Rocky Mountain Tracking

By Greg Bartlett

How many different types of tracking systems do you think there are available? While many people may think that only a few exist, the possibilities are endless and opportunities abound to exploit the advantages of a GPS tracker. GPS tracking systems can be used for a variety of things. One of the most well-known is used for tracking vehicles. Whether you want to keep track of your spouse or children, or whether you simply want to know where your car is at all times, a GPS system could suit you perfectly. Some people hide the GPS system on their vehicle, others place it in a conspicuous location, such as a standard GPS system that gives directions. Some companies, on the other hand, use GPS tracking systems to keep record of where their cars have been, how long they have been there, and their speed in travel. This can be helpful if you rent out cars or have a business that makes client calls.

GPS Tracking & Personal Safety

Another use for GPS tracking is to know where your animal is. Dog-tracking collars have made recent strides in technology and people can even have personal logins and passwords to find a lost pup on the Internet. Some people will also GPS tracking and place a device on an individual or in a pocket.

Other uses of tracking systems have been to keep abreast of what is going on worldwide. Police officers have used GPS trackers to know where criminals are at all times. Paparazzi use similar devices to know where a famous Hollywood star is or where a politician may be staying. The Olympics became well-known for tracking the vehicles that the champions were traveling in. This helped them to know where the athletes were and when they would arrive to the games.

GPS tracking is not difficult and has become very useful recently. It uses a small device that, when activated, transmits radio waves to satellites, that then pass the information to a central computer. This helps technicians know the location of the device as well as any other data it monitors. Tracking with a GPS system can be very beneficial and can provide you with much information that you would not be able to know otherwise. GPS systems are cheap and readily available for anyone who is interested in considering them further. Come see what a GPS tracker can do for you.

by James Neely, freelance writer: click | HERE | to check out GPS products from Rocky Mountain Tracking

There are those who still question the need for and use of GPS Tracking systems in their businesses.  That is unfortunate, because they stand to gain from these devices in ways that will help increase their profitability.

GPS Tracking Questions

Here are the most important questions about GPS Tracking systems and the answers:

How Does GPS Tracking Differ from GPS Navigation?

GPS stands for Global Positioning Systems and is a part of technology provided by satellites as they orbit the earth.  These satellites and the systems contained in them are able to link to devices on the ground that are in tune to certain frequencies on which both are locked.  These frequencies allow communicating bi-directionally which gives benefits to the end user.

GPS Navigation systems have become popular with product manufacturers in the form of small devices that attach to vehicles or other transportation methods for the distinct purpose of displaying driving directions and other valuable data such as destination, and estimated times of arrival based on speed.

GPS Tracking has been developed for the specific purpose of tracking moving objects (vehicles and other assets) as they move across the landscape.  These devices are used more for verifying activities and providing data than they are for providing consumer feedback on a small screen.  These units provide location, direction of travel and speed information which is captured in near real-time.  This data is then used by businesses, law enforcement and even consumers in tracking assets.

How Do Businesses Benefit?

By using GPS Tracking, businesses are able to better manage assets in near real-time which allow them to be more responsive to their customers’ needs.  This gives businesses with fleet vehicles the ability to be able to make instant changes in schedules which improve customer loyalty and satisfaction.

What Type of GPS Tracking Do We Need?

You have a choice between a passive and a ‘real-time’ system.  Passive systems are those that are not tracked actively when the device is in use.  The device stores information which is downloaded for later retrieval and use.  This device is only good when instant updates are not needed.  Tracking over several days for a history of usage is the best way to describe its use.

The devices that are of the most benefit to businesses are those that are ‘real-time’ or nearly so.  These units send out a constant signal so that the information can be relayed to a local PC.  These GPS Tracking systems also allow businesses to set up boundaries called ‘geo-fences’ that set off alerts if a vehicle traverses a preset boundary.

What Can We Expect to Pay?

