Glitch shows how much US military relies on GPS

By DAN ELLIOTT (AP) – 22 hours ago

DENVER — A problem that rendered as many as 10,000 U.S. military GPS receivers useless for days is a warning to safeguard a system that enemies would love to disrupt, a defense expert says.

The Air Force has not said how many weapons, planes or other systems were affected or whether any were in use in Iraq or Afghanistan. But the problem, blamed on incompatible software, highlights the military’s reliance on the Global Positioning System and the need to protect technology that has become essential for protecting troops, tracking vehicles and targeting weapons.

"Everything that moves uses it," said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, which tracks military and homeland security news. "It is so central to the American style of war that you just couldn’t leave home without it."

(Actually I’m a great admirer of Professor Pike, but he’s just flat out wrong in those statements.  A great many military weapons systems … example our silo-based ICBM’s, make no use of GPS whatever, and a great many commercial aircraft fly without GPS also.  While I certainly agree it’s an important technology, it is hardly as ubiquitous in the commercial world as it has become in the private realm.)

The problem occurred when new software was installed in ground control systems for GPS satellites on Jan. 11, the Air Force said.

Officials said between 8,000 at 10,000 receivers could have been affected, out of more than 800,000 in use across the military.

(Quite frankly, when rolling out a major change in software to a network populated by hundreds of thousands of “uncontrolled” users, a 1% failure rate, which is what we have here, is a HUGE success.  When someone like Google, for example, changes something in their interface, do you think only about 1 % of the “uncontrolled” users out there across the web have problems?  It numbers more in the millions I would think.)

…

The Air Force said it hadn’t tested the affected receivers before installing the new software in the ground control system.

(It was not the job of the US Air Force to test the receivers.  They didn’t own them, weren’t under Air Force control in many cases and it is ALL GPS receiver’s task to follow the signal from the satellites, provided the signal is in the parameters of the ICD (Interface Control Document) which is the “contract” between the GPS Program Office and all users, world-wide.  If the author, Mr. Elliott, has his own GPS receiver, would he welcome the Air Force showing up at his door demanding he surrender his receiver so the new software change could be tested against it?  Seriously, this is an inane paragraph and accusation … the USAF nor any other world entity can test every GPS receiver in the world, even the military (foreign and domestic) owned ones.  This is the point an otherwise sensible article changes into nonsense, when a reporter assigns responsibilities to folks who don’t have that responsibility.

Seriously folks … I know the US military id the always available back-up whipping boy to blame any and all issues on …  but get real here, don’t broadcast to the world that my alma mater failed in their job when it wasn’t even their job to do so … that’s a cheap shot … or an ignorant one)

…. The Air Force said it traced the problem to the Trimble receivers’ software. Trimble said it had no problems when it tested the receivers, using Air Force specifications, before the ground-control system software was updated.

(So, now, many paragraphs down we come to the crux of the matter … a “he said”/”she said” between the USAF and Trimble, a huge, highly competent GPS industry giant who also had way less than 1% of its own products affected by this software change.  Hardly the facts that “world-wide” glitches are made from, in my view.)

Ever buy a computer that didn’t do some task properly?  Ever have  a car that wouldn’t start or an airline flight that lest 3 hours late because of maintenance issues?  Let’s put this into perspective, gentlemen, shall we.  Mr.Hasik makes much more sense in his quotes below … did anyone read them before all the ‘scare tactic” headlines and stories were already written? )

Civilian receivers use different signals and had no problems.

Defense industry consultant James Hasik said it’s not shocking some receivers weren’t tested. GPS started as a military system in the 1970s but has exploded into a huge commercial market, and that’s where most innovation takes place.

"It’s hard to track everything," said Hasik, co-author of "The Precision Revolution: GPS and the Future of Aerial Warfare." …

The rest of the article is a lot of random chat about hacking into the GPS, jamming the GPS, etc., which has nothing to do with the alleged subject, a problem the USAF caused which caused a failure in it’s own system.    In spite of Mr. Elliott’s premise that the US military relies very heavily on the GPS, he actually cotes only a couple of somewhat obscure research and development programs.  The rest of the millions upon millions of users around the globe seem to have gone on without a single hiccup.

I fail to see the relevance of the tiny “glitch”, except to point out that the GPS, like thousands of other utilities of both peace and war, have vulnerabilities, folks who seek to exploit those vulnerabilities and those who work to protect them.   But it’s hard to ascribe blame in general discussions, much more headline worthy to make accusatory statement about the “testing the USAF failed to do”.

