Rocky Mountain Tracking

By James Neely

The water hazards on a golf course are no place in which your expensive golf carts should be found, but it does happen. Being prepared to handle these unfortunate events is a fact of life in golf course management. But it should be minimized by encouraging responsible behavior. This can be accomplished by installing a GPS Tracking system into these vehicles and other golf course equipment like mowers and tractors.

Golf Equipment Protection

Where is the equipment? In an instant you can get a visual on the location of a golf cart in question. Is it near the water, or in the water? Is it out of bounds and off of the course completely? Smart course management includes the ability to follow their equipment closely. Failure to do so can end up in disaster. And if there are any injuries from accidents, the reports from these systems can provide evidence of the location at the time in question.

If you should ever encounter a situation where a cart or other piece of equipment is stolen, it can be tracked to within a few feet of its location for recovery by authorities. This can help you keep your operations running smoothly in the face of theft or loss.

How is it being operated? Most golfers are safe drivers and operate the carts in a responsible manner, right? Now you can know for sure. These GPS Tracking systems can supply information other than just location. Now you can know how fast they are being driven. And if they are being driven in circles at a high-rate of speed, then disaster is sure to follow. Evidence of misuse can be used against a customer in helping to get them to pay for damages. This evidence is even admissible in a court of law.

How long since previous maintenance? One big part of course management is maintenance. How many hours has it been since a piece of equipment has been maintained to keep it in peak running condition? A GPS tracker can provide this data. Using it can help prevent break-downs and keep your course operating smoothly.

Insurance costs can be reduced dramatically because of these systems. This can mean a healthy dose of profitability over the course of a season.

Adding GPS Tracking to your golf course equipment is the right thing to do for your and can make running your business as exciting as hitting a hole-in-one.

By James Neely

In the world of outdoor recreation, businesses need a method of managing their assets and monitoring usage. There is no better way of accomplishing this than to use a GPS Tracking system.

The types of businesses that can benefit from GPS are endless:

Golf Courses and Country Clubs. Management of golf carts can be made easy but in addition so too can the equipment that is used in the operations of a course: tractors, mowers, and anything else that has a motor.

Boat Rentals. Want to know where your rental boat is located? Look it up on your GPS Tracking system. Want to know where it has been and when it is returning? Look it up on your GPS Tracking system.

Ski Resorts. These businesses have the responsibility to keep track of their valued motorized equipment as well as snowmobiles. Not only can you locate them in the worst of weather, you can alert authorities to their whereabouts should there be a need.

Theme Parks. Crowded theme parks make for easy misplacement of motorized equipment. A GPS vehicle tracking system not only finds them, but helps insure that employees are performing their rounds in a timely fashion.

Public Parks. Local and national parks cover many acres of land. Keeping track of assets in this setting is a chore because of the amount of space involved. Imagine being able to track a conservation vehicle as to its whereabouts in real time.

Zoos. Many vehicles are used in the operations of a zoo. Managing fleets of vehicles is made easier with a GPS Tracking system. Find an asset quickly and track its use around the facilities.

Motorcycle and Scooters. When renting out vehicles for use outside of a business, a system is mandatory for maintaining speed enforcement. Also, mileage can be verified as well.

Flight Instructors. Losing an aircraft due to theft is not a usual occurrence, but a GPS Tracking system can help report on flight sessions and in-flight whereabouts as well.

RVs and Campers. Rental companies that offer RVs and campers have a difficult time maintaining location and mileage details. This system provides that in a report that can be used at time of return to help insure that the vehicle was used in a proper manner.

Finding out about all of the benefits of a system like this must include a discussion of theft recovery. Not only can assets be tracked for location, but insurance premiums can be lowered on these vehicles to help keep operating overhead low.

By Chris O’Toole

There have been many horrific tales and near-disaster cases of when the average person will need GPS. However, in the case of my father, GPS tracking played a pivotal role even during a time of leisure. Golf is arguably the safest sport that one person could play and thus, it serves as a perfect example of how the GPS tracker shifts its purpose from a want to a need. In the most secure situation, the GPS tracking system was an absolute essential. Fortuitously, my father happened to have RMT’s PT 200 for his expensive golf clubs in the event of theft. His love for his golf clubs ended up inadvertently saving his life.

I found myself in the running for top prize at a Father-Son Golf Tournament at my father’s country club. My father and I were performing in tandem with excellent precision and ball striking. Even further, our other teammates (who were known to be hacks around the links) were playing the rounds of their lives. Our success encountered a slight hiccup when my father abnormally shanked a shot off the tee box into the “spinach patch” or forest, as it is otherwise known.

If there is one thing about my father, it is that he loves his Titleist Pro V1’s almost as much as God and his own son. So, he began his typical search through the woods for his pristine golf ball. The only difference was that this time, my father did not return from the woods. We waited by our golf carts for nearly twenty minutes before we knew that something was awry. We began our rescue search for him but the wooded area was massive and the dusk had arrived. It seemed to be a losing battle, until it had occurred to me that the GPS was in his golf bag. I raced back to the clubhouse and launched the internet tracking program.

He is in the native? That’s odd, I thought to myself.

Nonetheless, I procured a flashlight and sped back to the #4 hole. I arrived at the waypoint to find my father writhing in pain. He had a bite mark in his leg, most likely from the indigenous Colorado rattlesnake. In addition to this venomous insertion, he had also taken a dangerous fall down the hill that was complemented by cacti and rocks. He was whisked to the nearest poison control center and our match was put on hold. I am eternally grateful to RMT’s PT-200 GPS tracking system for allowing me the chance to save my father from a painful and poisonous mortality. It was this simple precaution that allotted time for the doctors to give my father-who is my hero- the antidote and treat his injuries as well.