When these devices are purchased in quantity the discounts can be fantastic.  Often, the cost can be as low as about $100.  But, the key here is that the cost is so low, that the devices pay for themselves.  Other cost that you should be aware of is that there are monthly fees associated with continuous monitoring.  But, also there is a model called the Smart Tracker that does not incur these charges until the device is activated as needed.

Are Savings Possible?

Most insurance companies offer a significant savings in premiums when these units are installed and used on vehicles.  This helps them reduce their risk of loss and they are more than willing to share in the savings by offering lower premiums.

There is little to debate over the implementation and use of these devices in any business that has major dollars tied up in outdoor assets.  The ways that they are being used are many and varied and they will continue to provide a platform for successful business operations for years to come.

Rocking Mountain Tracking has the best line-up of GPS Tracking devices to meet any need.  Take a look at their products and options for the best fit for your business.  You will find knowledgeable sales persons in helping you get the best unit to meet your requirements.

by James Neely, freelance writer: click | HERE | to check out GPS products from Rocky Mountain Tracking

Creating an environment in which your business can succeed is very important.  That is especially true in the economic climate in which businesses are operating today.  Once you establish a baseline of activities that you must perform to help your business succeed, then you can add the tools that you need to make it happen.

Building Your Business

These tools include a fully integrated GPS Tracking system.  Here are four ways that it can help you build your business:

Managing Growth

You know what the most difficult part of managing your business is?  Growth.  Your day-to-day operations are running smoothly and then all of a sudden you are asked to increase your service area or offerings.  If your business uses mobile or movable assets, then GPS Tracking systems will help you with the growth process because of the ability to manage them in a timely and efficient manner.  No longer will adding additional assets produce a sinking feeling on the part of your managers.

Increasing Customer Response

Being able to respond with instant feedback from a GPS Tracking system will help you turn your operations with ease to help keep profitability at the forefront of what you do.  When you track assets with GPS Tracking systems, you can know instantaneously where assets are located.  If they are missing or stolen, authorities can be notified to their exact location and they can be recovered within hours, not days, weeks or months.  You are able to keep running without having to sacrifice because of an incident of theft.

Keeping Service ‘Priority One’

GPS Tracking systems put customer service at the highest levels of business operations.  This is especially true if you are involved heavily in the delivery of goods or products via fleet solutions.  Other businesses that can benefit from these systems are people transportation systems as well.  There is no better way to manage routes than with a GPS Tracking system.

Repeat Customers

The most efficiently operated business invited use and customer satisfaction that keep them coming back for years.  Making use of the GPS Tracking system benefits helps your company stand out from your competition and makes you almost impossible to beat with it comes to delivering customer satisfaction.

Implementation of a GPS Tracking system has never been easier or more affordable than it is right now.  Adding one to your operation is no longer a nice thought or gesture.  It is mandatory and it is time to get on board.  Here’s to your success.

Rocking Mountain Tracking has the best line-up of GPS Tracking devices to meet any need.  Take a look at their products and options for the best fit for your business.  You will find knowledgeable sales persons in helping you get the best unit to meet your requirements.

By Greg Bartlett

Ten years ago a GPS tracking system would have been considered a luxury, but in today’s market, they are readily available and much more reasonably priced. But you might be wondering if a GPS tracking system is something that you need to purchase right now.

GPS Product Lineup

The answer is here. Your answer might not be yes right now, but after considering these reasons, you will know whether or not it is time for you to purchase a GPS tracking system.
A GPS tracking system works better than alarms and locks. Thieves today are more talented and cunning than they were in the past. Thieves know how to disable car alarms and can break into them so quickly that they often cannot be stopped. This is why having a real-time GPS tracking system inside the vehicle is a good idea. The system has its own battery so it does not stop working even if the battery cable to the vehicle is cut. A real-time tracking system will allow you to locate your car after it has been stolen: something a car alarm certainly cannot do for you.