There are a lot of very interesting and useful articles published on the GPS.  Sadly, this was not one of them.

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

Idling vehicles are even worse that idling hands, (although here are some interesting examples of what your employees are probably doing while you aren’t watching) … and in today’s world where we are “Triple Challenged” by the global recession, the high cost of fuel and the growing awareness of our need to protect our planet, idling vehicles has got to stop .. we need to do something now, today.

Unlike a lot of things we “know” we are supposed to be doing but can’t because they cost to much, or the technology isn’t there yet, GSP Fleet Tracking Systems can stop excess idling cold .. and pay for itself with reduced idling alone.

My GPS Tracking blogging colleague Rob Donat runs a great company in Arizona where he’s had astounding success in selling GPS Fleet Management via GPS into the notoriously light market of the past few years.

Here’s a great report he just published on how much money is being wasted with excess vehicle idling and how fast a business can end the problem with a great ROI.

You can (and should) read more about idling and the rest of the fascinating things Rob’s company,GPSInsight is doing here, but I’ve extracted this to show you Rob and the rest of us who know what really is going on in the fleets of America can do to put their money where their mouth is:

… The full report shows all the particulars & shows very clearly the effects of both using GPS Insight as well as managing the drivers to stop idling:

Decrease from 20% to 5% idling over 3 months

Note that this is only one of our thousand customers, and only 234 vehicles. I like the fact that GPS Insight truly is helping our customers make a big difference both in terms of saving fuel money, and the environment.

Another report shows that they have saved roughly TWO THOUSAND IDLING HOURS across their fleet of 234 vehicles by eliminating that 15% idling (based on 13,000 hours driven in the past month). With fuel costs plus wear & tear easily costing $5 per hour, they’ve seen a $10,000 PER MONTH savings, which is $42 per vehicle. We charge them $32.95.  So they make $9 per month just by reducing idling, and now they have all the other benefits of GPS Insight for free – efficient dispatch, proof of delivery, proof of driver hours worked, reduction in speeding, theft recovery, and so on.

Plus they’re not pi$$ing on the planet anymore…

Take a minute to let this sink in.  In my years of selling and servicing these systems the most common excuse I have hard time and time again is “We can’t afford it.”

Well the truth is, you can’t afford NOT to use GPS tracking equipment to mange your fleet.  It doesn’t cost money, it makes you money.  If every delivery truck, school bus, snow plow,coach or taxi you have out there in your fleet brought you in an additional $9 a month profit, what would that do to your bottom line?

And the idling issue is only the tip of the iceberg of business problems you can save with GPS Fleet Vehicle Tracking equipment.

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

Last post I detailed a very neat and compact GPS child finder (which would also work very well for an individual of any age who tends to wander.)  Today, thanks to the New York Times Gadgetwise Blog I came across this alternative system:

The idea of using an electronic device to monitor the movements of people and pets is not new. Several products exist that use GPS technology to keep an eye on kids, animals and those with some form of dementia.

Now a new company has created a monitoring device with a twist: instead of GPS, it uses the GSM cellular network to locate those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Down syndrome, or other ailments that may cause people to wander off.

EmFinders‘ (”Em” for eemergency) device, called EmSeeQ, looks like a black watch without a face. It’s placed on the user’s wrist just like a watch. (It’s unlikely that a user can remove it, as two hands are needed to do so.) So as not to agitate an individual who needs to wear one, the device remains silent and passive with no beeps or lights.

If an individual does wander off, a caretaker calls the EmFinders center. It in turn calls the 911 dispatch center, and a recording gives the operator the location of the individual. According to company head Jim Nally, by using cellphone technology, the company can pinpoint the location of someone within 10 to 20 feet, or about 1,000 feet in rural areas.

“GPS has a hard time operating in urban canyons,” Mr. Nally said, explaining why his company chose to use a mobile network for monitoring. According to a company spokeswoman, the EmSeeQ can operate on a much weaker signal than required for an actual cellphone call….

Now some may already be wondering, what the difference is and why would one be better than another?  To answer this question for yourself, you have to consider two things.

GPS and GSM (or other cellphone technology) are actually two completely different systems.  GPS works all the time, world-wide, even in the middle of the ocean or at the North or South poles.

