How Trackem and Trackem Lite Work

Trackem® (designed for businesses) and Trackem Lite™ (for consumers) are finally opening up the benefits of Location Based Services to Small and Mid-Sized Business owners and families. Solutions Into Motion (SiM), the company behind the satellite and cellular tower monitoring and tracking, is leading the way in this fast-growing category for both cell phones and vehicles.

Owners and parents use the Internet to determine locations of staff, family members and business and personal vehicles.

SiM’s location based services use the Global Positioning System, which is based on a collection of 24 NavStar satellites circling the earth. The satellites continually send out their position. A land-based GPS receiver, in a cell phone or a vehicle, uses the information to triangulate its position. Trackem and Trackem Lite also use cellular tower triangulation.

After processing the information, the location is sent wirelessly to Solutions Into Motion, where it is mapped, tabled and displayed on personal web pages on the Internet.

The key benefits are increased safety, security, productivity and profitability.

Business:

•   Reduces stress and uncertainty of managing mobile employees.
•   Boosts productivity by displaying the improper use of company vehicles and staff time
•   Improves dispatching and reduces administration, such as manual travel logs
• Saves on insurance because it can monitor and locate stolen vehicles
•   Increases employee safety and complements “Work Alone” legislation
•   Lowers fuel and depreciation costs on vehicles

Family Benefits, for trusting relationships and more extreme cases:

•   Locates family member or vehicle in real time, for emergencies and protection
•   Sends email or text message alerts when geo-boundaries or travel restrictions are broken
•   Monitors vehicle speeds
•   Saves on insurance
•   Increases peace of mind and safety
•   Ends the ‘anonymity’ of teens behind the wheel who may speed or visit no-go areas, despite their best intentions, when no one is around to watch
•   Allows you to reward your teens with more freedom and mobility, after they have shown they stay within the speed limit and out of forbidden areas.
•   Brings peace of mind to family members who know they can be located quickly and precisely as well as to parents, who can rest assured that they will be notified if any of their rules are broken

How It Works:

GPS (Global Positioning System) is owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Defense and is made up of 24 satellites orbiting the earth. They are available for public use. The satellites, four of which are always above the horizon, continually broadcast their positions.

Trackem and Trackem Lite are applications within ground receivers, installed in cell phones and vehicles, that pick up the signals. It takes a minimum of three satellites to ‘triangulate” their position in latitude and longitude. (A fourth will allows the computation of altitude). The service also tracks information using cellular tower position.

The Trackem receiver, installed in the family car or company vehicle, or in a cell phone, uses a modem to send the information over the cell network to SiM computer servers. This data information is transmitted to the Trackem® servers every 2 minutes during a “network ping” and manipulated into legible maps, reports, distance and mileage logs, speed metrics, direction and location. More Trackem® Data can be requested securely via the Phone Handset or the Internet.

Users access the information through the Internet, on individualized, password -protected pages on www.trackem.ca.
Trackem, for business, automatically updates device locations every 2 minutes, allowing real-time tracking and management of fleets and staff, and even allowing owners to track stolen vehicles in motion.

Trackem Lite, for consumers, updates locations when users request the status of the device through their online account. Trackem Lite can also be programmed to send owners an email or text message when speed limits are broken or out-of-boundary areas are entered.

Solutions Into Motion:

Solutions Into Motion (SiM), a privately owned Canadian company, is a spin-off of Hamilton-based wireless distributor Primeline Connections, which was established in 1996. SiM Corp., founded by Vince Poloniato in 2004, is carving a niche in the wireless industry with unique solutions that combine GPS, cellular, vehicles and the Internet.

SiM is harnessing the technology, which first appeared in the late 1990s, and expanding Location Based Services from the realm of the military, techno-junkies and major corporations. Poloniato’s goal is to deliver simple, affordable technology to families and Small and Mid-Sized businesses. The company’s motto is: Bringing Big Business Solutions to Everyday People.

SiM, already has more than 3,500 GPS enabled cell phones tied into a wireless network. It is being used to track and connect the work forces of hundreds of Canadian companies.

Case Studies:

Here are a few examples of Trackem in action:

In one case, a transportation company was penalized with $400 of extra charges for allegedly failing to meet a crane company at an appointed drop site. The company refuted the claim, using Trackem reports to prove they were there. The crane company couldn’t match the proof and waived the charge. A week later, they, too, became a Trackem customer.

In another case, children of an Alzheimer’s patient bought a Trackem cell phone and gave it to their father. When he goes for a walk, they know where he is. When he gets lost and confused, the family uses the Internet to locate him and send assistance.

In a third case, a company still relying on manual time sheets had serious issues with Time Theft. The first week they had Trackem, they found that 6 employees in three trucks would sit in a park for 1-2 hours every day. The company estimates they will save $52,000 this year by reducing the Time Theft from these employees. Trackem also uncovered Time Theft from 15 other mobile workers.