Product

Here are some of the essential things to know about GPS Tracking.

What is troofleet?
Which carrier does troofleet get its airtime from?
Where do troofleet's web-based maps come from?
Do I have to buy/install my own hardware?
How does GPS work?
Some cell phones have GPS, why can't they be used to track vehicles?
What software is needed to use the map?
How frequently can I get reports on vehicle or asset locations?
Can I decide at anytime to do additional tracking or functions?
What kind of devices does troofleet need?
Who installs the devices?
What applications can troofleet integrate with?
How do alarms work?
What kind of reports do I have on troofleet?
What is Geofencing?
Can I add my own Points of Interest to the maps?
How long is my data archived on troofleet?
What are the benefits of using GPS to track my fleet?
What does troofleet do to ensure system uptime?

Q. What is troofleet?
A. troofleet bundles together hardware (a GPS communication terminal) plus airtime and the web-based mapping needed to track assets. It is designed as a complete turnkey solution.

Q. Which carrier does troofleet get its airtime from?
A. troofleet is provided by troo corporation, is a privately-owned firm not affiliated with any cellular carrier or satellite gateway operators. Being independent enables us to negotiate the best possible rates with carriers, thanks to the purchasing power of thousands of troofleet users.

Q. Where do troofleet's web-based maps come from?
A. Our North American maps are based on Microsoft bing, which uses the NAVTEQ map database, one of the largest and most comprehensive map sources in the world.

Q. Do I have to buy/install my own hardware?
A. The troofleet solution uses a range of high-quality devices, depending on your needs. After testing many devices, we have preselected those that perform flawlessly on our mapping platform. We rely on a professional installer network with locations all across North America. Devices are wired into the vehicle's power supply, so you can be confident that you continually receive GPS tracking data.

Q. How does GPS work?
A. Video overviews of GPS can be found on youtube. The system relies on the presence of over two dozen geosynchronous satellites, which constantly beam down their coordinates. The steps, in order of events, are as follows. A tracking device (called a GPS communication terminal) obtains these coordinates to identify its own location. At preset intervals, the terminal transmits its location over a cellular network (optionally over a satellite network), which is pulled into our system and troofleet displays them on web-based maps.

Q. Some cellphones have GPS, why can't they be used to track vehicles?
A. Vehicle-mounted devices are better than using a cellphone because:

A cellphone's GPS functionality can go offline (e.g. the batteries run out, the driver turns off the GPS component, which cannot be distinguished from a "lost signal" or the driver otherwise hinders GPS functionality). Once the batteries are dead, a cellphone won't report its position nor will it report the vehicle's position; neither one can be retrieved.
Cellphones are not always with the vehicle (i.e. When the driver exits the vehicle, taking the cellphone with them).
From a reporting perspective, cellphones are not as reliable as vehicle-mounted devices. Cellphones, due to their size, are more susceptible to signal loss than in-vehicle terminals which use external antennas. If a fleet manager is using cellphone data to do a Start-Stop report, he/she has no data to back up a driver's word when comparing the driver's time sheet if the driver insists he was at a location at a certain time.

Q. What software is needed to use the map?
A. Almost any computer that browses the web can access troofleet. Typically, over 90% of all computers that use the web have a recent enough browser and the plugins that troofleet requires.

Q. How frequently can I get reports on vehicle or asset locations?
A. There are different levels of location-based tracking & control. They can all be supplemented by real-time alerts & notifications, for cases of stolen vehicles or suspected theft:

Base monitoring (once a day)
Every 2 minutes
Every 30 seconds

Q. Can I decide at anytime to do additional tracking or functions?
A. Our on-demand services allow you to instantly track your vehicle more closely. These services include:

Location now – find out where a vehicle is regardless of its regular reporting schedule; for a sense of security and possbly vehicle retrieval

Mobile access – login to the application via a browser-based phone
Remotely disable ignition – prevent the vehicle from turning on
Stolen vehicle recovery – set the device to report its location very frequently so that responders can home in on its location

Q. What kind of devices does troofleet need?
A. We support over 30 types of GPS devices for a wide range of applications. These include: vehicle-mounted terminals, key fobs, personal bracelets as well as small Slap and Track devices (size of a USB drive). Vehicle diagnostics and telematics (controlling components such as fuel pumps) can be added with interfaces such as an OBD-II Gateway & J1708 interface.

Q. Who installs the devices?
A. We can arrange the installation of devices anywhere in North America, by technicians who are certified to perform the work in compliance with device warranty. Devices can be placed in the driver's cab or in a concealed location.

Q. What applications can troofleet integrate with?
A. The list includes: fuel cards, Human Resources systems, Supply Chain systems, Insurance systems, Asset management and Document management systems. We also have flexible back-end capabilities that enable data exchange with other third-party applications.

Q. How do alarms work?
A. Alarms are triggered by any number of preset events, according to your settings (e.g. a vehicle sensor exceeds a threshold.) You can choose to be notified of all alarms or just critical alarms, such as when an airbag is deployed or vehicle is being towed. In the event of an alarm, troofleet will emit a sound alarm and can also notify you by email as well as other instant messaging options.

Q. What kind of reports do I have on troofleet?
A. troofleet provides critical information that helps you make more effective decisions and control your costs. We provide many standard reports and a variety of customizable reports plus live data feeds that accurately track and provide full logging of all activities, including: driver behavior, customer visits, after-hours usage and maintenance needs. This gives you improved customer service and higher utilization rates while keeping tabs on vehicle operating costs.

Back to top

Q. What is Geofencing?
A. Geofencing is a term that refers to the practice of limiting mobile employees to a specific geographic location by tracking their whereabouts via GPS. Whenever a given person or a vehicle goes somewhere off limits, an alert is sent back to the person(s) at the company’s monitoring headquarters.

Q. Can I add my own Points of Interest to the maps?
A. Points of Interest, which we call Landmarks, are any physical feature that's meaningful to your organization. Our maps can show or hide landmarks as you need. They can be added manually, imported in bulk, changed (or have more meta-data added) or be exported to other formats (such as KML, used by Google Earth).

Q. How long is my data archived on troofleet?
A. Data for 6 months of trip history is viewable online.

Q. What are the benefits of using GPS to track my fleet?
A. See our Industry Solutions section for benefits relating to your business category.

Q. What does troofleet do to ensure system uptime?
A. We recognize that reliability is the key ingredient to having a GPS tracking product. We constantly monitor client connections to our system and work to ensure that our application is responsive and performs at mission-critical levels of reliability.