But GPS, itself, doesn’t “track” anything, ever.  The receiver in the decide you are using reads one-way signals that come down from the GPS satellites in space and determines where it is on the surface of the earth.  To ‘track’ somehting, the person who wants to do the tracking has to get a message back from the GPS reciver to his or her own location.  To do this, any system that provides digital communication can be used.

For most of us in the developed world, thatsystem turns out to be the cellular phone system.  It covers a large portion of every developed counttry and provides relatively cheap and depndable data messages from the GPS reciver to whatever device (or web site) the ‘tracking person’ is using.

That’s the principle being used in the Amber Alert multi-use tracker I wrote about recently.

Now here is the fact that seems to get missed in a lot of literature on this subject.  Not only does GPS itself not provide any tracking service on it’s own …you do not need GPS to track any person or object if they are carrying an operating cellular phone.  (by operating, I mean turned on … no calling or any other action is required for your cell phone to be tracked)(Many folks didn’t know that, did you?)

This fact has nothing what-so-ever to do with GPS.  Whatever your cell phone is, even if it is an older model that doesn’t come equipped with GPS (that tells you where you are), whenever a cell phone turns on, it searches a certian frequency range for the closest cellulr base site and registers itself with the cellular network.

This is a ‘fact of cellular life’ which many people are unclear on.  It’s just the way the network operates.  It can only be avoided by not turning on a cell phone.  Depending on the model of cell phone and the service you are using, your phone can be located to a precision ranging from one hundred meters or so down to just a very few feet.

Federal law requires all cellular carriers to be able to do this … and this information can be accessed by a lot of people.

Law enforcement … with or without a warrant, depending on state law and circumstances, agencies with names we can’t talk about here, and commercial services that provide emergency assistance (like EmSeeQ), who have the owner of the phone’s permission.

That’s how the EmSeeQ provides a person’s location.  The device is, at it’s heart, a cell phone, with a phone number like any other cell phone number assigned.  EmSeeQ ‘owns’ the number and thus has the right to purchase the location of any of their phones, on demand, from the cell phone carrier.  No GPS is involved at all.

So which system would be the right system for you?

If you want the ability to monitor a person’s location, on demand, yourself, then you want the Amber Alert system. This system allows you, the owner of the device, to use it any time you wish.  It also allows you to monitor pretty much privately.  You don’t need to involve the 911 Emergency system, the police, or any other outside agency.  Particularly useful if you want to just make sure your child went to band practice and not the video arcade, or to reassure yourself that grandpa is still in the park on his afternoon stroll and not wandering off … things you would not want to involve 911 with.  It’s by far the most powerful system in that respect.  You could even use it to monitor your dog, or even a package you shipped to a client.

However, power always comes with responsibility.  If you are a third-party, responsible for a person’s safety but unwilling or unable to keep personal track of folks, but only to assist them in emergency situations, then you are much better served by the EmFinders device.  A prime example might be a nursing home with a hundred residents.  Trying to monitor all their movements would be a full-time job for a dedicated monitoring technician, 24/7/365.  Very, very seldom could this level of monitoring be required.  And for privacy reasons you really don’t want to monitor their every move.  You just need a way to locate people who are actually astray, and you want the emergency services folks involved from the first sign that a client might be in danger.  That makes the EmFinders system a clear choice.

So there you have it.  A nice run down to start the new year with.  Two different systems to locate an Alzheimer sufferer, a straying child, or anyone else important to you or your business.  Both intelligent, both economical and both worthy of a tip of the hat from the GPS ROI blog for seeing a real-world need and coming up with a smart, user-friendly solution to a well documented need.  Kudos.

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been actively in the GPS industry for more than 10 years now. Long before it was practical to track even large vehicles using GPS, let alone small children.

For years now, people have been asking me where they could find a simple, afforadable system to track their child with.   There have been some on the market, but mostly theyhave been too heavy, too exspensive, too limited in range or features … and most of all, just too darn hard for the average aprent to use.

Now there is a whole new supper-simple system on the market that I highly recommend

(disclosure …I report on my honest opinion.  If you check the product out and decide to buy, Imake a commisison … should be fair enough, correct?)

