Telematics makes for a great business tool by being able to identify single safety events, such as a driver speeding or not wearing a seat belt. All this helps fleets to train and work with drivers on reducing safety risks. But telematics can bring even more to the table by helping unfold a larger view on fleet safety.
Safety on the job is top priority for law enforcement and first responders. Teams in the security industry need technology that is dependable, secure, and provides real-time data. Geotab’s secure and sophisticated fleet management solutions offer insight, visibility, and actionable alerts. The latter transform operations and ensure driver and civilian safety.
Geotab has recently partnered with Integrated Software Solutions companies Signal Tower and Online Intelligence, to create the First Responder Solution. Signal Tower is a high volume, hardware independent alarm monitoring and management system. Online Intelligence is the leading supplier of Enterprise Risk solutions across the African continent.
There is no definitive explanation of a smart city because of the breadth of the technologies that can be incorporated into a city in order for it to be considered a smart city. Mark Deakin defines it as a city that utilizes ICT to meet the demands of its citizens, and that community involvement in the processes is a necessity for a smart city.
Coding is simply writing statements that are written in a programming language that is understood by a machine. Coding, like any other skill that you may acquire, requires time and dedication, it is not something that happens overnight, but with time and practice you get better and better at it. The first thing you need to have before you learn a programming language is a positive attitude.
Policies are important in a workplace as it helps reinforce and clarify the standards expected of employees and help employers manage staff more effectively as it defines what is acceptable and unacceptable in the workplace.
Processes provide a blueprint for the business, stating who’s responsible for each step and how and when they should complete it.
The Geotab universal harness is a multi-connector kit including a T-harness and twelve different mounting adapters for use in most light-duty and medium-duty vehicles.
When it comes to fuel spending, there are several things that can be done to help cut your fuel costs and save money. The main two areas that it comes down to is either improving the fuel economy of already existing vehicles or acquiring new vehicles with better mpg. While upgrading a whole fleet isn’t always possible, it is important to consider fuel with every new vehicle purchase cycle.
On a daily basis, there are ground activities on open-cast mines from new roads and new site office locations to mountains blasted away. The maps on the internet are not updated as regularly as the daily changes are occurring on the ground. The MyGeotab application allows clients to supply the latest satellite images of their open-cast mine sites and plantation areas.
Your driver, Tim, hops into the company vehicle at 8:30 am and ends his shift at 4:30 pm. During his shift, the vehicle generated data raging from ignition, seatbelt usage, speedometer, gear change, brake, fuel level, fuel fill up, engine warnings, location, vehicle diagnostics, RPM, accident log & other rich & accurate vehicle data. Now multiply that by over a million vehicles driving across the globe, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that’s a lot of information! GEOTAB collects about 1 billion records a day, this allows Geotab to derive knowledge and insight for clients and the telematics industry.
Geotab Africa has partnered with Trojan Telematics in conjunction with Autocam, providing a seamless camera integration solution within the MyGeotab platform.
Geotab Africa has partnered with Advanced Fire Suppression Technologies to create a new and exciting solution to one of the most threatening risks in the mining and construction industry, fire. Advanced Fire Suppression Technologies is the market leader in fire fighting equipment. With 17 years of firefighting experience, Advanced Fire Suppression Technologies is an authorized distributor of the global premium brands from Tyco Fire Protection Products.
When considering a technology investment for your business, it’s important to analyze the potential benefits of the project. Two types of benefits should be considered in the decision-making process: tangible and intangible benefits. In this article, we provide some information to help you make the right technology decision.
In just over 15 years, Geotab Inc. has grown from a small, family business to a global leader in solutions for fleet management and vehicle tracking. Now, the company has hit another milestone. Geotab has reached one million subscribers worldwide.
Diagnostic or nondiagnostic GPS tracking. Which one is better? You may have heard about the benefits of each. This post sets the record straight on why you need true engine diagnostics.
Most (if not all) vehicles today, provide a wealth of data via the diagnostic port. This can aid in effective fleet management, especially if you have the means to read this data live.
Maximize the richness of telematics data by effortlessly tapping into the vehicle’s data bus, and simultaneously optimizing installation time, by choosing the right harness for your GO device.
In order to increase our security levels, the Geotab servers have been moved to Canada (MYGEOTAB.COM). Geotab takes a rigorous approach to data security by following the principle of continuous improvement. To protect our customers and partners, Geotab is constantly reviewing, improving and validating our security mechanisms and processes so our systems remain resilient to intrusion and disaster. Geotab collaborates with leading stakeholders to advance security across the industry. As we grow, more industries, fleets and customers will benefit from Geotab’s uncompromising stance on data security.
MyGeotab is a web-based fleet management software that is available to all Geotab customers, see all your vehicle and driver information in one place and use it to make quicker, better-informed decisions for your business. Certain MyGeotab users have specific roles to perform within their company. Grouping is a way of distinguishing between users, within different departments, in a specific company.
