The GSM Technology Behind GPS Vehicle Fleet Tracking

admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:10:56 +0000

Fleet tracking and fleet management for companies that have to manage a number of vehicles is gaining in popularity as businesses are realizing the benefits of using these systems. A powerful fleet tracking system can be very cost affordable as well. There are different technologies that are used to manage fleets. One of these technologies is GSM, or Global Systems for Mobile communication. IN this article, the author discusses what this GSM technology is and how it works in the management of vehicle fleets. Read on for more.

There are two main technologies when it comes to understanding how GPS fleet tracking works. The first is GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System. This technology is comprised of a network of satellites that orbit the earth, millions of GPS receivers here on earth, and a simple mathematical principle called trilateration. Through trilateration, any GPS receiver on the earth can find out its approximate location with signals from 3 different satellites. It does this by finding its distance from these satellites and calculating the only spot where all three signals could have come together. This process is the GPS in GPS fleet tracking.

This is how all GPS devices work, so what gives GPS fleet tracking its tracking element? To put this question another way, how does a device communicate the position information that it finds from the satellites to those that want to know where the device is located?

The solution to these questions is GSM, or the Global System for Mobile communications. GSM is currently the most popular cell phone network infrastructure on the globe. Some people think that around 80% of the world’s mobile devices work off of GSM networks. This means that GSM by far the most popular mobile technology network in the world. It is currently utilized by 3 billion people all over the world and it provides a digital signal for all forms of communication. To put this in terms that most people will understand, GSM is a 2G cell phone network and is the reason why text-messaging is so cheap.

GSM is important for our understanding of GPS tracking for fleets because it is so widely used all over the world. In this way GSM represents a data transmission infrastructure that is available to wide range of people in many different circumstances. When a fleet truck is on the road it will need some way to send its position data back to the office so that the owners can see where the GPS is locating the vehicle. They need this to better route their vehicles and make their operations more efficient. But when the data is not able to be transmitted over some type of wireless communications network then the fleet tracking system is not doing them much of a service.

The vast majority of fleet tracking devices will send their data back to their office in the following way. The GPS fleet tracking device gets three or more signals from satellites, which it then turns into some raw position data. It will then find a way to send that information back to the boss. It will do this by opening up a connection to a cell phone network, which then talks to the internet, which talks to the server of your fleet tracking service, which then talks to the internet, which then talks to the computer at your office. That is how fleet tracking works.

There are two integral parts to understanding GPS fleet tracking technologies. The first is GPS and this is how the location information is actually gathered. The second part if GSM and this how the location information is able to be tracked by someone else.

If you want to know more about GPS fleet tracking technologies there are several good resources available on the Internet that can better explain the concepts for people of all levels of understanding. There are a lot of different applications for this technology, but one that seems to have a lot of promise is small business fleet tracking. Research indicates that small businesses receive the largest benefit from implementing this technology.

More on GSM for Vehicle Tracking for Fleets:

Fanatic Digital® Real Time Gsm/gprs/sms/online GPS Personal/car …

Personal Tracking — kids, seniors, etc. Vehicle tracking and fleet management;Pets Tracking. Quick start guide included. Product Description Fanatic Digital® G201 is a compact-sized multi-pursers REAL TIME GPS tracker for in-car and …

Publish Date: 04/03/2010

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Fleet Telematics and Navigation

admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:53:34 +0000

This is a short article about the benefits of using telematics if you use a fleet of vehicles in your business. Most of the benefits are obvious, such as finding stolen vehicles, knowing where your drivers are in an instant, the lower need for communication, which also lowers costs such as phone bills, etc.Â I think the list can be longer as well such as lower insurance costs because of the anti-theft benefits as well as being able to implement policies such as safe driving speeds, and limiting the area where the vehicle can go. Read on for more info however.

If your company runs a fleet of vehicles then you should think about having tracking systems fitted for some very good reasons.

Vehicles could be found if stolen!

If you had a vehicle stolen from your yard or anywhere the it would be possible to trace the location of that vehicle and pass on the information to the police. Also it is possible to fit an ‘input’ into the tracking device that would alert you at your ‘watch’ station that a vehicle was being moved without authorization this could also be set up to send you a text message so you don’t have to wake up in the morning and find a vehicle missing.

You would have a eta of vehicle without contacting driver!

If you get a phone call from a customer asking how long until the vehicle arrives you would normally let the customer listen to some music on hold and get hold of another phone and contact the driver for hs location and then take the customer off hold and give him the information. With a tracking system fitted you could stay on the phone with the customer, saving him the music, and with the click of a mouse find the vehicle location and inform the customer on the eta.

Lower mobile phone bills!

Due to the above situation you would save on phone bills when trying to locate a vehicle/driver.

Your drivers could be wasting time and getting to customers late!

Being able to trace the vehicle movement historically will reduce overtime costs and journey time by checking the route taken by the driver and debriefing them on journey route and break time duration. With overtime you would be able to confirm end job times and see if drivers are finishing early.