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.

Making an investment in a vehicle tracking system is making an investment in your business and while it is possible to pay the bare minimum for systems these days, what does this say about the quality that you expect to receive?

In order to get the most out of a vehicle tracking system you need to be able to access the data at any time and in any location. If you are paying pennies for your tracking then any problems you experience are not likely to be fixed in a hurry.

At V-SOL we place a lot of importance on the quality of our product and to support this we have an expert team on hand to resolve any problems that may occur. For clients such as Transport for London we have even installed a dedicated onsite server, so that they were never faced with losing connection.

If you have any questions on vehicle tracking and what we could do to assist your business then why not get in touch.

With the kids back in school this week, motorists up and down the country will have seen the effects this has had on the rush hour traffic, with journeys once again taking that bit longer.

We carried out our own research into this, using V-SOL’s tracking system to monitor vehicles’ journey times both before and during half term. The results revealed that some drivers managed to reduce their journey times by up to 50%, with commuters enjoying a journey time shorter by 24%.

It’s incredible to see what a difference the school holidays make. With many working parents taking time off to spend with the kids and without parents driving kids in to school and teachers making the daily trip, traffic is considerably quieter. However, what we really need to see is improvements in the public transport available to make sure there’s an alternative option to endless traffic jams for daily commuters – not just a few weeks of the year.

With the clocks having gone back last weekend, the nights are fast drawing in and winter is officially on its way. The prolonged darkness provided by the winter months can often lead to some businesses seeing an increase in the number of stolen vehicles and goods, with thieves believing the darkness helps to cloak their misdeeds.

While this may carry some truth, if your vehicle is fitted with a vehicle tracking device, then should it be stolen, you will know exactly where to find it. Also, an additional feature that tracking can offer is door sensors. These sensors can tell you exactly when doors were opened, so that should any goods go missing out of a vehicle, you will be able to use the tracking data to find out exactly where the vehicle was at that time.

So, if you’re worried about the safety of your vehicles and the goods in them, then why not give yourself some peace of mind and consider a vehicle tracking system.

Being able to calculate the most economical routes for your vehicle allows businesses to make considerable savings on fuel costs, which is a great advantage in the short term, but how about long term gains?

With a mobile workforce, clocking up hundreds of miles on a regular basis is part and parcel of the job, but if you have access to detailed tracking data that allows you to identify where more direct routes can be taken, then where possible, you can reduce mileage.

Keeping down the miles will help you ensure that you get the most out of your vehicles, with fewer maintenance checks required. So, in addition to saving time and money on fuel, you can also enjoy the long term benefits that a vehicle tracking system offers.

The infamous M6 was again in the headlines of traffic reports up and down the country this week, with delays of more than ten hours caused by an overturned tarmac lorry spilling tarmac all over the road – requiring the section to be re-surfaced before the motorway could be re-opened.

Traffic jams are the bane of any driver’s life and unfortunately, no matter how many traffic reports you tune in to, there are times when they are unavoidable. That said, if you are constantly having to drive a route that regularly faces long delays, you may start to wonder whether a slightly longer route may in fact be quicker.

Working out which route is more cost-effective can be a slow and laborious task, as you need to calculate the total time of the journey as well as how much fuel was used for each route. However, with vehicle tracking this information can be easily accessed – allowing you to see straight away, which is the best route to take.

So while vehicle tracking can’t guarantee you won’t encounter any traffic jams, it can offer other benefits that help to ensure the smooth running of your business’ operations.