GPS Tracking ROI

The newly constituted board of directors of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust Corporation (PSST) has voted unanimously to select Cyren Call Communications Corporation as its advisor, subject to completion of a professional services agreement between Cyren Call and the PSST.

On July 9, 2007, recognizing a short time frame before the commencement of the 700 MHz auction, the PSST made public a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the position of advisor to the PSST. Letters of intent were due to the PSST on July 20, 2007 and by the time of the RFP submission deadline of July 30, 2007, the PSST received ten responses for the role of advisor. A PSST review committee then narrowed their focus to three responses and conducted oral interviews with the candidates on August 13, 2007…  full article on how to solve the nation’s ineffective use of spectrum by carving up yet More spectrum here.

“Spectrum” is, among other things a $1.49 word for radio frequencies used in the public service … police, fire, ambulance and more mundane, but often essential services like school busses, water, sewer, electric, snow plows and other essential public services.

Because the US has always been a well-off country and because we have a penchant for political subdivisions and public services chopped up into the smallest possible fragments many times, we have been bumping up against a distinct shortage of frequencies for these essential service to use for years now.

So now, instead of solving the problem we are engaged in an effort to carve up yet another band of frequencies between the users clamoring for “more”.  How sad that the problem is not being attacked ‘at the source”.  The current approach is known in some circles as the “hoop ear rings on a hog’ approach.  No matter how much you dress up glutton, it still distinctly resembles a pig.

What’s my GPS Tracking point?  My connection to solving the communications shortage using what’s basically a non-communications technology?  Easy.  The frequency shortage/band width congestion is caused, in large part, by the way we use the existing frequencies.  In numerous surveys it’s been shown that more than 80% of the voice traffic on these frequencies is positional information and status checks … where are you and are you ok.  Also, in a survey I did for one metro police department, another huge bandwidth consumer was the constant flow of ‘time hacks” between the police in the field and the dispatcher.  This was felt necessary to make sure that a patrol officer didn’t log an event at a different time than the dispatcher’s voice recording indicated it when it happened.  100% of this communications “clutter” could be eliminated by a properly designed GPS tracking system.

So?  What’s our choice?  manage our electronic spectrum like the fools who buy Hummers and then bitch at the scarcity of gas?  or use what we have wisely and economically while getting an excellent ROI?  Seems to ignoramuses like me that the solution is clear, but sometimes I think actual logic just doesn’t apply here.

“You can observe a lot by watching”, was allegedly said by Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra … who also offers the disclaimer,  I didn’t really say everything I said”.  No matter who said it, it’s sort of an interesting truism.  I’ve been “watching” this GPS business for a lot of years now and I have observed that even though the technology itself is somewhat complex there are an awful lot of players in the game who try to make it more complicated than it really is … as least in the terms that an end user rather than a PhD needs to understand it.

I went searching a few minutes ago for a good definition of TTFF (Total Time to First Fix).  This is one of those esoteric parameters of the GPS overall system and the particular receiver being used that is ever so important to the way the system will actually serve the customer that it is very surprising to me that it isn’t prominently displayed in every GPS receiver’s operating specs.  Yet it is often hidden deep within an “acronym soup” or worse yet, not specified at all.

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After 15 years, ‘fly over country” gets some respect!

… In August 2007, a sex offender in a Southeastern state was released from prison. He was placed under mandatory community supervision supplemented with iSECUREtrac’s active GPS monitoring system which provides location data and notification of compliance violations in near real-time.

Later in the month following his release, this offender allegedly abducted a young girl from her residence. The iSECUREtrac monitoring center received a call from the offender’s probation officer requesting assistance with locating the offender. Using iSECUREtrac’s proprietary tracking software, a monitoring center representative lead the probation officer, a detective and 15 patrol cars to an area where they apprehended the offender. The victim, who was not harmed during the incident, was recovered by the team of officers. The offender was taken into custody and charges are pending. One officer stated that, “the iSECUREtrac monitoring center was a big help in catching this guy.”

Nationally, the statistics on child abductions are appalling. According to the US Department of Justice, nearly 800,000 children are reported missing every year…. Read more about how we can help 800,000 children a year here:

Yep, you’re going to get another post from me on this subject.  It’s really remarkable to me that I don’t get comments, emails and such on this subject more often … because if there is anything that sticks in my craw it’s crimes against children … and if there is any aspect of crimes against children that really makes me mad it’s the current situation today where thousands and thousands of regulatory and law enforcement leaders won’t get off their dead asses long enough to do something about it.

