FoxTrax Blog

Coming Soon: Targeted billboards. A French company called Quividi had been putting cameras in billboards that will count the number of passersby and even record their gender (with 85% accuracy). If a woman approaches, it will show a different ad than it would show to a man. They're also working on the technology to identify relative age and pick out family groups so they can use even more specific targeting. And it doesn't stop there, these billboards are capable of projecting 3D images and sending audio messages as well.

As with many new technologies, this walks the fine line between science-fiction-cool and George-Orwell-scary.

There are already laws in place that will keep billboards from blaring audible messages or projecting 3D images at drivers without certain permissions, shop windows and pedestrian billboards are under no such restrictions (yet), and I think we can expect to see higher-tech ads on sidewalks of metropolitan areas very soon. To the folks at Quividi: here's some advice to pass on to your clients who want to avoid nasty lawsuits.

1. Let's avoid personal products. No one in public wants to be the target of an ad for acne medication or tampons. Possible exceptions: fragrances and body sprays.
2. Tighten up the gender-identification before relying too heavily on it.
3. Avoid 3D images that are likely to scare children (who might then run into, say, the street). I'm looking at you, Orken man!
   

We can't be more than ten years away from seeing these in major cities, which means we can't be more than fifteen years away from being able to ignore them completely. And I can't help but see the irony of my weekend trip, which I spent on a river, in a canoe, no less than 8 miles away from a single working cell phone.

FoxTrax GPS Fleet Tracking
Clever solutions for vehicle tracking
www.FoxTraxGPS.com

Labels: business, technology

One of the things that I love about the English language is that it's a technical language, so new words can be created from old ones on an as-needed basis. For example, take "hyper" + "mile" and make it into a verb. The gerund form of it would be "hypermiling", which has recently entered the lexicon as "increasing your car's gas mileage by changing your driving habits".

Examples of hypermiling practices include accelerating and decelerating more slowly (0 to sixty in twenty seconds as opposed to, I dunno, 5) or turning your car all the way off if you're going to sit at a stoplight for more than thirty seconds, or finally cleaning all that junk out of your back seat.

The overall vibe of hypermiling websites seems to be that aggressive driving is inefficient. The farther down you push the pedal, the more gas you use. So telling people that they can save money by chilling out at the wheel is a good thing, right?

Mostly. Hypermiling is not without defect.

First, some of the things they tell you are slightly questionable. Run your engine filled up to the "low" oil mark. Fill your tires to their maximum pressure rather than their recommended pressure. These sort of things can't be good for the life of the car, and is it possible that you increase the risk of a blowout by running your tires to so high? Wouldn't that be more expensive than the gas you save?

Second, some of the hypermiling suggestions are extremely questionable. Drafting behind semi trucks, for example, is not safe, even though it allows you to go for miles and miles without actually using your accelerator. Turning the car off while coasting down hills--also dangerous (since steering wheels frequently lock if the car is turned off). In the interest of full disclosure, I'll add that most hypermiling sites don't list theses two, and the ones that do list them explain that they're less-than-ideal from a safety perspective.

Third, it's highly possible that the culture of hypermiling has only sprung up to sell MPG meters.

And finally, it's totally geared towards non-commercial driving. Okay, it's true, hypermiling.com offers training for commercial drivers (at $210 a pop), but you can't very well shut your diesel off at a stop light. The problem is that hypermiling requires a fair amount of individual effort, and it's a lot easier to justify that effort when the gas is coming from your own pocketbook. So you can train your drivers to hypermile, but will they actually do it? In my experience, it's hard enough to make your drivers drive their routes without taking creative detours, let alone micro-manage how far down they press the gas pedal.

If you're looking to save some gas money, or want another metric to out-elite your buddies who drive hybrids, then hypermile away. Just don't draft behind me or blow a tire next to me! If you have a fleet, and you want to save gas money, better to track routes using GPS.

I'm just sayin'.

