Feb 08 2012

Ease of Use is hard to find

Category: Ad Hoc Reports,Company Efficiency,Google Earth,Mapping,Reporting,Reports — rdonat @ 3:40 pm

I use a lot of web-based applications — checking, CRM, email, etc.

Not all of them (in fact few of them) are easy to use and many require you to do the same thing over & over again which wastes a lot of time.

I am happy to say that at GPS Insight, we do everything we can to make it easy to use our product efficiently.

I needed to look into a customer’s question earlier today and this attention to usability made my life easy.

I needed BOTH a 3D map AND an activity detail report — these exist on 2 separate menus on the Mapping & Reporting tabs.

I ran the first one:

Running a 3D History map for a vehicle for 3 days

Running a 3D History map for a vehicle for 3 days

Then all I needed to do was move my mouse over to the Reports Menu, click on “Activity Detail” and both my vehicle AND date range (several months back, which involved a few clicks to achieve the first time) were carried over to this report.  Then one last click on “Run Report” and VOILA, my report:

Running an Activity Report for a vehicle for 3 days

Running an Activity Report for a vehicle for 3 days

Now I could stare and compare the 3D map vs. the Activity Detail Report easily and see what my customer was curious about — he wondered why the latitude/longitude wasn’t changing for multiple lines in the Activity Detail Report:

GPS Insight Activity Detail Report

GPS Insight Activity Detail Report

We don’t recommend trying to “interpret” latitude / longitude, as it doesn’t make any sense to us humans, but in our mapping, it shows what happened very obviously:

17 minute idle event

17 minute idle event

The vehicle didn’t change latitude / longitude for all those points since it was idling for 17 minutes!  The map made that clear.

And it only took a few clicks, due to our interface which “remembers” what you’re doing.  If you have 10 different reports for the same group of vehicles or single vehicle, for the same range of dates, it takes only a few clicks.  You don’t need to re-select the group/vehicle, then re-select the date range.  What a drag it is when I have to use someone else’s interface and wish they did the same things we do to make our customers efficient and happy to use GPS Insight.

Rob.

Feel free to contact us if you are interested in seeing a more in-depth demonstration of our GPS fleet tracking solution.

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Nov 27 2011

Would you do away with email for your company to save a few dollars?

Category: Extreme Return on Investment,GPS INSIGHT BENEFITS,Reporting,Scheduled Reports — rdonat @ 9:28 pm

Would you do away with email for your company to save a few dollars?

Of course not!

Email is an invaluable tool for any organization, and its value is known to be far more than its cost.

But many companies don’t realize that by delaying the inevitable purchase of GPS Tracking for their fleet of vehicles, it’s essentially doing away with email. For their vehicles.

And these vehicles have lots to tell us, but without GPS Tracking Systems, they can’t.

They might want to tell you, the fleet administrator or supervisor:

  • I’m being used for side jobs and during weekends/evenings for personal usage
  • I’m exceeding the speed limit frequently and recklessly
  • I’m not being used when you’re paying my driver to use me
  • I’m iding excessively and wasting your fuel and money
  • I’m skipping customers or driving out of the way so you can pay more overtime
  • I’m due for an oil change and tire rotation
  • I wasn’t there when your driver used his fuel card over the weekend (but his other car probably was…)

And these emails can come automatically, just by subscribing to scheduled, regular reports:

Odd Hours Driving Report

Odd Hours Driving Report

Or they can come in real time as alerts which let not only you, but also your driver know about the idling, speeding, odd-hours, or inefficient driving behavior.

Or maybe they would only say:

  • My driver is doing a great job
  • Everything is OK
  • Go to sleep and stop worrying for a change…

And most importantly, you get instant chat for free with GPS Tracking — you never need to wonder where the vehicle is again, and you can communicate with its driver in real time if desired.

Someday soon, if you don’t have GPS Tracking on your vehicles, and aren’t using it to its full potential, you’ll be just as in the dark ages as if you didn’t have email. Just like when you needed to use the USPS to send and receive information (we’ll even skip the FAX ages).

And for the price of 2-3 stamps or so per day, you can track a vehicle using GPS.

If you’re not already doing so, give it a try to see what you’re missing.

The ROI of having your vehicle email you regularly is something you’ll realize is as invaluable as the email you receive from your peers. Actually, maybe even more valuable.

Rob.

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Aug 16 2011

BEWARE! – Not all idling calculations are created equal!