It’s called Amber Alert GPS and frankly, I have never before seen so many features packed into one, dirt simple, package.  Amber Alert GPS is the leader in the emerging US child location GPS technology industry. Rated a 4 out of 5 as the Editor’s Choice by gpsmagazine.com in their new “The Ultimate GPS Child Tracking Buyer’s Guide” and recently reviewed in MSNBC.com’s article “A Good Find: GPS to locate the kids”, Amber Alert GPS has created a product that gives parents peace of mind using the latest in GPS and cellular technology.

Here is how it works:

A parent’s phone call or text to a GPS unit, located on their child, will return a text within seconds to their cell phone containing the actual address and latitude and longitude coordinates of their child’s whereabouts, along with a map pinpointing the location of their child.

This innovative technology also provides:

* Maps on your Mobile Phone AND computer – When you call your GPS unit to request a location, you will receive a map URL along with the exact address right back on your mobile phone. (Note: you must have a Smart phone or an Internet data plan on your mobile phone to view the URL.)

* Safe Zone - Define an area in your neighborhood, school district or any where you choose and receive an alert when your GPS is carried outside that location.

* Web Tracking - you can go right on your desktop or laptop computer anytime to see the whereabouts of your child at any given moment!

* SOS Button – Teach your child to press the GPS SOS button when they need help or when they are in danger and you will immediately receive an alert with their location.

* Speed Alert – Receive a notification when your GPS surpasses a specific speed that YOU have set and know immediately when your child is in a car. Great for speeding teenagers!

* Bread-Crumbing – You can have the Amber Alert GPS unit send you messages on a regular time schedule, set by you, to tell you the exact whereabouts of your child from moment to moment. This will save you time of having to call the GPS unit every time you want an update (only available with “Unlimited Plan”).

* Temperature Alert – This is a completely new feature that will allow you to be notified when your child and their new GPS unit are in an environment that is too hot or too cold…i.e. in a hot car in the summertime.

* Page Command – If you misplace or lose your unit or if you can’t find your child while you are in the same store or building, simply use the page command and a unit will emit a loud noise which will help you locate your unit.

* Destination Alert – Want to know when you child has reached a destination, like school or a friend’s house, this alert will let you know.

* Low Battery Alert – Nobody wants to run out of battery power when they are tracking their child. So, now we have an alert to let you know if the unit is low on power.

* Voice Monitoring – for an additional fee, the voice monitoring will allow you to listen in to the situation your child finds him or herself in.

Currently, the Amber Alert GPS 2G units come in a very simple design, with popular color schemes. It is so small that it fits in the palm of your hand and it can fit in virtually any pocket, backpack, purse, jacket, etc. Some parents have even created their own accessories to make it “blend in” with their child’s clothing or other accessories.

What else can I say, friends?  You have asked me for help in finding something simple, safe and powerful like this for years.  I found it for you.  The ball is in your court.  Just click on the banner and your child monitor worries will be over.

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

Reston, VA — October 14, 2009 — Ekahau Inc., the leading provider of High Performance Wi-Fi-based Real Time Location Systems (RTLS), today announced that it is expanding its hardware product line with the introduction of the T301W, a wristband tag that is designed for use in applications that determine the precise location of people.

The T301W tag’s small size and comfortable fit make it ideal for use in hospitals, where knowing the real-time location of an adult patient, child or a visitor is a requirement for ensuring patient safety and satisfaction. The wristband tag also can be used in places like amusement parks, cruise ships and other hospitality venues, where there is a potential for children or adults to be separated from their group. Enterprise uses of the units include deployments in mines, where it is important to know the location of individuals in the event of an accident; and in highly-sensitive facilities, where visitor access may be restricted to specific areas.

“Ekahau is first on the market again with a wristband format Wi-Fi tag,” said Arttu Huhtiniemi, vice president of Product Management at Ekahau. “Our new, small form factor tag incorporates Ekahau’s industry leading location tracking technology, enabling accurate, real-time location tracking over the customers’ existing Wi-Fi network.” … Read the rest of the article with details of this non-GPS people tracking system.

photo credit: Marcin Wichary

I just came in the GPS tracking business too soon in life I guess.  For years I got customer queries and invitations to bid on system requirements I just couldn’t deal with using normal GPS technology.

Many TV shows will show the tracking of “secret agents” or even criminals under conditions where it just will not happen in real life.  Looks good on the big screen, though.

Here’s a well thought out system that will work, though.  Wish I had had this to sell back when I was in the business.

