GPS Trackers

[sanjiv]

Hi,

Does anyone here use GPS trackers for business?

How do you do this? Do you have a standalone device or do you use mobile phones? Any suggestions for the mobile phone?

Thanks
Sanj

 

[kate1]

Our system dosent GPS track, however it does state where field operatives are in the field, using mobile devices.

What do you want to do OP?

 

[Andrei]

I used for a project multiple phones with GPS tracking. The phones were inexpensive (no screen - just 4 buttons that can be pre-configured to call a certain number and green/red button to answer and deny). I can't remember the brand, but here in Romania they are used by some parents to track they're children.

Now depends of what would you like to do with it. If you would like I could find out the brand/model of phones we used.

 

[wight services]

Ill be watching this thread with interest as its something I want to be able to do. As it happens I found this site from a courier forum yesterday that offers free gps tracking via some mobiles
www.locatea.net

I plan on testing it this week, and notice one local firm on there so I guess it works.

 

[kate1]

Hi Wight

What are you looking at tracking?

Our system works via ANY mobile device with access to the internet, touch screen and browser.

It dosent track as such, but drivers/operatives can tick jobs off on the mobile and you can see it back at the office.

 

[wight services]

My two vans, from 2 different angles.

One on the parcel/removals side I would like clients to be able to see where thier stuff is rather than ringing every hour or so for an update. Secondly so I can make see where my drivers are heading if a late enquiry comes in.

It is mainly just to try and reduce the phone calls when people are driving.

 

[DotNetWebs]

You can do it for free with this:

Google Latitude

Probably not ideal for the clients' use (as they you have to send 'friend requests' etc) but would give you a free and easy way to track your drivers.

Regards

Dotty

PS I would suggest any Android based phone would be best for this but it will work on most location-aware phones

 

[sanjiv]

Thanks for the responses Google Latitude is not ideal because the update frequency is not reliable enough.

I want to track a mobile phone and have an update frequency of say every 5 minutes and sometimes be able to click a button which will get me the location at that moment in time. Would be ideal to have it on a mobile phone so that there is no more hardware to carry around and has no extra cost (apart from maybe software).

Also something with also uses a-GPS would be good so when the phone is in the pocket, it can still be roughly tracked.

 

[DotNetWebs]

..Google Latitude is not ideal because the update frequency is not reliable enough....

I thinks that depends on the phones you are using and their settings.

I recently played with it with 2 x HTC Desires and 1 HTC Wildfire and you could literally follow all 3 phones in [virtually] real time.

I must admit I have used it much though so maybe I just got lucky.

Regards

Dotty

 

[sanjiv]

That is when the maps application is open though. I will try it out on a HTC Desire. It does not work so well on BB 9700 but if I need to, I may have to just swap them to get the tracking.

 

[Ozzy]

For family I do use Google Latitude for my wife to check my location, because she worries about me when I'm out on the motorbike and it isn't easy to call me when I'm riding. I also can see when she is on her way back from shopping, so I know how much time I have left to finish the cleaning jobs she has left me to do!!
The update frequency on our Blackberry's is every 15 minutes (ish) which is sufficient for our use.

However, on my motorbike I do have a tracker who works a treat (if I could get my wife to learn how to use the web portal for them - as it has almost instant updates). I see on their website they have all sorts of tracker tools, have a look at www.roadangelgroup.com

 

[DotNetWebs]

That is when the maps application is open though...

I have just been playing around with it again and the web client seems to be very slow to update.

Phone-to-phone seems a lot better but there doesn't appear to be an easy was to 'refresh' the web map.

Regards

Dotty

 

[Mike George]

Ill be watching this thread with interest as its something I want to be able to do. As it happens I found this site from a courier forum yesterday that offers free gps tracking via some mobiles
www.locatea.net

I plan on testing it this week, and notice one local firm on there so I guess it works.

I use locatea.net tracking which tracks my location using a small application downloaded to my mobile phone, although it also works with hardwired trackers, laptops or any device with a GPS mouse. It's free unless you want to buy a hardwired unit, although you might have to pay for the data depending on your phone's data plan.

The software (on an E72) seems to need a good 'view' of the sky to get a fix when I first turn it on, but tracks me pretty well when I'm driving around with the phone in my pocket or on the passenger seat.

I also offer members of one of my sites a link to their locatea tracking via an API which also works very well.

 

[computaguy]

Hi,

Here are a few thoughts regarding tracking. Like any piece of software it is important to draw up a list of requirements.

Do you want to track a vehicle or a person?