A GPS tracking device is also a very good idea for people like bikers and runners who may be alone. This will allow you to be tracked if you become a victim of a crime. A GPS tracking system is a good idea for anyone from a hunting enthusiast to a mountain climber, because these systems will also protect people who are likely to become lost or get injured or stuck somewhere. Many people also use these kinds of devices to track young children and those with Alzheimer’s disease.
A GPS tracking system can also be used to determine the faithfulness of a spouse. Having a GPS tracker on a vehicle may not give you the answers that you wanted, but it will at least give you the truth. The information from this kind of tracking device in addition to other information that you may gather from phone records or the credit card bill will give you the evidence that you need if your spouse is being unfaithful.

A GPS tracking system can also revolutionize the way that your business is run. It can be used to manage a fleet of vehicles and cut down on unnecessary vehicle wear and tear. It may also lower your insurance premiums, because your vehicles will be easy to recover if they are stolen. A GPS tracking system also simplifies the amount of records and reports that are required for billing purposes and keeps you from having to hire another person.

Any one of these reasons might be important enough for you to decide to purchase a GPS tracking system. If you find yourself worrying about the safety of your family members or the stability of your business, do not hesitate to purchase a GPS tracking device and let it take the stress and worry out of your life.

by James Neely, freelance writer: click | HERE | to check out GPS products from Rocky Mountain Tracking

Municipal Vehicles & GPS Tracking

Managing a city or town is a daunting job.  Consider the responsibility in managing assets alone - especially assets that are on the move constantly.  That, along with all of the other tasks makes this job one that begs for help.  That is what you get when you implement a GPS Tracking system into your municipal operations.  Here’s how you can benefit:

For Accountability and Safety

Real-time tracking gives you instant feedback as to the location of your trucks and workers as they perform their jobs.  Drivers and operators are normally very responsible people, but there is always room for improvement; especially in the area of safety.  Knowing where your people are at all times provides true peace-of-mind.

For Evidence of Performance

When it comes to snow removal, when was the last time you plowed a given street or road?  If someone calls you, can you supply that information?  If you have one of these GPS tracking systems you can.  And with real-time accuracy, you can give an estimated time of arrival.  Being able to give out this data is invaluable to your sanity as well.

For Managing Fleet Maintenance

Now you can keep track of how many hours and miles have been consumed by your fleet of vehicles.  Having this data will help you be able to monitor and schedule preventive maintenance stops.  The time and effort applied in this task can help keep your fleet running smoothly when the additional demands of poor weather conditions are placed on it.

For Justification for Leadership

Not only can you report on the whereabouts and activities performed by your fleet, you can deliver reports that give you factual records to prove the worth of the vehicles in your keeping and help provide evidence when you need to request funds to add to or replace what you have in inventory.  This information is invaluable to elected officials for this purpose alone.

For Tracking Stolen Items

You cannot be too cautious with equipment that is publically funded.  Thieves are in the business of taking items that can bring a high price on the black market.  You can stop them in their tracks by installing GPS tracking systems on all of your major pieces of equipment.  Recovering items taken can be performed in just hours, not days or months.  That keeps you operating with a complete inventory.

Cities and towns all would benefit from GPS Tracking.  Today’s economic conditions are demanding and the best way to meet those demands is with the added control that a system affords your municipality.

Rocking Mountain Tracking has the best line-up of GPS Tracking devices to meet any need.  Take a look at their products and options for the best fit for your business.  You will find knowledgeable sales persons in helping you get the best unit to meet your requirements.

By Harriette Halepis

Track the Capitol Tree with GPS

This year, the tree that will light up Washington D.C. weighs more than 8,000 pounds, and hails from Arizona’s Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The tree traveled more than 4,000 miles to reach the capitol, and anyone could have tracked the tree’s journey by logging onto Trackthetree.com.

SkyBitz (in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service) outfitted the tree with a GPS Tracking system that effectively recorded the tree’s every movement (well, every detour that the truck hauling the tree took anyway). SkyBitz also set up a Facebook and Twitter account that allowed people to comment on the tree.

