Temecula, CA September 16th, 2013 – GPSTrackIt.com/’s latest innovation is a Driver Status feature designed to optimize and protect mobile personnel while away from vehicles.
Driver Status enables dispatchers and fleet managers to not only see positioning for a vehicle at any given time, but – separately – where personnel associated with that vehicle are located.
Miniature GPS Components Maximize Mobile Personnel Tracking Capabilities
Traditionally, GPS devices used on vehicles are large (about the size of a bar of soap) and require power, either from the vehicle through a hardwired connection or by way of a rechargeable battery. Vehicles are then tracked using sophisticated devices that communicate GPS location and vehicle performance data via satellite to GPSTrackIt.com/’s Fleet Manager system.
Fleet Manager displays the vehicle’s location, records vehicle movements, and stores all the historical data for reporting purposes.
Within the last year or two, tracking technology has been miniaturized, enabling manufacturers to put GPS tracking hardware in smaller devices, including bracelets for tracking athletes on their workouts, Amber alert devices, pet collars and SmartPhones.
“It’s one thing to know where a vehicle is,” said Eddie Bermudez, GPSTrackIt.com/’s Product Manager. “But there is a growing interest in a number of industries with mobile workforces to be able to track the employees, independent of the vehicles.”
One example of those industries is the rapidly growing field of home health. Nurses and nurse-practitioners who drive fleet vehicles or use their own cars are away from their vehicles for most of their day. Having the ability to locate them provides additional value to customers.
“Instead of having the employee carry a tracking device we decided to use the GPS device built into SmartPhones,” adds Bermudez. “We already provide apps for iPhones and Androids that enable these SmartPhones to display tracking data. So the SmartPhone became the platform of choice for locating the mobile workforce.”
The tracking of employees using their SmartPhone requires the employee to ‘opt-in’ to the program. When their record is created in Fleet Manager the system displays an option to send a text to the employee’s SmartPhone asking them to reply. The employee simply replies to the text message with the message ‘Yes’.
“When Fleet Manager receives the response, the driver’s status is updated to ‘Subscribed’,” explained Bermudez. “Then the system uses the GPS coordinates from their SmartPhones to locate them beyond their work vehicle.”
For more information about GPSTrackIt.com/, new product features, and the Fleet Manager vehicle tracking system, visit GPSTrackIt.com/ or call 866-320-5810.
Established in 1999, GPSTrackIt.com/ is a leading North American supplier of GPS tracking and location-based services. Located in Southern California, GPSTrackit.com/ is dedicated to providing the most innovative, cutting-edge GPS technology backed by the best customer service in the industry today.
# # #