Category: competition,Fuel Savings,Google Earth,reduced idling,Reporting,Reports — rdonat @ 7:01 pm

We have been in the GPS Tracking industry for almost 7 years now. Enough to learn and FIX the limitations of GPS to ensure the highest quality data possible (e.g. 99.x% — if anyone tells you they’re 100%, well, guess what, they’re not).

So, today I found a perfect example to show the lengths to which we go to make your data 100% reliable (well, 99.x%…).

I had a 7:30 AM phone call and an 8:30 offsite meeting.

I had to get to my meeting by 7:30 so I could sit in my car and get on the call, then be there for my meeting & the breakfast prior.

So I had to idle for almost 40 minutes in order to avoid baking in my car in the hot Phoenix heat.

Here’s my stop report for 2 separate devices installed in my vehicle, both showing a ~37 minute idle stop:

GPS Insight Stop Report

GPS Insight Stop Report

One device (Rob) gets its speed data from the engine’s computer, and is more expensive because of that.  One device is less expensive but has to “interpolate” its speed from GPS Satellites traveling 9 THOUSAND miles per hour at over 12 THOUSAND miles in space.  And it’s remarkably accurate, but there is unfortunately what we call “positional GPS drift” of up to 20 feet typically.

So when the devices move 5-10 feet due to this “drift,” we interpolate a speed of 1-3 MPH typically.  But that means the device doesn’t look like it’s stationary, therefore it’s not idling.

Thankfully GPS Insight has a formula (which can be tweaked for different types of fleets, e.g. slow-moving street sweepers) which “consolidates” multiple drift points into a single idle event and position.

Our customers would never see this “inaccurate” GPS data, but here’s a picture of the REAL LOCATION REPORTS to include the drift for both the 3500 (talks to the engine for speed but not as accurate with GPS) and the 3900 (much more accurate GPS which it derives speed/distance/acceleration from):

175' of drift for the diagnostic device (we fix that)

175' of drift for the diagnostic device (we fix that)

The “drift” in the picture above is corrected over long idle stops to the “center” point which typically has the most reports.

 

175' of drift which we "correct" for diagnostic GPS device
15′ of drift for the more accurate 3900 GPS device

For the 3900, the drift is MUCH smaller — only 15′, and again, we “consolidate” that into a single 38 minute idle stop with a single “pin.”

The corrected map looks 100% accurate (well, 99.x%…):

"Fixed" stop location and idle time

"Fixed" stop locations and idle time

This shows my 2 devices in my car both stopped for ~38 minutes, and 29 feet apart (vs. the 175′ we saw above on the 3500).

And my car is 12′ long, with antennas in the front/back of the vehicle, so that’s not too bad (they show in the right locations +5′ or so each).

We consolidated the GPS drift into a single “valid” point, both in terms of position and time spent idling.

This is a HUGE distinction between GPS Insight and other companies who will either show you that your vehicle was someplace it really wasn’t, or far worse, show you that it wasn’t actually idling when it was.

Without doing all of the processing on “drift points” at 1-3 MPH, you wouldn’t know that the vehicle was actually idling, and you would lose a HUGE component of your potential ROI using GPS Insight.

This is fairly low-level, but I wanted to make sure the extent to which our product validates and consolidates data to make it actionable and insightful (and ACCURATE) isn’t lost.

There’s a big difference between this type of product and a typical “dots on a map” product.  You should know there are major differences OTHER than price when it comes to GPS Fleet Tracking.

Thanks,
Rob.

 

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Aug 14 2011

I got caught speeding to Sedona

Category: Alerts,Driver Accountability,Google Earth,GPS Insight Employees,Identifying and eliminating speeding,Safety — rdonat @ 6:54 pm

Thankfully not by the police, but by GPS Insight.

I was heading to Sedona this afternoon with my family and got this alert by email, showing that I was doing 61 in a 35 MPH zone, along with a map showing I’m coming up on a curve:

Posted Speed Limit alert for me

Posted Speed Limit alert for me

I thought there was no way I would go that fast over the speed limit so when I got home from my trip, I checked GPS Insight to see if we had the right posted speed for that area.

We have an internal-use-only “pincushion” tool we use which shows the various speed limits based on which direction you’re traveling, relative to the roads nearby and some reasonable assumptions.

The pin says it changes from a 55 to a 35 a little way before my vehicle location was sent with instantaneous speed of 61:

GPS Insight "pincushion" posted sped limit tool

GPS Insight "pincushion" posted sped limit tool

I thought that was unlikely, so I went down to street view, and found a 35 MPH speed sign right there (above, it’s the yellow pushpin):

Proof that it's a 35 MPH zone

Proof that it's a 35 MPH zone

I guess I was speeding.