GPS Tracking of pretrial, work-release and paroled child crime offenders … it’s not just sex crimes we are talking about here .. has been proven not to cost but to pay.  GPS tracking these individuals saves on:

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Following the successful launch of PlatePass, an electronic toll payment service that enables renters to bypass cash toll lanes in Houston, Texas and the Northeast corridor, Hertz has expanded the program to the state of Florida’s toll roads. PlatePass provides renters a cost-effective way to save time and reduce stress on the road by allowing customers to use SunPass Only and E-Pass electronic toll-collection lanes throughout Florida. PlatePass is an automated toll payment service offered by American Traffic Solutions, Inc… read the rest of this article which is really more about toll entities with thei heads up and locked than it is about Hertz.

Ok, back in the dim and distant recess of time someone thought about building abridge or even a whole turnpike and defraying the cost/making a profit by charging users a toll for each trip. It was good business sense, and in fact our world-wide transportation industry depends aupon this business model … which long predates the automobile, by the way.

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… “GE Transportation Systems, a sector of General Electric, is one of the world’s largest transportation groups. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2007, GE Transportation Systems has more than 30 years’ experience as a supplier of integrated passenger information systems in North America. Through our relationship with GE Transportation Systems – an organization that is highly respected and uniquely capable of integrating our products with larger systems in ways that exceed our independent abilities – we are further extending our transit market reach. In this case, that includes extending into rail vehicle applications. This order for the Digital Recorders Passenger Train Information System includes the Digital Recorders Voice Announcement and Automatic Vehicle Locating systems. The order will benefit the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) heavy rail fleet. The project is already underway, and product delivery is expected to conclude in first quarter 2009,” David L. Turney, the Company’s Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, said…. read more about intelligently combining technology for the public good … and bottom line.

For years I have watched those involved in the safety of the traveling public.. NYSB, FMCSA, bus, rail, trucking and especially airline executives struggle to do the absolute minimum required ,,, when they could do so much more … sometimes even cheaper!

In particular, so much of the industry seems hung up on the idea of ancient technology records providing only time (often inaccurately) and speed.  If you read many rail or highway or aircraft accident reports (I do, you already knew I was weird, didn’t you?) yo’ll find dozens of time where uncertaties about location of the accident vehicle and inability to trace it’s last second activities distinctly hamper the all-essential need to find the cause.

Put a GPS/AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) onboard with the proper storage techniques and you not only have a better than state of the art accident/management recorder, you gain tremendous insight into your business activities as well.  Hat’s off to the MTBA, and to the rest of you, what are you afraid you’ll learn from GPS tracking?  Isn’t it hard to breath with your head so deep in that sand?

SkyWave Mobile Communications, the global leader for two-way satellite telematics, announces it has exceeded sales of 110,000 terminal units at the close of its most successful year to date, solidifying the company’s position as market leader.

Bolstered by the recent launch of the DMR-800D terminal and the SkyWave IsatM2M network service, SkyWave has shipped over 30,000 units this year alone, representing growth of 40% year-over-year. This year also marks the company’s 10th anniversary, establishing SkyWave as the only D+ network operator with over 10 years in operation… Read more about SkyWave’s 40% growth rate here:

It was nice to see this news release this morning.  For years the GPS tracking world has been handicapped by an attitude rather than hard facts.  The “word” has always been that terrestrial-based communication links, like cellular, are cheaper than satellite data service.  The facts are, when properly designed and implemented, satellite-based systems can be as cost-effective as ground-based systems.  More importantly, as you’ve read here often, there are many times when cellular just won’t do the job, even if it’s”cheap”.  If a technology doesn’t perform, it’s cost goes up asymptotically.

For some years now I’ve been frustrated by a number of satellite companies not being able to know what value they really offer, slowing market penetration and perpetuating the “satellite costs more” myth.  Skywave is unique, not for their equipment (there are a number of competitors who have used the proven INMARSAT D+ service), but for their marketing expertise.  Hat’s off!

If you think satellite always costs more than cellular, you and I should talk.