GPS tracking systems can do wonders in improving the workplace environment. That is why company owners are quickly becoming fans of GPS tracking technology, making it part of their strategic game plans.

Managers committed to the bottom line are eager to find ways to get more productivity out of their employees. One area of wastefulness is when those employees are on the road.

It’s a fact that employees, as simple human creatures, are wasteful with their time – at least occasionally. Consider the office setting. Employees fill up empty spaces of time with unproductive activities, like personal emails, instant messaging, or using the Internet to catch up on celebrity gossip, plan a vacation or to shop.

The same is true when workers are “out in the field,” except that bosses can’t easily discover undesirable behaviors. He can’t see them working, so the boss might wonder:

• Are my top salesmen really getting to those calls as soon as they can?
• How can he run up so much mileage in a service district of that size?
• When did she find time to buy all that food that’s in the office fridge?

GPS tracking helps bosses track their employees when they are outside the office. GPS tracking can be done in one of two ways:

• Cell phone tracking
• Vehicle tracking systems

Cell phones are widely used in companies. They are often issued by and paid for by the employer so that there is a comfortable level of communication between the office, the worker and their clients or customers.

GPS navigation, including turn-by-turn directions, traffic updates and location based services (LBS) is one feature. GPS tracking is another. It gives the boss a remote look at where the employee travels. GPS tracking is the bigger debate. Most employees don’t like it because they fear the boss will single them out for wrongdoing.

All cell phones have basic GPS tracking ability. It’s required by the government after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But this tracking system is only available in emergencies.

Broader spectrum GPS tracking is an optional feature of phones. Phone carriers have integrated the technology into their handsets and they use a combination of satellite and cell tower technologies.

Cell phone tracking does have its drawbacks. GPS tracking tied to cellular systems are more susceptible to jamming or spoofing. They don’t work when the user turns off the phone. Signal is dependent on an often-spotty cell tower network and they only provide the most basic of information.

Vehicle tracking is more accurate and more reliable then cell phone tracking, because the devices are designed and engineered for that one specific purpose: GPS tracking. These systems provide much more detail about vehicle travels, they can be hidden and undetected, they provide a more detailed history, and they are much more accurate in their readings.

The LandAirSea Tracking Key Pro® is a good example of a passive vehicle tracking device, whose results are far superior to cell phone tracking. LAS’s real-time tracking equivalent is the Victoria GPS Tracking System.

Benefits of vehicle tracking systems in company vehicles include:

• Theft prevention (when real-time) and possibly lower insurance rates.
• Increased employee productivity.
• Reduced stress and tension for a boss concerned about operations costs.
• Environmentally friendly: when programs are instituted to reduce speeding, vehicle idling and unnecessary burning of fuel.

If a company vehicle is not getting good mileage, it is possible that an employee is taking that vehicle out for unauthorized or unnecessary trips. By setting up a GPS tracking system in company vehicles, one can put an end to non-business errands, extra-long lunches and breaks and exaggerated work hours.

Should Employees be Told?

Should workers be told that GPS tracking devices are at work on their company vehicles? The question is best answered on an individual basis. Courts are still debating, case by case, if secret monitoring of employees is permissible. Some would say, if they are company vehicles, a company owner has the right to track them. And while some employees are appalled at the idea, others accept GPS tracking as a good tool that helps them with many record-keeping duties, including hours logged, billing and routing.

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Tags: benefits, Cell, employee, GPS Tracking, navigation, phone, Traffic

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 2:12 pm and is filed under All Articles, GPS Fleet Tracking, GPS Tracking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.