The Capitol tree, 10,000 handmade ornaments, and 80 smaller trees (these will be placed throughout the Capitol buildings) all made it safely to Washington D.C., but how does one of the most popular trees in the land get chosen?

The selection of the Capitol Christmas Tree is quite an undertaking. The tree was actually spotted and chosen in mid-July when most people were thinking about summertime barbeques, not wintertime Christmas trees. The tree is then presented to the U.S. Congress, and if the tree is approved it makes the journey from its original location to Washington D.C.

The U.S. Forest Service had hoped that allowing people to track the tree would engage public interest in the tree lighting ceremony. Did it work? While SkyBitz didn’t release its website tracking data, you can head to Trackthetree.com to view the tree’s journey, read the tree’s blog, and make note of all the holiday Capitol happenings.

2009 Capitol Christmas Tree

by James Neely, freelance writer: click | HERE | to check out GPS products from Rocky Mountain Tracking

As part of the push for jobs creation, the chairman of American Airlines and AMR Corporation made a pitch to the Obama Administration for funding for a new GPS-based tracking system for commercial air traffic control.

GPS & Air Traffic Monitoring

The current system is based upon radar technology from as long ago as World War II, and has served the nation well.  But, with new advances, GPS Tracking stands to be a better, more reliable system.

Here is how GPS Tracking can improve commercial airline travel:

Increased Safety

Under the existing system, pilots rely upon information relayed to them from air traffic controllers on the ground.  A new system would allow pilots to make better judgments about the track of their travel to help maintain safe distances between other aircraft.

Increased Information

Not only could air traffic controllers help direct traffic, but also airline pilots would be able to see the same views of air traffic patterns in the cockpit as well.  This would help pilots and air traffic controllers to work in concert rather than having pilots be dependent solely upon the information given to them.

Better Service

An improved system would bring with it improved service schedules to customers.  Providing better monitoring of airline traffic to the commercial carriers would allow them to use the instant information to update customers on arrivals and delays that occur from weather and other related occurrences.

Cut Costs

Being able to better manage air traffic can help save fuel costs by better planning of air traffic into and out of busy airports.  Better overall service can be delivered by fewer people.  The current air traffic control system requires multiple operators on each sector during a given shift.  With GPS Tracking systems implemented, it is possible that those numbers could be reduced because of the higher amount of and better information that is obtained from the system.

Changing the system to GPS Tracking-based makes sense on so many levels.  The current talk revolves around cost and who will pick up the bill.  Airline companies are hurting financially and want to keep their investment as low as possible.  And, with cost-cutting on the mind of most federal agencies these days, one wonders how this will get accomplished any time soon.  It will happen, but just at a slower pace than anticipated.

Rocking Mountain Tracking has the best line-up of GPS Tracking devices to meet any need.  Take a look at their products and options for the best fit for your business.  You will find knowledgeable sales persons in helping you get the best unit to meet your requirements.

by James Neely, freelance writer: click | HERE | to check out GPS products from Rocky Mountain Tracking

Public transportation operations are getting smart by incorporating GPS Tracking into their systems.  One of the latest is Caltrain in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California.  Caltrain is implementing GPS Tracking for one purpose:  to closely monitor train movements and locations so that riders know exactly where trains are located in relation to their position and (more importantly) when they will arrive.

Caltrain Adds GPS

GPS Tracking makes its mark by helping to improve service to customers.  This has long been a strong point for tracking of public transportation systems including buses and taxi cabs.

Another way of alerting riders to train schedules happens via Twitter updates.  While these updates are helpful, they require riders to have cell phones with Internet access to receive the communications.

GPS Tracking systems like the one being installed for Caltrain do not discriminate in this way.  Electronic signs posted at each stop convey the information to riders.  What airports have been doing for years now comes to common public transportation users.