FoxTrax GPS Fleet Tracking
Clever solutions for vehicle tracking
www.FoxTraxGPS.com

Labels: business, GPS, technology

I have a fond memory of a commercial that used to run on local St. Louis stations. It featured 3 people in faux gypsy garb standing an area rug that had been blue-screened in front of a helicopter shot of the arch. It was supposed to look like a flying carpet. Instead, it looked like three mid-westerners dressed as pirates on a blue-screen stage. It was poorly acted, had that grainy shot-with-a-home-VHS-camera look, yet it had a certain charm, nonetheless.

Yesterday I was pointed to a site called Spot Runner that makes pre-fabricated, customizable TV advertisements and sells them for as little as $499 apiece (they do other things as well, but this is what caught my attention). They've been fairly successful, and their success in the small business advertising realm led them to branch out into another lucrative field.

Politics.

For $500, you can make a classy political ad. Fade from a statue of Thomas Jefferson into your face while you talk to police officers (about issues, of course, not your overdue parking tickets). They have lots to choose from, even attack ads ("A vote for Jon Doe is a vote against public education"). I don't know whether to be frightened or impressed. On the one hand, it gives less-well-funded (read as "third party") candidates a slightly more level playing field, since they are able to produce quality ads on a budget. On the other hand, it does point out the vapid, generic nature of political advertising.

Then again, maybe that's a good thing.

FoxTrax GPS Fleet Tracking
Clever solutions for vehicle tracking
www.foxtrax-online.com
866-686-2780

Labels: business, current events, technology

With all of the recent entrants to the GPS vehicle tracking business, I have seen a proliferation of location reporting strategies. Some are just not worth having when you consider what you can get by using newer technology. Here is a rundown of the reporting strategies I've seen lately.

1. Limited Pull Reporting – The device only reports its location
   when asked by the customer. The customer is limited to a certain number of queries per month. Typically, these are legacy systems that report on a wireless network via SMS (text) message. The cost per report is very high because the wireless companies make a lot of money on text messaging.
   
   
   • If you want to log into a system at 5:00PM and see where your
     vehicle has been during the day this system isn't for you.
   
   
   • If you really, really need to know where the vehicle is right
     now this system is not for you. The unit might not be able to get a fix or wireless connection when you ask if it is in a metal building or parking garage. A "push" system with a good reporting strategy, discussed next, will leave a bread-crumb trail that ends at the entrance to the parking garage or other wireless dead spot. So you will be able to locate the tracker even if it can't currently get a fix.
   
   
   • If you want to calculate stop and drive times for a vehicle's
     daily route this system is not for you.
   
   
   • If you want to calculate daily mileage driven this system is
     not for you.
   
   
2. Fixed-Interval Push Reporting – The device pushes points out
   at a regular interval and the providers system stores the points for later review. Generally, the intervals are 1-minute and up. These can be good systems, but the stone-ax simple reporting strategy still falls short in some respects. The customer pays a penalty in terms of cost vs. benefit because the provider has to pay the wireless provider for transmitting tons of useless data. Consider a fixed 1-minute reporting interval. Much of the time the reports are not interesting because the tracker is sitting still. But sometimes you need more frequent reporting data. As an example, try driving around the block in 60 seconds. It's not too hard to do. Now think about the distance that would be measured from report to report. It would fall far short of the actual distance driven. A smarter reporting strategy knows when to report and when not to.


3. Flexible-Interval Push Reporting – Here, we have nirvana. The
   system reports based on multiple factors. Typically, these systems will have a minimum reporting interval -- report no more often than x seconds, a minimum reporting radius – do not report if the device hasn't moved at least x meters, and a maximum reporting interval – report at least once every x minutes. It might even report based on speed and direction changes. With these systems you get lots of interesting data and little uninteresting data, and you are not paying data transmission costs for useless, repetitive data.
   

Reporting interval isn't the only consideration in buying a tracker.
Some companies might need satellite-based systems for tracking in remote areas. Some very simple schemes might be very cost effective for other applications. Containers, for instance, can be tracked effectively with a once-daily fixed report. But as always, the motto is "Buyer beware." There are plenty of providers, particularly those who sell a year's worth of tracking in one payment, who will sell you a system that does not do what you need.

