Last week Google replaced their logo on their search sites to a playable PACMAN game to celebrated the 30th anniversary of the games launch and it is estimated that it cost businesses around 5 million hours in lost productivity. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/10153286.stm

On the face of it the employees most probably thought it was just a harmless bit of fun. In today’s climate businesses are providing staff with more and more tools to help them do their jobs. The problem is that these tools are becoming more and more distracting and there is no doubt that productivity is dropping because of these distractions. At least if you are in an office it is possible to wander round and monitor activity, but with a mobile workforce out of sight it is pretty much impossible. With the pressure of work staff often lose themselves for hours at a time often without thinking they are costing the company money.  This is where using vehicle tracking pro-actively can make a real difference. With sales and service staff up to 30% of a working day can be spent idle.

V-SOL specialise in helping businesses turn this lost time back into productive time and that what’s makes us different. V-SOL are probably the only company still able to offer this help to customers.. Having a tracking system does not make the difference to your business, however using the information and knowledge it can provide to help employees use their time better can and generally will produce significant results.

V-SOL GPS vehicle tracking technology is constantly evolving. By keeping our products up to date with these advancements and maintaining the highest levels of service, we help ensure that clients recognise the true value of what a quality vehicle tracking system can deliver.

If you would like to know more about how we are different have a look at our case histories or give us call to discuss how V-SOL will work with you to help you get the e best value from your investment in all of the tools you provide.

It is amazing just how quickly we become accustomed to new technology. Mobile Phones, Email, Text messaging and now even Vehicle Tracking Systems are all now so embedded into our lives both from a business and a personal point of view it seems that most drivers could not contemplate being without them all.

With tracking it seems that for those that have it manual record keeping is no longer required. It does not matter what the vehicle is used for the information recorded can pretty much answer most questions. The thought of using diaries for noting addresses, time spent on appointments, mileages for each and every journey seems archaic. If you were to ask drivers who have had a tracking system for more than a year if they like to go back to the old way you generally get a resounding NO! The fear of big brother has all but disappeared. If you still don’t have vehicle tracking and need more convincing have a look around the V-SOL Website for more examples of how much help vehicle tracking systems provide or call us on 0800 093 9034 to discuss your requirements.

More emphasis on KPI’s and proof of attendance and timings are being asked for by many customers. The V-SOL vehicle tracking system is able to provide this via a new add-on that allows contracts to be reported upon. All that you need is to highlight the locations relating to a contract then set the rules and let V-SOL do the rest. The same reporting function can also be used to cost contracts by comparing one contract alongside another. This can highlight not only customers who are not as profitable as they should be but also those that are most profitable. Once set-up V-SOL collects all the necessary information.

If you would like to discuss any ideas of how to get the best from your V-SOL vehicle tracking system, or would like to share your own tip, or have a question that needs answering please contact us. The V-SOL reporting suite is very powerful and there are many ways of using the information to look at the business that are often overlooked.

Vehicle tracking systems work best when they fit the business. Many organisations fail to get the best or even anything worthwhile at all from the systems they buy because they have not looked closely enough at whatever is being offered by the provider they choose.  The news article linked below from India highlights just how easy it is to run into problems when implementing a vehicle tracking solution.

V-SOL are specialists in GPS tracking having been manufacturing and supplying live tracking systems longer than anybody else in the UK. From the very beginning our aim was to supply a “solution” rather than just a “system”  in fact our original name was Vehicle Solutions. We only changed this as some people thought we were a car leasing company!

In fact our first solution came about as we needed a systems for our own business. The leading suppliers of the day namely Minor Planet and Datatrak both told us we did not really need what we were seeking.

Ever since then we have specialised in providing our customers with tailored systems. Whilst the investment is a little larger on the face of it what matters most of all is what you get from the solution and this is where having a system designed around you pretty much guarantees you success. We are able to promise this and build it into any agreement we make to supply systems. That way we are truly partners and motivated to see that the customer gets a solution that delivers rather than a generic solution that may or may not work for them.

Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Article

With parts of the UK already having seen snow this festive season, weather forecasters are slashing odds on the chances of a white Christmas, with further snow fall expected over the Christmas holidays.

While snow is always popular with the kids for sledging and building snowmen, out on the roads it can be a different matter. Non-essential journeys can always be cancelled in bad weather, but for drivers who have to work no matter what the conditions snow fall can be a serious problem.

However, with a vehicle tracking system, both drivers and fleet managers can enjoy added peace of mind. Fleet managers know the exact location of vehicles, so should any drivers get into trouble then they will know the precise location, so that help can reach them as quickly as possible.

To find out more about the advantages of vehicle tracking please get in touch.

Some vehicle tracking companies have speculated that pay as you go will take over from contract in the next couple of years, but V-SOL feels that this trend treats tracking systems as a commodity – just like a mobile phone – and is not a good idea for long term business. It is therefore not a trend we intend to follow and would issue a word of caution to any company considering pay as you go.

Pay as you go may seem like a convenient method, but in the end it will lead to the same quality of customer service that you get on a pay as you go mobile phone. It is unlikely that your provider will be on hand to assist with any problems that you may have.

While part of the reason for pay as you go tracking coming about is related to some early tracking companies being in financial trouble this is not the case with many companies today. It is always important to clarify how you will be looked after with any supplier before signing, but if you’re looking to receive the full benefits from a vehicle tracking system, then a contract with a stable organisation that has a proven record of helping customers with issues will always offers far more benefits and security than pay as you go.

In an increasingly competitive market place, giving customers an arrival time of some point between 8am and 6pm is not going to help build company loyalty. Businesses have been forced to raise their game and customer service is a high priority. So, with such tough competition, why not use vehicle tracking to help you get ahead.

When you know the exact location of all vehicles, as well as precise times and speeds, calculating how long it will take for them to reach a specific destination becomes much more feasible. While you still have to make allowances for traffic and roadworks, a vehicle tracking system will allow you to give customers a much more accurate time of arrival than ‘some point during the working day’.

Good customer relationships are key to a successful business, so to see how you can develop your existing relationships click here and find out more about how vehicle tracking technology could benefit your company.

The live data provided by vehicle tracking is invaluable to many businesses that need to know the exact location of any one of the vehicles in their fleet. However, aside from the here and now, there will be times when a client, customer or even staff, need to find out the whereabouts of a certain vehicle from a previous day or even week.

Without GPS tracking you are faced with trawling through timesheets and hassling drivers to double check with them on their location – all of which takes time and effort. However, with a tracking system not only do you have access to the live data of all vehicles, but there is also a historical record, allowing you to trace journeys, times and whereabouts without the hassle.

V-SOL’s software stores the historical data for up to 366 days, although tracking systems do vary on this, but most keep data for up to 30 days – making historical enquiries much easier to manage. If you’d like to find out more feel free to get in touch.

GPS tracking can improve the economical efficiency of businesses in many ways, but aside from cutting down on fuel wastage, vehicle abuse and communication costs, the technology also allows companies to spend more time focusing on developing the business.

The reason for this is because all issues of vehicle location, maintenance, and security are managed by the system, meaning that staff don’t have to waste time finding out this information, as it is already recorded – benefitting staff in operations and finance, as well as on the road.

So, in addition to seeing the financial rewards tracking can bring through economical savings, with efficiency levels throughout companies also raised, the return on investment is even higher.

Many companies looking to implement vehicle tracking often worry about resistance from drivers. However, the key thing to remember here is that tracking offers benefits to everyone – not just the management.

Drivers no longer have to worry about keeping records of their time or confirming with clients or customers what time they reached a particular destination – the tracking system will be able to verify this for them.

With less administrative work to do drivers can focus on their main duties and management no longer need to worry about chasing drivers to complete timesheets, as they will have all the information at their fingertips.

Often a main reason for resistance is due to people not being aware of the full benefits. Open communication from the start allows everyone to understand the impact tracking can have on a business and find out more about how it can benefit different job roles.