So what’s my defense?  I didn’t see the sign?  At least I can measure the distance until the turn and see that there was LOTS of room to slow down before the curve that 35 MPH zone was put there for:

Rob speeding (61 in a 35)

Rob speeding (61 in a 35)

You can see I measured 600 feet before the BEGINNING of the curve, which is plenty of time to get from 61 to 35.  That’s 2 football fields.  And since my prior max was 65 (in the info bubble) I was slowing — just not fast enough for the speed limit…  But at least you can drill down and get some better context for the posted speed alert.  That’s ideal — without the ability to easily drill down for more information, you don’t know the context of the speeding alert, and can’t make good decisions on how to approach (or not to approach) your drivers about these alerts.

So even GPS tracking company owners speed.  Maybe it was so I had some good material for a blog article?  Yeah, that was it.

Here is a picture from Sedona, by the way:

Sedona, Arizona

Sedona, Arizona

And I didn’t speed on the way home, as evidenced by the alerts report I ran for today for my vehicle (Nav2):

Run an alert history for my vehicle for today

Run an alert history for my vehicle for today

But I did idle for 8 minutes while we stopped for snacks for the ride home (and my device went out of range when I pulled into the garage, since I live in the middle of nowhere, and my oil change and rotate tires maintenance items never got updated…):

My alerts for today

My alerts for today

This is the point of having a GPS fleet tracking solution — set the alerts, and wait for your drivers to do something you want to be alerted to.

I’m paying for my own tickets and gas, and I know I’ve got a 4×4 and 600 feet to slow down before a curve in a pretty desolate area, so no real issues here.  But you certainly want to know these types of things about your drivers.

Especially if it’s your money for fuel, drivers’ licenses at stake, and your liability should they be driving too fast.

Rob.

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Aug 10 2011

Traffic added to GPS Insight browser maps

Category: Dashboard Maps,Mapping,New Features,New Features — rdonat @ 7:58 am

GPS Insight has supported traffic for years via Google Earth.

Finally we’re bringing real-time traffic data to the dashboard and 2D mapping.

Here’s a screenshot:

 

GPS Insight releases traffic data in maps

GPS Insight releases traffic data in maps

 

Just a single click and you’ll get real-time, color-based traffic overlays in your maps.

Enjoy!

Rob.

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Aug 06 2011

Tracking (and using) the Branson MO “Downtown Trolleys”

Category: cell phone capabilities,GPS Insight Employees,Miscellaneous,mobile mapping — rdonat @ 8:38 am

I am on a Summer trip with my 2 boys for their vacation to Branson, MO.  It’s like Disneyland for kids in the Ozarks in Missouri.

As we were getting onto the Trolley which shuttles you around “Old Town” Branson, I realized they were a customer of GPS Insight’s, and asked a support person to send me the Mobile Map link to their vehicles so I could “track myself” and see how close the trolley was later when it was time to get back on. [Mobile Mapping is a free capability within GPS Insight under the "Mapping/Mobile Mapping" menu.  You just need to retrieve the unique, secure link and you can view your vehicles from any smart phone or tablet]

Here is a picture of the boys on the Trolley:

 

My boys on the Branson Downtown Trolley

My boys on the Branson Downtown Trolley

So within a minute or so my support person was able to text me the link to use from my smartphone to see the Trolley position:

Where the Trolley is according to GPS Insight

Where the Trolley is according to GPS Insight

Then quickly I clicked on Street View to see where Google thinks it looks like out my Trolley Window:

Google street View from Trolley Location

Google street View from Trolley Location

And quickly I took a picture with my iPhone to show it was EXACTLY like that at the moment:

Actual picture I took from the Trolley window

Actual picture I took from the Trolley window

Not bad, Google (or GPS Insight)!

The Branson "Downtown Trolley"

The Branson "Downtown Trolley"

I got off at the Bass Pro Shop stop so my kids could look around in advance of their big fishing trip the next morning.  I’ll talk about how I was able to minimize my wait for the Trolley (it was 111 degrees and HUMID) in the next article.

I’m glad we’re able to help Branson with their Trolley Tracking initiative.  Great town to visit with your family.  For more information click here!

Thanks,

Rob.

 

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Jul 23 2011

New Dashboard Available and demo here

Category: dashboard dashlets,New Features,New Features — rdonat @ 10:46 pm

We made the new GPS Insight Dashboard available last week to customers (in Beta).

