The vehicle tracking industry has come a long way. Rordon Cowley, managing director at Digicell (Digit Vehicle Tracking) tells us more.
Wisening up “In 2000, Joe Soap didn’t understand a thing about vehicle tracking. People used to believe a tracking device was the size of a R1 coin that you could stick under a car and then track it from an LED display on a wrist watch. Since then, the market has become extremely intelligent and anyone in this space who tries to mislead won’t succeed. Clients do their own research and discover that certain things are impossible,” Cowley says. Cowley states that, while many people are impressed by cloud technology, the location of tracking data is not particularly important. “What is important is operator accessibility. It is important for fleet managers to have full control-room software, with total control over their application.” Apart from vehicle tracking, the company is able to track portable products, cargo, and containers using GSM technology. Keeping it local The company’s Digit product is locally manufactured, designed, developed, produced, maintained, distributed, and supported. Apart from benefiting local businesses, this allows the company to react quickly to new trends and the ever-changing modus operandi of criminals. “A big problem at the moment is the use of cell phone signal jammers, which are becoming cheaper and more readily available. We have implemented solutions to protect our clients against this.“By producing locally we are able to keep a very close eye on quality. We are not selling the lowest-priced product. While it is very competitively priced, what you receive is a very high-end product as well as personalised service. Each distributor has a certain customer base and they communicate on a personal level. Each customer can talk to his/her agent. They are not phoning an 086 ‘we-don’t-care’ control room.”
Cowley says customer needs have also changed. “The reason people want to track vehicles is not just to know that they have not been stolen, they want to know how the vehicle has been driven and where it is on a route. The core function of telemetry tracking is to know what is going on with a vehicle. Fuel level monitoring and video surveillance add evidence to questionable events.” He says vehicle tracking has created a habit of enquiry. “People want to know about driver behaviour and vehicle whereabouts. In my view, the ultimate way to do this is through live tracking with parallel video surveillance. Many people think that the one can replace the other, but that is not the case; information from the tracking system tells you which portion of time to look at in the video footage.” While cross-border vehicle tracking is challenged by the high cost of roaming data, he remains optimistic. “The pricing issue will take care of itself in time. As the cellular networks compete for business, pricing will become more aggressive. It is highly unlikely that a single cellular provider will create a monopoly roaming service as the price is simply too high.” Trending tech He believes that the development of the vehicle tracking industry is trend-based. The company receives feedback from its customer base, installers and distributors. “As soon as the feedback comes in, a team of engineers starts implementing changes. GSM technology is also constantly evolving, thanks to smart mobile devices. “This means that more advantages are being delivered to clients. More features are being added while products get smaller, more rugged, and are better designed.” According to Cowley, technology advancement in the industry is driven by the need for more information. While the company has a web-based app to monitor vehicles on mobile devices, he believes that serious fleet managers use a computer, desk and chair. Mobile tracking, in his view, is merely a complementary method and convenient means for people to instantaneously check the location of a vehicle.
