Fleets looking to monitor vehicle utilisation, speed, location history, and capture critical events are looking to adopt vehicle tracking devices and critical event video cameras. The market is full of options from various vendors, but there are a few key hardware and solution features to consider before implementing.
An important consideration Fleet Managers will need to make in the near future is the type of mobile broadband chipsets in the device. Modems equipped with the 3rd Generation (3G) chipsets will be obsolete in the coming years. This is because carriers like Telstra and Optus have decided to sunset the 3G network to free up bandwidth to launch 5G, the latest network announced for major mobile carriers.
Transportation and logistics companies that are looking to adopt telematics technology in the near future should make certain that they are receiving 4G LTE capable equipment. Many fleet management software vendors are still distributing 3G equipment with plans to upsell customers to 4G when 3G shuts down, with little to no advanced warning. Avoid the headache and massive expense of having to phase in 4G LTE equipment and phase out 3G equipment when 3G is inevitably shut off. Telstra has stated that they intend on shutting down 3G towers by 2020, but as we saw with 2G they provided at least 2 years notice.
Logistics and transportation companies need to understand the key differences in the camera options that are currently on the market today. The largest differentiating factor when looking at critical event video solutions for your fleet is Cloud vs SD storage.
With Cloud technology back-office teams can receive critical event video evidence through the cellular network, delivered directly from the truck without having to remove a memory card. This means that trucks can be anywhere, get into an incident, and an admin can review the footage and communicate with the driver in near real time.
However, SD-card equipped cameras will need to wait for the vehicle to return to the yard in order to recover the SD-card and review the video evidence of the critical event.
Another differentiating factor is service cost. Transferring large video files using cellular data on a Cloud based camera is understandably more expensive. Cloud cameras are often associated with hefty service cost fees, however even a basic data plan will provide you with enough data to transfer 10-15 critical events per vehicle monthly. SD card cameras typically have no service cost fee, since the data has to be manually retrieved. The hardware is one time purchase fee for both solutions.
The ultimate decision fleet managers will need to make is how soon do they need to see the video evidence of the critical event? If your company runs local and your trucks are back at the yard each day the SD card camera solution may fit your needs. However, if you manage a fleet with trip schedules that keep your trucks on the road for extended amounts of time, the Cloud based camera solution may be the best fit for your company.
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