Patrick Brannan

President
FoxTrax GPS Fleet Tracking
Clever solutions for vehicle tracking
www.foxtrax-online.com
866-686-2780

Labels: business, GPS, technology

I think it’s hard to say whether the iPhone will kill traditional GPS.

First, this kind of application has been available on phones for a while. My phone has Google maps and Microsoft maps. Both work fine. Neither are anywhere near as good as my wife’s $250 Garmin Nuvi.

Second, there's the concept of “Ergonomic niches.” There is an ergonomic niche for a device with a big screen that sits in a suction-cup mount attached to the windshield and does nothing except find restaurants, find gas stations, show maps and deliver directions.

There's also the technical limitations of tracking on a phone. Battery life is one issue. And, oh, by the way, what do you do when you to make and receive calls while driving? I guess that he figures everyone will finally get on the Bluetooth bandwagon after 10 years of not doing it. But we know that won’t happen because nobody can keep track of the little headsets.

The price of dedicated GPS navigators continues to drop as well. Many people will look at the convenience and continue to decide that it is worth the price to have a reliable dedicated navigation device in the car.

So I think that there is an ergonomic niche for a navigation device that you don’t also hold up to your head and talk on. Mapping on smart-phones is great but will not replace dedicated units.

My guess is that Garmin’s stock is not dropping because of the iPhone. It’s dropping because they are in a competitive market in which the easy pickings have been taken.

Labels: business, current events, GPS, technology

Big tech news this week:

Apple has unveiled the new iPhone 3G, which will cost $199 and is poised to decimate the consumer GPS industry. We're not worried--we're more of a fleet-management service--but Garmin and TomTom are. Their responses to Apple are quite different.

Garmin has announced the Nuviphone, which will be GPS, internet and phone all in one. There's no word on pricing or carrier yet, but unless it's a popular (or open) carrier and unless it costs less than $200 (which is unlikely, given Garmin's other lines), then they're sole selling point is going to be that the Nuviphone speaks driving directions while the iPhone doesn't. Yet.

TomTom's reponse was a write an app for the iPhone that speaks driving directions.

More and more in the telecommunications industry, we're seeing formerly separated markets blur together--established players suddenly become competitors. Look at AT&T's U-Verse, poised to wreak havoc on Charter and Comcast. If you had told me that ten years ago cable companies were going to be seriously threatened by a phone company, I'd have given you a funny look.

And now we have the iPhone, an affordable mp3-player/computer/e-mail-client/GPS device with a longer battery life than the last generation and internet speed that's almost as fast as Wi-Fi, not to mention an army of brand-devotees. Retailers won't be able to keep them on the shelves. Personally, I don't think Garmin has a chance.

Of course, Google still hasn't shown their hand with Android yet, and I've heard rumors that we'll be getting some news to that effect sometime next week. Should be interesting.

Labels: business, GPS, technology

Who We Are:

FoxTrax GPS Vehicle Tracking provides affordable, real-time fleet management solutions for small to medium-sized businesses. We offer cost-effective ways for businesses to manage their employees by tracking routes, drive times and stops. With our tracking service, you can reduce maintenance and fuel costs and have a better picture of how your drivers are using your equipment.

We have trackers starting as low as $84.99 and offer service packages without contracts or hidden startup fees. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, FoxTrax operates all over the continental United States. We have the clever solution to your vehicle tracking needs!

www.foxtrax-online.com
866-686-2780

Labels: business

So postage went up by a penny earlier this month, and naturally someone had to run out to pick up new $.42 stamps. While there, a conversation ensued that went something like this:

"Would you like to buy 'forever' stamps?"

"What's a forever stamp?"

"They still work when the postage goes up."

"So do they cost more?"

"No."

"I don't get it."

Et cetera. When he got back, he asked me if I'd heard anything about them, which I had. He couldn't understand why such a thing would be available for the same price as regular stamps. Well, there are two main reasons.

First, 1 and 2 cent stamps aren't exactly profitable. They're sold because people inevitably have stamps left over from before the increase and would like to be able to use them. I would guess that 1 and 2 cent stamps are a loss (all-told) that is factored in when the decision to raise postage is initially made. Following this line of thought, it makes sense that the post office would just as soon sell nothing but forever stamps, and probably still only makes regular stamps available for collector's and philatelists.