Here is the new demo!:

New GPS Insight Dashboard Demo

New GPS Insight Dashboard Demo

Click on the image to watch the video and enjoy the new GPS Insight Dashboard.  It’s several months of hard work and REALLY good.  Enjoy!

Thanks,
Rob.

 

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Jul 19 2011

GPS Insight helps a customer during a carjacking

Category: Extreme Return on Investment,Safety — rdonat @ 6:26 pm

We received this fax yesterday:

GPS Insight helps police arrest 2 carjackers

GPS Insight helps police arrest 2 carjackers

Our customer’s son was carjacked at gunpoint. The vehicle was quickly recovered and 2 suspects (and their firearm) were taken into custody.

The Press got it wrong — it was the customer’s cellphone which helped her track the vehicle and lead police to it.  She was using our iPhone app to track the vehicle every 2 minutes. The GPS Insight device was inside the vehicle. Had it been a cellphone, they probably would have thrown it out the window.

So 2 bad guys should be going to jail for a long time.

We love these stories, and usually get one or two every month.

GPS Insight: $32.95 a month. Not losing your car, and putting the 2 guys who put a gun to your kid’s head in jail:  Priceless.

Rob.

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Jun 30 2011

You can attach pictures to stops now in GPS Insight

Category: cell phone capabilities,GPS Insight Employees,Mapping,New Features,New Features,Reporting,Reports — rdonat @ 8:09 am

Using your smart phone, you can now attach a picture from the field to any stop’s detail.

Here’s how it works:

Take a picture that you want associated with your stop (or someone else’s stop, if you’re a supervisor in the field) — this can even be a screen shot from a dispatch system, etc.

Send that picture to our GPS Insight notes email address [you generate this in the system here under User Management:]

Add an inbound email address for GPS Insight queries/notes

Add an inbound email address for GPS Insight queries/notes

You want to use our “gps [vehicle] note here is my note detail” format to annotate the note and minimally let us know which vehicle the picture should be associated with.

 

send a picture to GPS Insight to attach to a vehicle's activity

send a picture to GPS Insight to attach to a vehicle's activity

Once we receive the photo and note, it becomes available on our mapping and on the stop notes report:

 

Picture under the "notes" tab of the vehicle detail in mapping

Picture under the "notes" tab of the vehicle detail in mapping

When you “hover over” the note, the picture pops up to give you more information — this could be a picture proving service, showing a problem which justifies further time/billing, or just a reference photo to remind you later on about your customer.

 

Field pictures show up in Stop Notes Report

Field pictures show up in Stop Notes Report

Adding pictures from the field into our mapping and reports will help better document (and verify) working conditions as well as pick-ups/drop-offs from stop to stop.

 

Close up of added Photo

Close up of added Photo

 

Give us a call if you have any questions regarding this functionality.  There is a “wizard” which is launched when you choose the option at the top from the Admin->User tab.  It asks you to choose a user and a vehicle group, then provides you the email to use (and store in your phone for easy access in the future).  For your convenience, you can click on that email to send to it, cc’ing yourself or your drivers so that they can just save it as a contact for future use.

Then all they need to do is email photos to that address in order to have them associated with their GPS tracking records for the day, available in both mapping and reports.

This is included in basic GPS Insight functionality, and available for all users at this time.

Enjoy!

Rob.

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Jun 27 2011

2 new alerts (DTC’s and Maintenance due)

Category: Alerts,maintenance,New Features,New Features — rdonat @ 3:47 pm

We have added 2 new alerts, bringing the total we provide to 12!

2 new GPS Insight Alerts

2 new GPS Insight Alerts

The DTC alert will send you an email (or SMS text) when your vehicle experiences a diagnostic alert (diagnostics devices only).

The Maintenance alert will send emails (or SMS text) whenever you are X miles/hours/days within a mileage/hours/calendar-based maintenance alert for a vehicle’s scheduled maintenance (within GPS Insight’s maintenance module).

You set it like this, and can override the number of miles/hours/days:

GPS Insight Maintenance Alert

GPS Insight Maintenance Alert

When you receive the alert, it looks like this:

GPS Insight Maintenance Alert email

GPS Insight Maintenance Alert email

As with all our alerts, you can specify “push” as the recipient address (or one of them) and we will “push” that data to your system for you to work with it programmatically.  This requires your developers to expose a web service and provide us the details, and then all your alerts can be automatically populated in your systems (ERP, dispatch, maintenance, etc.).

If you’re not using our alerts, you’re missing  a key benefit of GPS Insight.  They’re available to all customers.

Enjoy!

Thanks,

Rob.

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