Map Technology Not Just For Smartphones

Mapping technology has evolved leaps and bounds over the past few years from dots on a map to powerful data sources. While GPS-enabled fleet management tools are readily available to users, the level of sophistication is a personal choice.  

Smartphone technology has dictated where the future of fleet management is traveling. No longer do fleets have to look at their vehicles as merely blips on a map to track their whereabouts. Modern GPS mapping can provide a visual overview of metrics such as idle time, after-hours use, safety violations and overall driver and vehicle history. Using advanced technology, mapping can provide fleet managers with impressive visibility of their business through colorful map views and live traffic updates for optimal routing.

The benefits of next-level mapping are available to most smartphone users in the consumer space on a daily basis. It would seem likely then that businesses in the fleet management space would bring that technology to their day-to-day operations. However, a new study by the Aberdeen Group notes the following trends:

• 47% of companies track the whereabouts of their service vehicles with the help of GPS technology.
• 19% of companies actively track resource locations.
• On average, companies track the locations of approximately 44% of their field workers, 47% of their service vehicles, and 20% of their service parts.
• 75% of companies of responding companies said their business would benefit from GPS tracking technology.

Source: 2012 Trends in Customer Service Report, Aberdeen Group

Google Mapping Google is on the forefront of mapping technology with advanced abilities such as Street View and search capability for user-created landmarks. Street View provides panoramic views from positions along every street across the country, allowing fleet managers to zoom in on a particular street or job-site for added detail and perspective. Satellite View provides high-resolution imagery about a location, including a clear view of terrain, and building size. Managers can also create new landmarks or geo-fences directly from the map to identify and gain more information about a particular address.

These added map enhancements provide fleet managers with tools to have better control of their businesses. Wonder where your vehicles are? Consult the map and pinpoint the exact road, terrain and traffic light that your drivers just passed. Curious about weather conditions along a location? Zoom into Street View to gauge the terrain and the makeup of a particular road.
In addition, the latest fleet management software dashboards let users toggle between single and multiple map views, expand/collapse maps and provide drag-and-drop functionality into individual browser tabs.

This added functionality makes the management part of the job easier and eliminates wasted time trying to chase down drivers and vehicles. Advanced mapping helps the average consumer get to destinations faster on a daily basis, now it can help companies gain faster job management time and boosted efficiency.