The GPS Tracking Key—Not Just Another Gadget
GPS tracking devices. They’re becoming as commonplace in our surveillance society as the mobile phone and almost as multi-functional. And probably the most popular and most affordable spinoff of satellite technology is the GPS Tracking Key.
For newcomers to this science fictional phenomenon, GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It is a satellite-based navigation system comprised of 24 satellites that have been positioned in orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. The GPS Tracking Key is a compact unit that runs on two AAA batteries and is used primarily to track the whereabouts of vehicles.
“The GPS Tracking Key Saves The Day Once Again!”
This headline has never graced the front page of any local newspaper, but there are many accountings of wrongs set right through basic use of this small, unobtrusive gadget.
One recurring article in American newspapers is The Teenage Car Crash Story in all of its horrific variations. The installation of the Tracking Key in the vehicle of a teenage driver tells parents where their teen has driven, how fast he drove and where and for how long he stopped. By making teenagers accountable for their driving habits and whereabouts, parents have generally found that they were able to correct problems that might otherwise have lead to serious, even fatal accidents, especially during that first critical year of driving.
Recent case in point: A couple in the town of Theodore, Alabama, had the Tracking Key covertly installed in the truck driven by their 16 year-old son. For an entire weekend, they were able to monitor his activities which lead to the discovery of what had apparently been a favorite partying spot for some of the area’s teens. One can only speculate as to what might have happened if that discovery had not been made!
Violent crime is an all too familiar blemish on America’s urban and rural complexion. Throughout the country, there are documented cases in which the Tracking Key successfully aided police officers in their criminal investigations. One involved a series of convenience store hold-ups by an armed robber in California. By using the Tracking Key as a supplemental monitoring tool, investigators were able to place the suspect in the vicinity of one of the crimes, providing a crucial piece of evidence that lead to the completion of the puzzle and ultimately a conviction. In New York, the “accidental” death of a 12 year-old girl was discovered to be no accident at all thanks, in part, to a “testimony” provided by the Tracking Key. On that fateful night when the suspect set out to drive his young victim home from a babysitting job, the Tracking Key revealed an unexpected detour to an abandoned house. This contradicted the suspect’s story which resulted in an indictment from a grand jury. He is currently awaiting trial.
GPS takes a hike. Vacations build memorable moments and memorable moments need to be preserved. While many sophisticated GPS navigation devices are being manufactured to tempt the hiker, the fisherman and the whitewater rafter, The Tracking Key is possibly the simplest, most convenient unit to transport if reliving the good times is what you’re about. Last year, Steve Moehling, vice-president of LandAirSea Systems canoed with his family down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. “We would stop,” he said, “at different places along the river, take in the scenery, check out the wildlife. It was so spectacular. Even the pictures we took didn’t do it justice.” By taking the Tracking Key along in his backpack, Steve is now able to re-visit these spectacular spots whenever he needs to escape from his daily routine. “With Google Earth’s® 3-D elevations, I can go back to every place along the river where we stopped and camped. The technology makes it so real—you can almost reach out and touch everything–like you’re actually there!”
The use of GPS technology pays off at the pump. A few years ago, a self made entrepreneur named Tom started a successful commercial landscaping business employing ten trucks. Each truck holds expensive landscaping equipment and carries one driver plus two or three other workers. On an average, each truck travels approximately 150 miles per day at 15 miles per gallon. At a cost of about $4.00 per gallon for gas, he was spending a total of $400.00 per day to fuel his landscaping vehicles! Tired of being financially ravaged by unnecessary mileage and wasted fuel, Tom sought a way to make a more cost effective use of his vehicles. By installing the Tracking Key in each of his ten landscaping trucks, he was able to detect their routes and locations and observe his employees’ driving habits and productivity rate. The result was a savings of at least $40.00 per day for fuel—a total of more than $9,600.00 per year, per vehicle—a significant return on the initial cost of his investment.
GPS tracking bolsters employee productivity. Similarly, members of a rapidly growing family owned IT services company found employee and vehicle tracking decidedly helpful in increasing productivity and even generating happier workers. The Tracking Key, installed in the vehicles of sales and service representatives, accurately determined the number of stops that each person made and the amount of time spent at each jobsite. “We made our people aware of what we were doing and that this was not a means of spying on them, but rather a way to help them better utilize their time, “ said Lauren, one of the company’s owner-managers. Being able to monitor all stops and routes, also enabled management to identify and address problems, such as why one service call took 45 minutes while another, nearly identical call took two hours. Lauren went on to explain that, “By working with our people, we were able to correct a number of problems, some of which were simply judgment errors. Better budgeting of time and resources, generally means an overall better job performance.” She added that employee efforts were rewarded in terms of bonuses and salary increases. Use of the Tracking Key with the knowledge and consent of their sales and support staff resulted in what she called “a win-win situation for everyone.”
New Technologies, New Risks
Widespread use of GPS surveillance technology has, over the years, sparked debates about the controversial issue of privacy and Fourth Amendment rights.
Do law enforcement officers have a right to trail suspects with the aid of GPS technology? Likewise, do parents have a right to monitor their kids’ comings and goings in the same fashion? All technology of this type raises moral and ethical questions that individuals and society as a whole must, at some point, address. Moving forward, we will be seeing more and more products and systems that are GPS enabled.
GPS tracking devices boast a multitude of uses. The majority of them are greatly beneficial.
For more information about the Tracking Key and other GPS systems, visit www.landairsea.com
Tags: Fleet Tracking, GPS Tracking, Teen Driving, Vehicle Tracking
Related posts:
- GPS Tracking and its Growing Applications With their special features and reasonable prices, GPS tracking systems...
- GPS Tracking When the United States and Russia were tangled in a...
- UK Company Claims $95,000/Year Savings with GPS Tracking When a person is assigned to oversee another, a certain...
- What Kind of Information Can You Get From a GPS Tracking Device? A Global Positioning System (GPS tracking system) is one of...