Other uses for these GPS Tracking systems include close monitoring of maintenance schedules.  This allows managers to make sure that scheduled maintenance stops are performed within the time allocation set up in pre-determined intervals.  This helps make sure that these large vehicles are in the best possible condition that they can be when in service which, in turn, can cut down on failures which can lead to accidents.

One reason for the installation of this system is that competition from buses has forced Caltrain to make the improvement in service which helps keep them in the running for being the best way to travel in the Bay Area.

The other issue that this addresses is the concerns by those who use the train, but because of schedules and delays, are late to work, classes and other appointments.

Score another win for GPS Tracking systems as they continue to make huge inroads into improving service and reliability.  Today’s public transportation users demand better schedules and information in order to keep their own schedules and be able to take advantage of a greener travel alternative.  It appears that all systems are ‘go.’

Rocking Mountain Tracking has the best line-up of GPS Tracking devices to meet any need.  Take a look at their products and options for the best fit for your business.  You will find knowledgeable sales persons in helping you get the best unit to meet your requirements.

By Greg Bartlett

Somali pirates are famous for capturing ships and demanding ransoms. One of the more recent cases has caused people to wonder if GPS tracking systems could be useful in these situations. While it may not be possible to completely stop the pirating with GPS tracking systems, they may make things easier for the authorities.

GPS Tracking & Pirates on the High Seas

From speed boats to sail boats, boat theft has always been a problem, but boat hijacking is an even bigger concern, because people are often taken hostage during hijackings. The increase in boat thefts and hijackings has moved many boat owners to purchase GPS tracking systems to protect these valuable possessions.

Finding a missing boat is much more difficult than finding a missing vehicle because there are limited places that a vehicle can go. GPS tracking systems can easily pinpoint the location of the missing boat and also protect a very expensive item. People who have invested a lot of money in their boats need to protect them from theft with GPS technology.

The most important reason that people should install a GPS tracker in their boat is that it would help the authorities quickly find them in the case of a hijacking. Instead of waiting until the pirates demand a ransom, a GPS tracking system will allow the authorities to act immediately. A fast reaction time is crucial in these kinds of situations.

You could even use the geo-fencing feature that comes with most active GPS tracking systems to prevent this kind of problem from happening. The geo-fencing feature will alert you if your boat is moved from the dock, so you will know instantly if it has been stolen. In addition, you can use this feature to keep you in safe waters while you are out boating. Although you do not always know where potential boat hijackers are, placing a geo-fence alert around pirating hot spots will keep you out of the most dangerous areas.

You could also use this GPS tracking system to notify the authorities of your location if you have any other kind of emergency. Whether the boat is sinking or someone has become very ill, cutting down the amount of time that it takes the authorities to respond is very important.

Thanks to GPS tracking systems, recovering a boat, which could take months without the help of GPS technology, now becomes a very simple thing to do.

By Harriette Halepis

Just a few months ago, Haverhill, Massachusetts, Highway Superintendent James Flaherty (along with his son, Kevin) was charged with abusing his position. Flaherty was caught awarding city construction jobs to private companies that were, in fact, owned by the Flaherty family. In short, Flaherty was effectively stealing city funds.

GPS & Fire Trucks

This scandal sparked a lot of debate within the city of Haverhill, and recently Mayor James Fiorentini decided to install GPS trackers on city fire trucks. This decision was spawned by the numerous citizens throughout the city who have reported seeing city fire trucks parked in odd places for long periods of time.

The new GPS tracking system will track the location of fire trucks in order to discourage firefighters from taking too much free time during work hours. In addition, the city hopes that these trackers will also help to reduce response times while also conserving fuel.

Presently, the GPS trackers have been installed on all city fire vehicles – except for any department deputy or inspector vehicles. At the moment, city is hoping that the cost of the GPS tracking system ($5000) will benefit both citizens and firefighters.

This is not the first time that a major metropolitan center has decided to use GPS trackers in order to track city vehicles. Many municipalities around the globe are discovering that finding out exactly where city vehicles are during any given workday is a lot easier with the help of a reliable GPS system.