NEW GPS SYSTEMS ENSURE SECURITY AND SAFETY FOR VEHICLE AND PLANT ASSETS
Using these advanced GPS tracking systems, customers can gain even more information for detailed, relevant and user friendly reports on plant and vehicle status on a 24/7 basis. As these systems are fully Web-based, this allows the customer to access their account from any computer, PDA, Blackberry or mobile phone with internet access. No special tools are required, only industry-standard browsers, so there is no need to install additional software on the customer’s devices.
Being totally web-based, an attractive feature of the GPS systems is the availability of fully integrated Google road, satellite and hybrid maps. Some systems offer a configurable login, with the user able to customise Client settings, Driver settings, Vehicle settings, User settings and Vehicle icons. The user can also set Geo-zones and arrange for text/email alerts and automated email reports to be sent to them. The user can change their own password for security purposes and the increased functionality offers a route replay function and allows the user to input custom points and integrate them in reports.
Each vehicle or piece of plant remains in contact with the server 24/7 so status is available to users at all times; additionally they can request positions, add zones around equipment and vehicles (for additional theft protection) and monitor hours used (per rental or accumulatively).
The GPS-based systems provide security by reporting vehicle movements (authorised or unauthorised), tamper, ignition state and a host of other data via input/output ports that can be used for monitoring additional sensors. These may be fuel level, battery level, coolant, engine running/not running, engine covers open/closed and so on. Each system can be customised to provide the security and telemetry data required by both the customer and user.
Other options available on these systems are:
Optional keypad immobiliser with remote immobilisation feature. Text polling from mobile phone. PDA access with street level images. Driver identification and performance option using electronic tags (RFID). Lone Worker Protection. Portable, personal tracking with voice capability. Vehicle tracking
The reporting ability of the GPS tracking and security systems allows vehicle and plant fleet managers to customise the data retrieval and reporting offered to provide reports that suit their specific purposes.
For example, in one leading European equipment rental company, the reporting system on the Skyline GPS system from Enigma Vehicle Systems provided data identifying a large number of vehicles that were being under-utilised, leading to savings of close to US $3000 per week. The information has also allowed the customer to focus on unauthorised and excessive out-of-hours use and this has resulted in further savings due to a reduction of about 3000 miles of unnecessary use of company vehicles every week.
Developed in the Middle East, the new RFID tagging systems hosted on the GPS security systems are designed to monitor, control and protect the use of vehicle fleets run by haulage companies, contractors, bus and coach operators, local authorities, utility companies and many others.
The new systems include e-driver and e-pass systems using passive RFID technology to track vehicle users and passengers, respectively, utilising RFID tags in a variety of formats such as plastic teardrop, stick-on or credit card/ID cards.
In the e-driver system, the vehicle will not start unless the driver’s tag is presented and once the tag ID is read and accepted, the driver name is mapped on to the GPS server and the driver for the period the vehicle is being used is always known.
In the e-pass system, developed specifically for the passenger transit market and tested extensively with worker buses in the Middle East, each authorised passenger is provided with a unique tag that is used when entering or exiting the vehicle. Only those passengers with a tag can travel and this is controlled by the driver. The system calculates the number of passengers per trip, their names, time of entry and exit and can be further integrated with time and attendance software or trip calculations. In addition, bus journeys can be monitored, events such as late arrival or excessive speed recorded and most importantly, utilisation can be calculated. A combination of the e-driver and e-pass systems is particularly useful on large sites, such as process plants or construction sites, where bus fleets are used to transport staff and construction workers to and from work and around the site.
All e-driver tags are compatible with e-pass tags and this allows them to be deployed site-wide. The systems together give the identities of both the drivers and passengers using the buses on site, allowing companies to monitor and optimise the use of the bus fleet based on utilisation data.
In the case of the passengers, site managers have a dedicated passenger manifest for each trip on a vehicle by vehicle basis, with the knowledge of who is at work and who has left site. In the case of an accident, knowledge of the passengers’ identities allows notification to be passed to relatives and access to employee health records for treatment-sensitive information such as blood type, allergies, religion and so on.
