivers are not in close proximity. This includes the inability to predict drop off times, engine health and basic driver behaviours. As a solutions company, GoFleet understands the importance of constant development encouraging us to offer more than just a solution that records engine diagnostics. Our recent partnership with Navistar On-Command Connection has now allowed the solution to further notify technicians immediately giving them access to the most up-to-date data and the ability to:

Identify potential problems beforehand
Lower repair costs
Increase fleet uptime

How OnCommand Brings You More Service:

The Go device installed in the vehicle detects engine events and vehicle service requirements through data gained from the ECM port. When an alert is detected a message is sent to the Navistar OnCommand customer support center. An OnCommand repair advocate then identifies the closest international dealer, confirms whether the right parts/tools are available and contacts the customer to schedule a maintenance appointment.

There are many benefits to using the OnCommand Connection service for fleet operations. The first and foremost benefit is the ability to control operating expenses and company bottom line. These can be achieved through the following:

Reduce en-route events by proactively scheduling maintenance and repairs
Map tools that plot trucks locations, nearest dealers, hotels and local towing providers
Generate real-time comprehensive vehicle health reports
Understand fault codes quickly and easily with descriptions in plain English
Gain more insight with fault code actions plans that provide severity information and recommend solutions.

Learn how to maximize fleet servicing with OnCommand Connection & GoFleet.
Generate more revenue and help your customers keep their vehicles in top shape!

Contact 1-888-998-1122 | [email protected]

Top 5 Features to Look for in A GPS Solution

Posted on June 30, 2015 | by Courtney redwell

GPS Fleet Solution: Top 5 Features

Driver Coaching

GPS tracking systems have come a long way since being used to simply track your vehicles whereabouts. With the capabilities now available there are many different ways you can get a ROI while increasing the safety of your drivers and those they share the road with; driver coaching or audible alerts is something you definitely want to look for in your GPS solution. Driver coaching, which is also referred to as audible alerts, are alerts that occur inside the vehicle when drivers are driving in a way that wastes excessive fuel or put them at risk. These alerts are commonly used for speeding, hard braking or accelerating, harsh cornering and excessive idling. The driver coaching alerts usually work as a beeping function inside the vehicle in real-time so your drivers can correct the inappropriate behavior immediately.

Secure & Easy To Use

It is important that your software is reliable, secure, and can be customized to fit your fleet management requirements. You should be able to navigate around the software quickly and easily with very basic training. It’s important the software you choose does not require you to invest a ton of your time in learning how to use it but you also want to be able to learn to use it effectively to get the ROI you are looking for. You want to look for an easy to use system that is easy to install to avoid any downtime.

Customizations & Reporting

Data generated from any GPS fleet solution should contain meaningful insights to help make strong strategic decisions. Most applications provide practically unlimited data, but the way the data is analyzed can vary among different solutions. Along with basic reporting it is important to enable advance reporting to refine data based on your company’s preference and requirements. It is important to ensure that reports can be customized as well as accessible to compare multiple reports and measure performance.

Actually Real-Time

All solutions offer basic tracking; however it is important to differentiate among the type of tracking being offered. Real time tracking is the ability to view your entire fleet at a glance on a map, and the frequency of the data logged is a true reflection of how accurate the route is within the tracking software. Most applications are able to show you data but the route taken will not incorporate any turns, stops, detours etc. Instead it will record data from Point A to Point B; failing to take into account any important logs that occurred during the course of the route. Although an increase in logs may result in an increase of data usage, it is necessary to select a solution that is capable of providing accurate information without affecting data charges, helping to make necessary cuts & adjustments to improve efficiency.

Expandability

Advancements in technology require heavy investments in the long run. This means constant changes need to be made to keep up with industry requirements. Which is why, it is important to ensure that any solution chosen is scalable and capable of growing with your company’s needs. The device should have the capability of offering added flexibility and integration with third party providers. The IOX technology is a great place to start as it can: communicate with external serial devices, read digital ON-OFF signals and read analog signals, 0 to 30V. This way you can take advantage of powerful add-ons to future-proof your fleet.

For more information on the important features of GPS fleet tracking, and how it could help your business save thousands of dollars, contact one of our highly trained fleet consultants today!

Extending Value with Third Party Software

Posted on June 25, 2015 | by Courtney redwell

With today’s technology, it is no surprise to us that our clients are often looking for a lot more than a basic tracking solution. With the limitless capabilities of our software and our continuous development and growth, we are happy to almost always be able to meet our clients needs. For the times we can’t, that is where our amazing third party software integration partners come in!

What Motivates Continual Development & Growth?

12,000+ Customer Base That’s Growing Everyday
500,000 Units Currently in Service & Constantly Growing
World Leader in Large Fleet Telematics Technology
30% of Customers Operate in 2 or More Countries, Multilingual Capabilities
50% of Install Base Rely on our SDK to Share Data with Third Party Applications

What is the SDK?
The SDK (software development kit) allows you to get even more our of our platform. With the Geotab library of functions and methods, you can create new applications, reports, or integrate data within your own system.

