GPS is ready for business use
Tim Landgrave
Published: 18 Mar 2003 13:11 GMT
Guaranteeing the accuracy of the GPS signals lifted the cloud of uncertainty over the viability of commercial applications based on GPS technology. The first mainstream commercial use of the technology has been in the trucking industry. Thousands of trucks carry billions of dollars' worth of inventory on the nation's highways every day. With a GPS receiver installed, a truck can collect its location information and then retransmit the information to a central location using an integrated cellular telephone. As the cost and size of the receivers continue to drop, they have become more viable for smaller trucking operations.
I recently worked with a company that had 80 trucks handling local deliveries from a distributed warehouse system across the state in which the company was located. By placing tracking devices with integrated GPS capability inside each truck, the company realised a six-month payback on the technology. The GPS devices allowed it to analyse and optimise delivery routes, resulting in a saving of over 100 labour hours per week. And it was able to dramatically reduce its insurance rates by demonstrating the ability to track the speed and location of every truck. The insurance company recognised that its risks of accidents and theft were reduced significantly because drivers knew their speeds were being recorded and that truck locations were available to the company at all times.
Applications for GPS technology aren't limited to the transportation industry. Many new cell phones in the US ship with GPS locators as part of the new e911 initiative. (Such phones are expected in Europe, although there is arguably less need for them here, since the GSM mobile network gives good location information. Other integrated-GSM devices in the pipeline include a GSM-enabled Palm - Ed)
Innovative companies are using these capabilities to provide "service locator" products. For example, you can navigate to a site advertising a movie and then click Show Me The Nearest Cinema. The phone will send up its GPS calculated coordinates, and the site can return a map showing the closest cinema. Almost every company can find a use for location services whether for employees, customers, or hard assets.
The big issue: Privacy
Businesses have always had to deal with the issue of personal use of business assets -- first the telephone, then the copier, and then the PC. Now it's the leased automobile, the company van, or even the company-paid cell phone. Does a company have the right to track its employee's location during business hours if the employee is using a company-owned cell phone? A court in Virginia has already decided that a company providing commercial services must provide notification before using GPS services. In one case, a rental car company installed GPS devices in its cars. When a renter returned a car, he saw an "excessive speeding" charge on his bill. The company had used the GPS device to track the renter's driving speed. The charge was thrown out in court because the company had failed to reasonably notify renters that they were being tracked and could face additional charges for misuse of the vehicle.
Even though industry needs to work through these privacy issues, GPS technology for business applications is ready for prime time. You should have someone in your organisation looking into potential uses of GPS technology to reduce costs or add customer services. The cost of receivers and the availability of software and utilities to process the GPS information have reached a price point that makes it very affordable for widespread deployment.
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