Do you want to offer panic alarm functions - affect the vehicle if stolen - or sim[ply see where it is?

What reports do you need to produce and do they need to be Inland Revenue compliant?

Are you happy to use very cheap japanese/chinese imports with low tech functionality (ideal if the tracking is not very important) or do you need to have good quality reliable tracking units? The cost is the factor here.

Can you get access to the programmers or reps and discuss what YOU need from such a system and will they work with you to achieve it... also what would your budget be?

Talking about tracking systems is a little like asking about databases. The area is now so wide ranging that the different aspects of your business's requriements are what will ultimately drive your decision to buy.

As you may have realised... I do own/code and operate my own tracking system but this is not a post to blow my own trumpet. As a progrmmer I have worked with many companies to develoop software that does exactly what they want... I believe a software house worth its salt does the same thing.

I will make one point... IMHO Good quality equipment is paramount. It provides the infrastructure on which the whole system will run. It does not matter of your tracker only costs £50.00. If you can't use it to find the vehicle after theft it is a waste of time and space.

Similarly... free web sites and software to view the tracker are all well and good... but if they don't do what you need then a tenner or even twenty quid a month seems little to pay for a custom solution.

Lastly... investigate the options of action. Some actions are possible by using these devices... an example would be the disabling of the engine once the vehicle is stolen. There may be legal implications. (I know my local PC thought that installing a 9 inch spike below the driver's seat and hooking it to a relay driven from the unit was a little risqe!).

I hope this helps a little.

 

[Vending Siting Services]

We use GPS tracking systems, have done so for years. We started off with Minor Planet some ten plus years ago. We changed to Tom Tom Tracking solutions a couple of years ago. This gives us real time tracking, historic "snail trail", journey reviews, vehicle speed and choice of satellite imagery or mapping plus many other vehicle/driver management facilities.

Kind regards.

Barbara

 

[Zeal]

Do you want to track them "stealthy" or not?

Andriod do a few... the stealth ones WONT be found in the app store though.. You can find some info here: (link)

 

[sanjiv]

Hi,

Here are a few thoughts regarding tracking. Like any piece of software it is important to draw up a list of requirements.

Do you want to track a vehicle or a person?

Do you want to offer panic alarm functions - affect the vehicle if stolen - or sim[ply see where it is?

What reports do you need to produce and do they need to be Inland Revenue compliant?

Are you happy to use very cheap japanese/chinese imports with low tech functionality (ideal if the tracking is not very important) or do you need to have good quality reliable tracking units? The cost is the factor here.

Can you get access to the programmers or reps and discuss what YOU need from such a system and will they work with you to achieve it... also what would your budget be?

Talking about tracking systems is a little like asking about databases. The area is now so wide ranging that the different aspects of your business's requriements are what will ultimately drive your decision to buy.

As you may have realised... I do own/code and operate my own tracking system but this is not a post to blow my own trumpet. As a progrmmer I have worked with many companies to develoop software that does exactly what they want... I believe a software house worth its salt does the same thing.

I will make one point... IMHO Good quality equipment is paramount. It provides the infrastructure on which the whole system will run. It does not matter of your tracker only costs £50.00. If you can't use it to find the vehicle after theft it is a waste of time and space.

Similarly... free web sites and software to view the tracker are all well and good... but if they don't do what you need then a tenner or even twenty quid a month seems little to pay for a custom solution.

Lastly... investigate the options of action. Some actions are possible by using these devices... an example would be the disabling of the engine once the vehicle is stolen. There may be legal implications. (I know my local PC thought that installing a 9 inch spike below the driver's seat and hooking it to a relay driven from the unit was a little risqe!).

I hope this helps a little.

Thanks
The tracking is not hugely important. Just basic tracking and we can operate without it working.

Just something for staff monitoring but it would be used in instances like staff member x has been out of the office for a while, where is he and where has he been in that period. We are getting new phones for staff so deciding which ones would also be helpful. We have got BB's for them but not using them yet and we have a few weeks to exchange them if we want to.

 

[computaguy]

OK.. that's great. Obviously I have no idea of your corporate structure... but could these devices assist in anyother way?

I have one client who discovered that his employee had been unconsciouis in hospital for a day and had no idea where the vehicle; its cargo or the local police station was.

turned out he was in central France with the after effects of gas poisoning since someone had fed gas into the cab to steal his passport and cash.

Needless to say we got him and the cargo back safely... but if you are going to make an investment... make sure you get the best return on it that you possibly can!