Click here to learn more about what the SDK package includes.

Solution Engineering

Third Party Add-Ons
Some of our third party add-ons include: Cameras, Temperature Monitoring, Wireless Gas Detection, and Man Down System. Our add-ons have a peripheral device that connects to your GO6 or GO7 GPS device through the IOX port. These add-ons have another physical component to them but can be used within our MyGeotab software platform as well as a separate platform.

Third Party Add-Ins
Some of our third party add-in include: MapsBI & PaperDoDo. Our add-ins do not have another physical element and are built right into our software for our customers to access. There are no other devices or software platforms needed.

Because of the large amount of data our devices can pull from a vehicle, and our software development kit, development companies love us! The possibilities are endless and that is why we have so many third-party partners and the list continues growing.

Many other companies sell you software, but not an actual solution. The reason we partner up with so many other great add-on and add-in partners is because we want to provide our customers with a customized solution to fit exactly what they are looking for.

Contact one of our trained fleet consultants to find out
how we can customize a solution to fit your business needs:
1-888-998-1122 | [email protected]

What to do if Your Engine Overheats

Posted on June 23, 2015 | by Victoria Gole

With the official first day of summer passing us by this weekend, it’s the time of year engine overheating becomes a much more prominent issue.

Increasing temperatures obviously mean a higher risk of your engine overheating; now is a great time to check out what steps you should take to respond to this should the problem arise.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) recommends if your vehicle does overheat, do not drive it more than a quarter mile further. It’s safer to have the vehicle towed to prevent more damage to the engine.

Of course, things do not always go as planned and you may not be able to get a tow truck or find a nearby mechanic. The FDOT suggests following these simple steps:

Find a safe location, pull over, and turn off the engine.
Let the vehicle completely cool or the make sure the temperature gauge has moved from hot to cool before opening up the hood.
Check the coolant, also known as antifreeze, level in the radiator; check the owner’s manual if you are not sure where the coolant reservoir tank is in the vehicle.
Before opening up the radiator cap, make sure it is cool, then slowly and carefully twist it off with a towel and watch out for hot steam. If needed, fill up the coolant to the top of the radiator and put the cap back on.
Make sure the upper or lower radiator hose and any of the heater hoses have not been disconnected, blocked or burst.
Restart the engine.
Keep an eye on the temperature gauge. If you noticed it crossing the optimal mark, find a safe location, pull over, and turn the engine off.

Getting help from a mechanic is always the best way to go, but sometimes you can’t always access one so it is important to be prepared. To stay safe, store these items in your vehicle: tool kit, coolant, non-perishable foods, water and a flashlight.

Source:
“Fleet Safety Video Tip: Engine Overheating.” Business Fleet. 2015 Business Fleet, 15/06/15. http://www.businessfleet.com/channel/safety-accident-management/news/story/2015/06/fleet-safety-video-tip-vehicle-overheating.aspx

Fuel Card Integration Saves You $$$

Posted on June 18, 2015 | by Victoria Gole

Fuel Card Integration from Fuel BI

Fuel BI is an integration from our partner Fleet Hoster that uses the information Geotab GPS devices pull from the vehicle to cross reference with information collected from a Fuel Card.

When you’re operating a fleet, fuel cards and GPS devices can empower you to take control of your fleet fuel expenditures. With the Fuel BI integration, we will automatically capture your fleet card transactions, geocode them, process them against GPS data, and provide you the results in order to better analyze your fleet fuel expenditures. Fuel card integration will help you gain valuable insights with the following tools:

Built in Geotab security settings so your managers or users can only view the data they’re permitted to
Fuel expenditure charts and metrics over user selected periods of time
Location analysis with mapping of transaction and vehicle location at the time of purchase
Gain insight with transaction mapping on where your drivers are filling up
Capture gallons purchased vs gallons actually used with fuel consumption tracking
Customized user dashboard, alerts, and charts
Works with all 4 major fuel card providers

In order to provide our customers with the best information possible we pull data from both the fuel transaction and the vehicle’s GPS data. From each fuel transaction we can determine the transaction time, merchant location, product information, and driver identification. From the vehicle’s GPS data we can determine the log time, vehicle location, and vehicle status data.

*The most important piece is the link between the fuel card provider and Geotab to identify a vehicle. A good match means that a link is successful.

*We look for vehicle logs around the time of the transaction to get GPS data.

We look for an overall increasing fuel level trend around the time of the fuel transaction.

Our fuel card integration software helps you to gain an excellent overview of fuel expenditures and provide you with the tools necessary to pinpoint any suspected vehicles or transactions to prevent fuel theft.

With an easy setup process and easy to read key performance indicators you can start tracking your fuel purchases, referencing them with Geotab data, and saving money in no time.

Category: Blog