Million (Multi-million) dollar idea I toss out to you for free.  Put one of these bracelet’s on every school child.  Put a beacon on every school bus and in every class room/school entrance/exit.  Can you imagine the value, the safety and even the administrative hassles that will be solved?  How to pay for it?  Easy.  Let parents pay for optional beacons or base stations in their homes, neighbor’s homes, day care centers etc. and then pay for a very cheap monthly subscription so they can also track Johnnie or Joanie before and afterschool when they aren’t part of the school board’s responsibility.

Remember you read it here first.  I’m available for consults, but I only fly business class.

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

NuM8 child-locating GPS wrist watch

Remember the child-locating NuM8 digital wrist watch that debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year? It’s now available for purchase in the United Kingdom from Lok8u, the maker of the watch.  The NuM8 secures to a child’s wrist, triggering an SMS alert to a parent’s cell phone if forcibly removed or if the child moves outside of a predefined zone … read the whole Child Locator article here.

My point here is why such a device is taking so long to really make market penetration in the US?

I submit a big part of the reason is that the wireless companies still can not figure out how to seemly market, price, deliver and troubleshoot their digital data offerings. 

It takes so long to get items approved for the network, it takes so long to navigate through the labyrinth of conflicting pricing plans.

And the wireless companies are still firmly in the grip of the “voice guys” who act as if they were waiting for this foolish “data phenom” to go away and leave them to their ancient world.

Especially with the economy facing the challenges that is currently does, I say baa, humbug, you guys are in business in spite of your efforts rather than because of them. 

Make it simple, make it cheap, get a lot of customers.

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s a darn good writer and a darn interesting District Attorney candidate who are getting their heads in the game and trying to demystify the technology and prove what works/doesn’t work.

Could GPS bracelets solve our prison overcrowding problem?

Philadelphia district attorney candidate will sport a monitoring bracelet for the month

U.S. prisons have a serious overcrowding problem. It’s gotten so bad in California that a judge ordered the state to set 40,000 inmates free.  The Governator is trying to get that ruling overturned by appealing the judge’s ruling. Over on the East Coast, Philadelphia District Attorney hopeful Michael Untermeyer has a more creative solution:

Untermeyer said Thursday the city could save millions of dollars by moving nonviolent defendants out of the prison system and keeping tabs on them electronically instead.

Untermeyer says it costs $98 a day to keep someone locked up but just $8 a day to monitor them electronically.

via Philly DA hopeful dons monitoring bracelet – National Wire – fresnobee.com .

Untermeyer is totally ‘locked in’ on this issue. He’s wearing the GPS ankle bracelet for the next month and allowing voters to track his movements online. Here are the instructions. I tried to track that scoundrel down but the software at SenTrak Offender Management Solutions doesn’t seem to agree with my computer or that of my colleague…. (read the rest, recommended)

I think the two operative take away’s from this article are Untermeyer’s current figures … $90 a day saved per offender, and the fact that this is four way win situation:

Win:  The city saves a bundle

Win: The public gets better protection

Win: The police get to use their budget more effectively, catching criminals instead of watching them

Win:  And although you might not care about the rights of the offenders, think about this … every man or woman who ‘goes straight’ under this program represents an incalculable saving to society in general, the offender’s family and the offender him or herself.  Great stuff

Go Untermeyer!

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

When we mention GPS tracking most people think of three major areas:

1. Tracking commercial fleets for safety and savings
2. Tracking public transpo like buses and taxis for public convenience and compliance
3. Tracking prisoners/paroled offenders to save corrections costs and make the pubic safer.

But driving to work?  How lame is that, of course each one of us knows best about how to drive ourselves, right?

Well, perhaps not so.  Read this article and think to yourself, “How is it that even though I know I one of the world’s best drivers, I somehow know traffic conditions on streets I can’t even see”?

Talent is one thing, Reliable clairvoyance is something else yet again.

NAVTEQ Announces Use of GPS Can Reduce Emissions by 21%

Written by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Published on September 8th, 2009

Many commuters have GPS installed in their cars, or have purchased portable devices to try to get them where they’re going. A recent study by NAVTEQ, a data provider for navigation systems has demonstrated that using a GPS device can not only save drivers time spent in traffic, it can also reduce emissions from vehicles by up to 21%. … there’s a lot more in the article on the value of personal GPS tracking and the study it references.  Recommended.

Two nights ago I watched a show on the National Geographic channel about commercial logging.  Yeah, I’ll be the first to admit I watched due to the “boys with big yellow toys” syndrome … it was really interesting to watch these guys showing off the high tech world that logging has become.