With the busy holiday season upon us, we all need to become mindful of the elevated driving risks during December. The holidays are when roadway risks are at their highest, and attentiveness to driving can be compromised. Factors such as people driving under the influence and a growing number of distractions from the holiday bustle can all impact how much attention we put on our driving habits.
IOX – Input / output expanders plugs directly into the GO device and are used to extend the GO device to such an extent in which Geotab helps find solutions for you to grow your fleet as the fleet grows.
GO TALK is a driver awareness tool that transforms the way driver coaching happens behind the wheel by providing real-time verbal feedback to the driver, increasing safety and minimizing risk.
TELEMATICS is a method of monitoring an asset (car, truck, heavy equipment, or even ship) by using GPS and onboard diagnostics to record movements on a computerized map. Learn the answer to “What is telematics?” and read how it’s used in this blog post.
What Is Telematics? Technical Overview
Imagine a highly intelligent computer in your vehicle that is able to report on nearly every detail — from speed and idling, to fuel use, low tire pressure, and more. This information can mean saving on maintenance costs by better monitoring vehicles or improving fuel efficiency by learning more about driving habits. All of this describes the universe of telematics, also known as GPS fleet tracking.
To track assets, information from the vehicle is recorded via a small, telematics device — also called a black box — that plugs into the OBD II or CAN-BUS port. A SIM card and modem in the device enables communication on the cellular network.
There are several key components of a telematics device:
In addition to the hardware, the algorithm used for GPS logging is another critical factor because it impacts the quality and accuracy of the data. Read more about curve logging here.
See Also: Telematics Glossary: 60+ Terms to Know
How Telematics Works
Data collected by the telematics device, like the GPS position and speed of the vehicle, and the g-force measured by the built-in accelerometer, are sent in a packaged format to a data center. The data then gets decoded.
A vast amount of data can be collected via the telematics device and other connected hardware or sensors, such as position, speed, trip distance/time, idling, harsh braking and driving, seat belt, fuel consumption, vehicle faults, battery voltage, and other engine data.
In the case of Geotab, this information is stored in the cloud and brought into a fleet management software system, accessible from a desktop computer or a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet. Using the software, users are able to view and export reports and gain business intelligence such as the top 10 drivers with the highest number of speeding incidents or vehicles that are due for scheduled maintenance.
Telematics data is sent from the vehicle to a fleet management software portal.
Open Platform Telematics
As technology has evolved, telematics has moved from a closed system to open platform. An open platform telematics system is capable of integrating with other types of hardware accessories, software, and mobile apps to provide added insight into business operations.
The variety of applications for telematics includes integrations with dispatching and mobile forms, to driver cameras, salt and sand spreader trackers, weather alerts, and electronic logging (ELDs) for recording Hours of Service in trucking. See the infographic below for an overview of how businesses use telematics.
Click to view image larger.
The growing number of use applications has led to the increased adoption of commercial telematics as reported by Market Research Reports Search Engine, which values the global commercial telematics market at over $14 billion (2016).
The Origins of Telematics
The term “telematics” comes from a blend of telecommunication and informatics sciences. These two sciences formally merged back in the 1960s, when the U.S. Department of Defense developed GPS systems to track U.S. asset movements and improve communication on the battlefield. Telematics consists of three interdependent breakthroughs of modern technology from this research and development: Internet, GPS, and machine-to-machine communication (M2M).
Combining telecommunications and information processing, telematics was later used to refer to automation in vehicles. Wireless safety communications, GPS navigation, integrated hands-free cell phones, and automatic driving assistance systems are all components covered by vehicle telematics.
The Benefits of Telematics
Any type of small business to large corporation, nonprofit organization and government agency operating vehicles or other assets can benefit from telematics.
Industries using telematics and fleet tracking technology (sample list):
Learn more about these specific applications for telematics on our fleet management solutions page.
Telematics in Fleet Management
Telematics has become a crucial technology for fleet management. Telematics supports these five core areas:
Insurance telematics is also gaining in popularity, in which the safety data is shared with a fleet’s insurance company with the goal of lowering premiums, if they can prove safe driving habits. Essentially, telematics can help insurance companies better pinpoint levels of risk. (While not all insurance agencies are offering this telematics-based insurance, it’s worth discussing with your provider if you’re not self-insured.)
Also gaining in popularity is the ability to increase vehicle security by integrating identification sensors into vehicles. This allows fleets to authenticate a driver’s identity before they can start the vehicle.
The Future of Telematics and Fleet Tracking
The future of telematics is likely to achieve the unimaginable. Whether driving your personal vehicle or managing a fleet, constant communication with nearby vehicles is already achievable through telematics.
Exciting areas of innovation related to telematics include:
GPS tracking systems will continue to become better integrated with other operational systems and will continue to improve while M2M technology expands. The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), making technology possible for smart homes and smart communities, are great examples of the rapid evolution happening in this space.
Author: Craig Michael, RMA Production Assistant – Geotab Inc
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