Tracking Company Vehicles

What Is GPS Tracking

What is GPS tracking? Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking is location surveillance through use of GPS to track the location of an entity or object in a remote location worldwide. GPS technology can pinpoint altitude, longitude, latitude, ground speed and course of direction of the target. GPS is made up of twenty-four (24) satellites configured to be well-spaced and go round the Earth. Ground receivers enable people having them determine their exact geographic location by use of these satellites. For most equipment the accuracy is something between one hundred (100) to ten (10) metres. Special military-approved equipment has pinpointing accuracy of up to one metre. Science has widely applied GPS and with time has gradually become cheaper making a lot people own a GPS supported devices as is the case with smartphones and navigation devices.

GPS tracking has found wide and priceless applications within the military personnel, firefighters, police force and large courier businesses. Most GPS tracking systems in this case use automatic vehicle locator (AVL) systems. These AVL systems in general comprise a certain number of vehicles with each of them equipped with three GPS devices; the modem, receiver and antenna and a radio receiver unit that's mobile. A base radio made up of a PC station and a GPS receiver and interface enables connection to this network. GPS makes use of interactive maps that enable panning, zooming, ask queries and also identification all which are basic functions of the GPS. Through tracking and communication, these AVL systems find applications in boosting the efficiency of a company's dispatching procedure and increases the chances for employees posted in the field to justify their actions and decisions.

AVL devices combine GPS technology, cellular communications, intuitive user interface, street-level mapping that improves management of fleet and customer service. With AVL tracking systems, companies can come up with delivery routes from the compiled information database of vehicles. One of the most important information is determining the location of customers regarding the established and chosen routes. Dispatchers can get a real-time snapshot of driver adhering to a route, provide customers with an estimated arrival time and communicate directly with the driver. Majority of AVL supplied and created products function effectively without dedicated servers and dispatchers need little training. Mouse clicks of the systems enable paging of single vehicles, designated group of vehicles or the complete fleet.

GPS tracking technologies have been widely applied and used. Some of the other technologies in GPS include the GPS gun that is used by the law enforcement can fire at a fleeing car and avoid dangerous pursuit. GPS dust is comprised of very small GPS trackers that may be blown or rubbed on a target clothing and is used by some law enforcement representatives. GPS devices on mobile devices such as smartphones are used to locate employees by tracking. Advocates concerned with private matters have warned that GPS technology in mobile devices give powers to advertiser's, government, hackers and cyber stalkers enabling them track users through their mobile devices.

GPS messaging also known as mid-air messaging is a wireless message transmission system that displays specific location of the message as opposed to the location of the recipient. People with GPS locators send and receive GPS messaging wirelessly in their devices. The messages are tethered to the sender location allowing its access by mobile users who are equipped getting into that location. The messages location is seemingly mid-air. Hewlett-Packard (HP) has pioneered in development of a prototype messaging system that works entire with the GPS system and their Bristol Laboratory in England has the prototype.

GPS messaging has enormous potential for emergency situations and the less urgent ongoing concerns of users. For example, people working on highways can leave warning message(s) accessible by others approaching this hazardous region in order to avoid hazards with upcoming traffic.

Geo caching is an activity in which someone buries something for others to find using GPS receivers. It's also known as geo hunting and is mainly practiced for recreational purposes. A geo cache consists of a small, waterproof container that holds a logbook and cheap jewellery. Geocachers use the features and capability of GPS unit to find the cache. They are enthusiastic and hope that they'll have individuals and groups all over the world secrete caches in a wide variety of locations and post the caches' coordinates on the Internet. GPS users then can follow the location coordinates to find the caches.

GPS coordinates are unique and help identify a precise geographic location on the earth and is normally expressed in alphanumeric characters. Coordinates are points of intersection in a grid system. GPS coordinates are usually expressed in terms of latitude and longitude. Latitude measures degrees of distance from the equator which is at zero (0) degrees. The northern and southern poles are 90 degrees north and south of the equator respectively. The prime meridian is located at zero (0) degrees longitude. It's the reference point from which all other locations are measured according to the number of degrees east or west from it. GPS coordinates are expressed in two different formats. One is purely numeric and makes use of the minus sign if the point of interest is either west of the prime meridian or degrees south of equator.

Geo-fencing refers to a software program feature utilising radio frequency identification (RFID) or GPS in definition of geographical boundaries geo-fence which is a virtual barrier. The software programs permit the administrator to set up triggers such that when a device enters or exits the administrator defined boundary, a text message or email alert is sent. Majority of applications in this particular field make use of Google Earth which allows administrators to define boundaries on top of a satellite view of a specific geographical area. Some other applications also make use of boundaries that are defined by longitude and latitude or even through web-based maps created by users. Listed below are a few of the many applications that geo- fencing offers:

The dispatcher of fleet management receives an alert when the truck driver breaks from his route.

An employee smart card will send an alert to security if the employee makes an attempt to enter an unauthorised area hence helps the human resource management team.

In compliance management, network logs put into list geo-fence crossings to document the proper use of devices and their compliance with established rules and regulations.

In the field of marketing, it enables restaurants to send automatically triggered text messages to possible customers informing them of the specials offered on that day if the customers enter a specific and well-defined geographic region.

An RFID tag on a pellet can send an alert if without permission the pellet is removed from the expected area and this assists greatly in asset management.

Those responsible for enforcing law can also make great use of geofencing. For example, captives subjected to house arrest can have ankle bracelets put on them by officers so that authorities are alerted when the captive leaves the designated area or premise.

Geo location process determines an object's position on a real-world map, based on its latitude and longitude. The GPS chip enables a device to run apps that use a person's physical location to provide specific information or services. Geo location services can rely on GPS but on absence of a GPS signal, the device can switch to other modes such as Wi-Fi network proximity, cell-tower triangulation and IP addresses and more often in conjunction with GPS. At UK GPS Tracker we employ the latest technologies on our GPS trackers to make sure that our clients get the best products and service. To find out more, contact us on 0800 246 5952.

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