 

[computaguy]

Oh 1 other small thing.... phones do not use the same level of GPS receiver that trackers do. It is a bit like comparing a tow rope to a recovery truck.

Both have their uses... but only one is really with the time and trouble!

 

[sanjiv]

OK.. that's great. Obviously I have no idea of your corporate structure... but could these devices assist in anyother way?

I have one client who discovered that his employee had been unconsciouis in hospital for a day and had no idea where the vehicle; its cargo or the local police station was.

turned out he was in central France with the after effects of gas poisoning since someone had fed gas into the cab to steal his passport and cash.

Needless to say we got him and the cargo back safely... but if you are going to make an investment... make sure you get the best return on it that you possibly can!

Thing is though we are only hoping to make a small investment in mobile phone software or if its better, then fitting a receiver of some sort onto a car which can transmit the co-ordinates every so often through a data plan. We also have a shared contract and adding another sim only will probably cost us next to nothing and we have the data plan on it already.

 

[Mike George]

Oh 1 other small thing.... phones do not use the same level of GPS receiver that trackers do. It is a bit like comparing a tow rope to a recovery truck.

Both have their uses... but only one is really with the time and trouble!

But as you said before you have to be clear about your requirements and not pay extra for features you don't need. And if your requirement is to know where a person is you wouldn't want to spend £hundreds on a hardwired tracker.

My phone GPS can tell which side of the street I'm on which is probably near enough for most purposes.

I use free tracking mostly to let my customers and my wife know approximately where I am, and locatea does the job very well. It has snail trails, geofencing and reports and stuff but I don't know how good they are because I don't use them. I believe they offer a hardwired tracker (obviously not free) that has vehicle control functions but you'd have to check exactly what it does.

 

[sanjiv]

But as you said before you have to be clear about your requirements and not pay extra for features you don't need. And if your requirement is to know where a person is you wouldn't want to spend £hundreds on a hardwired tracker.

My phone GPS can tell which side of the street I'm on which is probably near enough for most purposes.

I use free tracking mostly to let my customers and my wife know approximately where I am, and locatea does the job very well. It has snail trails, geofencing and reports and stuff but I don't know how good they are because I don't use them. I believe they offer a hardwired tracker (obviously not free) that has vehicle control functions but you'd have to check exactly what it does.

Will it still work if the phone is in your pocket?

 

[Mike George]

Will it still work if the phone is in your pocket?

Yes, as I said before it seems to need a clear 'view' of the sky to get the initial fix, then it works in my pocket, in the car, shops, etc. Obviously if I go into something like an underground car park it might lose touch but it still reports my last known position until I move again, then it picks up where it left off.

 

[Mike George]

Don't know why I didn't post this before, this is an example of a 'mini map' on my site:
http://www.shed5.co.uk/contact.php

and this is me on the live tracking map:
http://www.locatea.net/modules.php?name=Zoom&userid=19386

 

[sanjiv]

Thanks. Will check it out later in the day because right now you seem to be stationary.

 

[Bruceflea]

Our sister company may be able to help any of you that are looking to track vehicles or persons.

Fleet Simplicity

 

[Mike George]

Thanks. Will check it out later in the day because right now you seem to be stationary.

Watching me can be a bit like watching a sleeping tortoise sometimes

I've been out and come back, will soon be moving very slowly along the canal for an hour or two.

 

[alexsam]

I think track any person through his mobile is more effective and efficient way as compare to the other methods. Through mobile tracking software you get in touch with your required person and monitor all of its mobile activities. By making quick search I found the most effective link for you (just copy the link and paste in your browser). goo.gl/Z0ok0


I hope you will appreciate my effort.

 

[danec1987]

Have you had a look at RAM Tracking? It looks like it uses specialist GPS tracking which I imagine would be more effective than using a mobile phone. It includes route mapping as well.

It just depends how often you'll need to use it. Mobile phones will be good enough for light usage. Also, I'm not sure how mobile phones connect to the GPS database but I imagine it connects over 3G? That's quite expensive but I may be wrong.

 

The easies, most accurate way of doing this i would recommend TomTom business solutions.

It is the market leader in telematics and tracking, cost effective, accurate and there are many ways TomTom saves money http://business.tomtom.com/en_gb/industries/cases/west-dunbartonshire/ check the link for just how much TomTom has saved in fuel.

Mobiles can be turned off so how accuate is down to the user leaving there phone.

If you are looking and would like a demonstration of the TomTom system i wil be happy to arrange for you. Atleast then when you compare other systems you have already seen the market leader.

Let me know as there is no obligation or cost to seeing the system.

Regards