But a big part of the “profit puzzle” in that business is moving the raw cut logs to the proper mill at the proper time.  Mileage and routing is a huge factor in determining if each day’s work made a profit or a loss.  (no wonderment there from the fleet managers of the world or independent owner operators reading this, now is there?)

When issues came up about discrepancies between what a certain mill was paying for mileage allowance and the mileage delivery drivers were recording, the transportation manager/truck fleet owner called the drivers over for an impromptu meeting and outlined the routs available and the routing her wanted the drivers to use … with a stick, scratching in the mud. Millions in technology for cutting, trimming and loading the logs.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars for each truck trailer rig to haul the timer, thousands of dollars per load, making the difference between profit and loss on each individual day … and these guys managed their mileage with a stick in the mud?

Why, oh why, are so many otherwise smart business people such CPS Luddites?  If you want to work your way out of this recession (and you had better work your own way out, government handouts can’t do it all), then start putting cheap, effective and PROFITABLE GPS tracking to work for you and throw away the stick you have been scratching out your business with.

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

For years now I’ve been hearing nothing but the excuse, “We Can’t Afford It” when I talk business-oriented GPS tracking to fellow entrepreneurs.  I can always come up with facts and figures that show astounding Return On Investment (ROI) right in their own market.  But I;m a little guy, and of course, I was always suspect because I was selling the product.

Well I;m not selling any longer, and this report, from the Aberdeen Group represents a huge cross-section of the world-wide market.  The price is right, the information is priceless.  You make the call.

Today’s powerful GPS-based navigation tools may eventually eliminate the age-old dilemma associated with asking a stranger for directions. With the adoption of such tools and the innovations around the uses of location information, best-in-class companies are driving up resource utilization rates and slashing operating costs to the tune of 21% providing a significant return on investment and a clear leadership position.

Are you getting the most out of your dollar?

Attend this complimentary webinar to:

  Discover how best-in-class companies are achieving measurable ROI after deploying a fleet management solution.

  Hear for the first time Senior Aberdeen Analyst Sumair Dutta discuss the findings from his latest research report, Service Workforce & Fleet Management – Driving Utilization with Location Intelligence.

  Learn how NewWave Communications identified inefficient practices, deployed a fleet management solution and anticipates saving $175,000 during the first year of deployment.

  Identify actionable take-aways that you can begin executing immediately in your business to gain a competitive edge, impact your customer’s experience and increase your bottom line.

The Return on Investment

Fleet-Specific Metrics Average Change Since Implementation of Fleet Management

• Idle Times 25%
• Fleet Utilization 32%
• Fuel Costs  -22%
• Operating Costs/Vehicle  -21% (~$740/vehicle)
• Daily Mileage  -31% (~1,678 miles)

Workforce-Specific Metrics  Average Change Since Implementation of Location Intelligence

• Workforce Productivity 23%
• Workforce Utilization 25%

Aberdeen Group, May 2009  

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.

But I am not going to let this milestone pass without note … my good friend, fellow blogger and one-time competitor (although we never met when I was actively in the business), Rob Donat’s baby, GPS Insight is five years old!

GPS Insight’s 5th birthday!

Published in August 26th, 2009

I just realized GPS Insight turned 5 years old 2 days ago (8/24/09).

In the past 4 years (2005-2008), GPS Insight’s revenue grew 7800%!

We don’t officially qualify for the Inc. 500/5000 until next year, and we are shooting for the top 100 (this is very realistic — our 2006-2009 growth in on track for 1800% growth, and that was #83 this year).

I appreciate our customers’, employees’, and partners’ help getting to this point, especially given the way the economy has been for the past several years.

It’s a wonderful job I’ve got — working with fantastic customers, developers, salespeople, tech support, and support staff, all of whom have helped us to develop the most technically advanced and most adaptable GPS tracking product on the market. …

Rob, I wish you and your staff and family a lot more success in the future.  Thanks for making the B2B segment of GPS tracking a better place and showing the entire world of US business that tough times really only equate to opportunities.  Hat’s off.

(and for those of you reading here and thinking about GPS tracking?  All signs are pointing up … in order to surf successfully, you get on the wave before it starts rushing along like a freight train … Ron can help you get into those exclusive Inc. number clubs with your own business.)

©2010 GPS Tracking ROI. All Rights Reserved.