There are many industries that make great use of GPS tracking. We’ve told you a lot about how cities use GPS tracking to keep track of employees and schoolbuses. We’ve told you about the ways people use GPS tracking on the water to keep track of ferry boats or whaling ships. On land, golf courses, hockey teams, and police units all use GPS tracking.

GPS tracking is also used to help those who work a lot with the earth itself. For years, farming has become more and more high tech. No longer is it about just using a plow to till the soil and waiting for rain. No, the farming industry has been keeping pace with other industries when it comes to using technological innovations.

There is an area of study and practice called precision agriculture. In precision agriculture, farmers use GPS technology as a tool to micromanage what goes on their fields. By using GPS tracking, farmers can make more efficient use of fuel, fertilizer and pesticides. It is possible for a farmer to map soil variation. When such a map is combined with GPS tracking, the farmer can give different areas of soil just the amount of fertilizer that they need. Satellites and GPS technology can also let a farmer know which areas have the most weeds and they can make sure that pesticides are sprayed where they are really needed.

Now we know that micromanaging is okay when talking about a farm, but it is a dirty word when it comes to talking about managing people. When it comes to managing people, micromanaging is not about being small and petty. It is about making sure that resources are allocated correctly. With budgets getting tighter and tighter, you need to which employees are going where and look at ways to make travel more efficient.

As fleet routes become more efficient, there are lower costs to the customer for fuel.  This again is a way to reduce operating costs.  Sometimes a portion of these cost savings can even be passed along to the customer.  This benefits employees because an efficiently-run business stays healthy and no doubt your employees want to work for an employer who is doing well.

GPS tracking systems increase productivity as well.  Drivers and dispatchers are able to communicate with ease.  It is simple to add a stop to a route or even to change a route since the dispatchers can contact drivers directly.  This helps to make each trip more effective and efficient.

Earlier this year, we mentioned that the owners of golf courses had found ways to make use of GPS tracking technology to improve customer service and increase profits. By giving golfers portable GPS devices or by installing them on golf carts they are able to keep up with customers for a variety of reasons. They can monitor customer location for safety, keep in contact with players or even ask if a group of golfers who are ready to come in want to pre-order food or drinks.

Golf isn’t the only recreational area that has found that GPS tracking is good for business. The operators of a luxury ferry service in California decided to install GPS tracking systems on each one of their ferries.
That way, the ferry operator’s employees can keep track of the location of all of the ferries. This way they can keep up with each boat’s comings and goings. This will allow them to communicate any pertinent information to the boat’s crew and passengers. The office will not be unaware if a ferry is delayed and they can even dispatch help if it is needed to some reason.

GPS tracking improves response time and customer service. By knowing where the vehicles in your fleet are at all times on a real time map, dispatchers can solve problems and easily send the nearest vehicle if the need arises.  This saves both money and time.

Whether your business is golf carts, ferry boats or carpet delivery, you’ll find that the more information you have, the better. Keeping up with your employees and vehicles using GPS tracking only makes sense. GPS tracking devices are a great fleet management tool that not only adds an extra layer of safety, it can also add to the bottom line. Safer, secure more efficient operation practices are a key part of increasing profits.

In the past, we’ve talked about how GPS devices can help employers keep track of employees. And we’ve also discussed how GPS tracking technology is being used in the game of golf.

Well, now we can report that the worlds of GPS tracking, employee negligence and the game of golf have collided.

One city in Illinois gave its employees cell phones with GPS tracking capabilities with the aim of improving productivity.  Tracking devices were also installed on city trucks. The city was clear about this being the purpose for providing the cell phones. Even so, employees are apt to forget that they have such a device. Or, they may not be fully aware of how such devices actually work.

One of this city’s superintendents is now on administrative leave because he was tracked to a golf course when he was supposed to be at work. The matter is still under investigation.

As an employer, we know that you certainly are not looking to catch employees being dishonest. However, using GPS tracking devices can help route out unproductive employees. A GPS tracking device can explain why certain things just aren’t getting done in a timely fashion.

On the other hand, the information that you get with a GPS tracking system could be used to find star employee too. Your GPS tracking devices  can inform you about which employees are doing what they are supposed to do and showing up at the right place, at the right time. You probably already know who does a good job, but now you’ll have additional proof.

GPS tracking devices have many practical applications. You can use them to track your kids, parents, pets and for keeping a virtual eye on employees and assets. Rocky Mountain Tracking has a great lineup of products for those of you who want to use GPS tracking to keep up with what is important to you. With all these practical uses for GPS tracking, is there any room for fun? Of course there is!

Earlier, we mentioned that the National Hockey League is looking into ways that they can use GPS technology during hockey games. Meanwhile, the sport of golf is already making use of GPS tracking.

Individual golfers and golf courses are using GPS to enhance the golf-playing experience. Someone playing golf can use a GPS tracking device that is designed specifically for that game. It can provide them with information on the distances between holes.

For the owners of a golf course, a GPS system is used for the business of fun. Course owners can use it to monitor courses. Golf course owners can provide players with portable GPS systems or have GPS systems mounted on gold carts.If a golf course owner has a GPS system with radio communication capabilities they can use the system’s information to keep in contact with players. For example, if a lightning storm is coming, management can see who is playing where and let them know. Or they can see who is close to finishing a game and ask if they want to order food or drinks.