We all know that times are tough. Your drivers are wasting your money by using YOUR work vehicles for whatever THEY need. Personal errands Wholesale College Football Jerseys , the lake on the weekend, you know the story. You want to put an end to this behavior. You want your workers to show up to the job on time. You’ve heard about GPS tracking and think that it will solve your problem. In fact, you’ve heard that Google Latitude will track a GPS -enabled wireless phone for free. It’s almost too good to be true. Can you track your employees and solve your problems for free?
First, let’s consider the wireless phone (handset) itself. Google Latitude must be installed on each handset. This brings us to the first issue with free GPS tracking: Each handset must be compatible with the Google Latitude application. Generally, this means that all of your handsets will have to be fairly recent smart phones. Those five-year-old Nextel’s will have to go. You’ll probably have to sign contract for new smart phones, you’ll have to buy a data plan for each new smart phone — that’s how Latitude reports its location — and you’ll probably want to buy insurance for the new phones. The phones may only cost $99 with a contract Wholesale College Basketball Jerseys , but if you have to replace one mid-contract you’re looking at $400 to $500.
You might also want to think of the wisdom of giving your employees a tantalizing, ever-present distraction. A smart phone with a data connection is a link to the ESPN, YouTube, the Internet, and beyond. It will present temptations that are too much for some to resist.
Now let’s talk about how Google Latitude works. Google Latitude was intended for groups of friends to find each other. In particular, Google Latitude is designed to let you know of chance encounters with friends. Let’s say you live in St. Louis and are visiting New York. Unbeknownst to you Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap , one of your friends, this one from Chicago, is also visiting New York. In fact, this friend is in a restaurant just down the street. If you are both using Google Latitude, you will each receive an alert. Pretty cool!
Things aren’t all peaches and cream. If you’ve read this far you can see that Google Latitude was not designed for business tracking. The first thing that a business user needs is an accurate tracking history. Yes, Latitude can provide a history Wholesale College Jerseys , but it turns out that this history is nowhere near dense enough for many business uses. You will be lucky to get a report once per minute. And in my experience many of those reports will be cell tower locations, not the actual GPS fix. So it’s good enough to tell you that your employee was in Forest Park, but not good enough to tell you for how long or how they got there. And there’s more. Smartphone’s are notorious battery hogs. The biggest battery user is the radio. That’s talk-time to you and me. Every GPS position reported uses talk time, and battery life. So your employee had better keep a charger handy. Battery life is a problem with all handset-based tracking systems, not just Latitude. That’s why even commercial phone-tracking systems report once per minute at the most.
And here’s the real killer… the entire application requires extensive cooperation from the handset user, your employee. The user has to have an account with Google Wholesale Cheap Jerseys , has to start Latitude, and has to let you into his circle. End-user cooperation only works if the end-user has a vested interest in being tracked. This is not just a problem with Latitude. This problem affects virtually all phone-based tracking applications, even commercial systems. If the user doesn’t want to track, he just turns it off.
And what about reporting and all of those other features you expect from GPS tracking? Theoretically you could build all this yourself, but will you? Can you get a stops report from Google Latitude? Can you dispatch drivers with it? And I hope you’re tech savvy, because nobody is being paid to talk to you when you have a problem.
Last but not least Wholesale Jerseys , think a little bit about cost. Smart phone data plans start at about $29 per month with a two-year contract. High quality, 20-second tracking starts at $19.99 per month, with no contract. Yes, the device will cost you $150, but along with that you get reports, dispatching Cheap College Soccer Jerseys , tracking history, and somebody who will answer the phone when you call. Is it worth it? You make the call.
If you’re a fleet manager and are looking for top notch solutions, make sure to visit our website: Fleet Tracking
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China and Brazil have a solid foundation of cooperation in the energy sector, and they need to boost cooperation on clean energy, Chinese ambassador to Brazil Cheap College Baseball Jerseys , Li Jinzhang, said Thursday.
In addition to oil and electricity, "we need to boost cooperation on technology and investments in new, renewable energy. We put a lot of trust in this cooperation," Li told Xinhua.
While attending the South American Seminar on the Belt and Road Development and Global Energy Interconnection held here Thursday, the Chinese ambassador stressed that there are potential for Brazil-China cooperation on global energy interconnection Cheap College Hockey Jerseys , especially on clean energy.
Li highlighted that Brazil has a clean energy matrix, with a lot of natural resources which accommodate extensive exploration of hydroelectric, wind and solar power.
Talking about Brazil's role in the energy cooperation in Latin America, the Chinese ambassador said, "the Brazil-China cooperation is a strong role model for Latin America and the entire world."
Representatives in the field of renewable energy from four countries -- China, Brazil Cheap College Football Jerseys , Uruguay and Chile -- participated in the meeting.