(look it up--you'll be glad you did)

Second, the post office is not a business so much as it is a branch of the government. Sort of. It still wants to cover its expenses, but it ultimately is a service being provided to citizens and ought to reflect the will of the citizenry. So when people complain about postage increases, the forever stamp addresses that.

And as a caveat to that, there's a certain economic perspective. When you buy a stamp, what you intend to buy is a first-class stamp, but what you're really buying is $.42 cents worth of postage. So from the consumer's perspective, a stamp should be a stamp should be a stamp, whether the value of it changes or not. That's the way it is with every other good, why not this?

Have a good weekend, a good holiday.

Labels: business

So Circuit City is in trouble. The big-boxer just couldn't keep up with Wal-Mart and Best Buy and is now looking to be bought out by Blockbuster. I think there's a lesson in this for all of us.

Red logos = bad
Blue logos = good

Clearly. Radioshack is another one with a red logo, and who shops at Radioshack? I sure don't.

I am, of course, joking, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that the aesthetic of a building, even something as elementary as the overall color scheme, has a noticeable long-term affect on traffic. Could it be that simple? Wouldn't that just be a kick in the head!

I'll admit that I hardly ever go to a CC. Of course, to be fair, I choose Target over Wal-Mart any day of the week (so I guess the whole blue/red thing doesn't really hold up), and it's not like I've never shopped at a Circuit City--I'm pretty sure I bought my TV there years and years ago. But the Valley shopping center has both Best Buy and Circuit City in the same parking lot, and I go into the Best Buy every now and then, but I seldom remember that the Circuit City even exists, wedged, as it were between a Greatlands Target and a Golf Galaxy.

I wonder why that is...

Just a quick addendum. I just wrote a post about aesthetics and electronics, and I would be remiss to not at least mention Fry's. Those stores have bizarre themes, like Alice in Wonderland, or Alien Invasion. The last time I was in a Fry's, you'd walk around and see resistors, hard drives, a crashed UFO, capacitors, little green men with death rays, sound cards, etc.

Labels: business

Economists often jest about the Law of Unintended Consequences--a kissing cousin of Murphy's Law, and a concept that dates back to the Scottish Enlightenment. I only throw that last little tidbit in because I'm amused by the thought of enlightenment with kilts. I digress. It's a simple idea, if you try to do a task that produces output "A", output "B" will show up as well, and not only will it be there, but it will be something that never occurred to you when you undertook project A in the first place. Which leads me to Russian GPS.

GPS tracking is one of those businesses that actually benefits from the ills of society: car theft, lazy/fraudulent workers, etc. Much like private security, it's a measure that a person or business can take in order to protect one's own assets against, well, crime. Typically, you associate crime with a bad economy, but that's not always the case.

Take a look at Moscow. Right now, they're in a construction boom, but the supply of construction equipment can't keep up with the demand. Consequently, bulldozers and backhoes (et al) are highly valuable in Moscow and are being stolen at an alarming rate. So construction companies are starting to equip them with GPS tracking devices, so if you're in Russia and in the GPS business, this should be a good time for you. It may not last, if the production of bulldozers and excavators increases dramatically or if people decide to suddenly stop making new buildings. But here and now (and by "here and now" I really mean "over there and for the foreseeable future"), GPS is a good Muscovite industry, if only totally as an unexpected consequence of a spike in construction-related crime.

Labels: business, GPS, technology, theft

Hello, and welcome to the FoxTrax Vehicle Tracking company blog. Here you will find brief insights and anecdotes relating to vehicle tracking and fleet management.

So, I suppose a logical first step would be to say a little something about who we are and what we do. We sell GPS tracking devices. We write and run the software that shows you where your trackers are on a map. Our tracking devices ride around in your vehicles and report back to our server. You see the data on a web map. We don’t actually build or install tracking devices, we just make them work and manage the data.

We’re based in St. Louis, Missouri, but we sell to the entire continental US.

So if you’re a business-owner with commercial vehicles and are reeling from gas prices, and want a way to manage your fleet without breaking the bank, then take a look at our products.

Labels: business