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Vehicle Locators
Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) technology
has been around for about 20 years, but recently
it has become very affordable. AVL can be
used by police, truck fleets or anyone wanting
to pinpoint the location of their vehicles
on a street-level map.
AVL uses a GPS (Global Positioning System)
receiver in the vehicle to calculate the
location based on receiving a signal from
satellites in space. The GPS unit conveys
location (latitude and longitude), heading,
speed and elevation. A mobile transmitter
sends that data to a central location that
tracks the vehicles. The mobile transmitter
can use cellular or radio networks to accomplish
this.
Today, there are internet sites
which provide
AVL tracking services. Before
you choose
one, you should compare:
- the initial and monthly fee for the service
and the in-car tracking unit
- coverage area
- vehicle monitoring capabilities - in addition
to pinpointing location, some services will
alert you if your vehicle(s) exceeds limits
that you set, such as geographic boundaries
and maximum speed. Also, you may want a service
that provides monitoring of the vehicle's
operating condition (battery level, for example)
and remote assistance (such as unlocking
the doors).
- access to information - look for these features:
- password protected, internet access
- easy to read display of location information
- notification by pager, e-mail, or cell phone
if you are using a system that can alert
you when certain limits are exceeded
- historical information
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