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GPS fleet tracking systems can do many things to your business. Rather than employing a manager to just sit in the vehicle’s passenger seat and keep an eye on the drivers and vehicles while on the road, you can keep track of your fleet from wherever you are through a GPS powered fleet-tracking software. With a GPS fleet tracking system, your businesses can determine whether the vehicles are properly operated and whether they are at their optimum condition or not. The drivers, also, are being monitored for safety purposes.

Similar to other GPS software, GPS fleet tracking systems locates vehicles, establish routes, and provide directions to any assigned destination. However, additional features allow the system to better assist your fleet with tracking vehicle conditions, which includes monitoring mileage and fuel consumption as well as identifying equipment and maintenance issues. All these are essential in reducing your operational cost.

How to Use a GPS fleet tracking system

A GPS fleet-tracking software operates through the fragment of GPS hardware that is installed inside the vehicle. The software uses the global positioning systems through satellites to keep track of drivers and vehicles in real time. The system enables users to access real-time alerts and updates using the data that are sent straight to the software operator from the vehicle.

Selecting GPS fleet-tracking software

When it comes to selecting a system that is fit for your business, you have to make sure first that it includes certain features that you need.

Almost all fleet management systems offer different standard features without any extra cost. They normally include:

• Dashboards with trending on-key measurement

• Fuel card integration

• Reliable customer support

• Navigation and communication option:

Other major features you need to look for:

User friendly— Technologies can be very complicated, especially software, it is important to select one with a simple dashboard that doesn’t require technical skills or much of a learning curve to use. Many vendors provide in-person or virtual demos, so try one first before making a commitment.

Alert systems— Notifications via text and email when something isn’t right with vehicles and drivers. Moreover, it is best to select a provider that will enable you to set alerts for certain occurrences like when the driver is engaging in unsafe driving conducts or has gone off the route.

Mobile capability—Not all available GPS fleet-tracking software have a mobile Web version or can be accessed through mobile apps. If you want easy access to the software anytime and anywhere, choose one that is cloud-based or that it has an app available for your specific device.

Good signal— It is essential for a GPS software to have a strong signal, otherwise it’s no good. Make sure that the vendor you select will continue the connectivity even outside the city, or remote places including parking garages and tunnels.

Customer support— Choose a provider that enables you talk to a real person in real-time whenever you need assistance whether it be live chat or phone. There are other types of help available including email support, help-desk ticket systems, documentation, as well as how-to videos.

Integration with third party. This feature can save you tons of time through automatic syncing of your data into payroll, accounting, time attendance, along with other associated software.

Although it is important that the software you choose fits into your allocated budget, you should not select your fleet tracking systems based only on the price.

These days, larger companies with more assets to protect cannot be satisfied with merely having a security system in place.  Their video surveillance, access control and intrusion detection setup must be top rate.  Many companies, including banks which require a high level of security, have entrusted their security to March Networks.  This is one company which offers specialized security solution packages for commercial industrial, financial, retail, bus & passenger rail, airports / seaports, education, critical infrastructure and government applications.  Among March Networks products, their financial solutions packages stand out.

What makes March Network’s Financial Solutions Superior?

March Network’s Financial Solutions package is loaded with powerful features that not only keeps the business secure, but also helps improve efficiency.  They have a complete video surveillance solution which is more than just a collection of video cameras and recording equipment, it also has advanced features which help reduce losses due to fraud and enable video based business intelligence.

There is a wide selection of video camera and recording equipment of different resolutions and features.  Their cameras and recording equipment are able to capture video in full high definition HD.  There are also options to use digital onsite video recorders, network video recorders, and cloud-based video footage storage.  There are video management software which features advanced searches, remote access, and centralized control.

Searchlight for banking is a really powerful software which showcases the financial security expertise of March Network.  This software combines video surveillance, analytics, and ATM/teller information to ferret out suspicious activities which maybe the beginnings of fraud.  The software detects cash harvesting, ATM skimming, and suspicious withdrawal patterns.  This online article on security-today.com discusses the advantages of video analytics and insight.

The software provides instantaneous alerts to anything suspicious such as loitering, while also allowing speedy searches across your organization.  This allows you to conduct speedier and less costly investigations.  And once you thwart a few fraud attempts, it will act as a powerful deterrent which will ultimately significantly decrease losses.

Then you also get the benefit of video-based business intelligence.  Video footages hide a lot of information which this software effectively mines for your use.  You can count people in queues, determine speed of service and check on room occupancy rates.  Based on the information provided you can then make procedural and / or staffing level adjustments to cope with any shortcomings you discover.  You can also check on how many people check out your promotional displays to gauge how effective they are, so you can adjust placements and content for improved effectiveness.

Through your video surveillance footages you can find out data on ATM usage – are some being used more that other units, how much time do people spend per transaction, which displays attract more attention, and how many people use information kiosks.  The insights you gather can be used to improve customer service to increase customer satisfaction.

If the hundreds of banks and credit unions which have entrusted their security to March Network’s Financial Solutions provides an indication of its performance, perhaps you need to give it a try.

Many who people still have ordinary monitor screens want to move up to ones which use touch technology but are held back by cost considerations. For these people, buying new monitors may not be the answer; they can just buy relatively inexpensive touch screen frames. Purchasing and installing touch screen frames breathe new life into old monitors, giving them the multi-touch capability of completely new and modern ones at affordable prices.

One of the most popular technologies used for touch screen frames is infrared (IR). It is popular because it is one of the most affordable technologies and it is even easy to ship. So what are IR touch screen frames, and what makes them work?

IR frames operate by using light to sense the x and y axis location of touches made on a screen. The system uses infrared light, to be more exact. The basic conversion kit contains four edges of the screen which contain infrared emitters and receivers which send out and receive light in a grid pattern. Touches on the screen surface are sensed and measured using the interruption of light beams on particular emitter and receiver pairs. IR frames are available in most sizes that fit commercially available displays from popular manufacturers. While they are relatively cheap, easy to use and maintain, are IR touch screen frames have one small downside: solid objects placed on the screen causes a blind spot.

Because these frames sense touches using light, some can be sensitive to bright environments; a few new models seem to have overcome this by making the images brighter and using high refresh rates. Organizations such as the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) may have more information on the latest features of touch screen frames.

Most often touch screen frames using IR technology are shipped in kits requiring assembly by the user. In most cases, when used in a small to medium sized display, it takes just one person to assemble and install such frames. The frame itself usually comes in four pieces. The ends of each piece contain wire connectors, and each corner is secured by a bolted bracket to keep the sides at right angles with each other. Assembly of the frame is best done on a very flat surface. IR touch screen frames will work without any glass covering on the existing monitor. However, to make bigger displays vandal proof, some sport toughened glass covers.

Once the frame is assembled, the next step is to affix it to the existing monitor. On smaller frames, strips of double-sided tape are used to stick the frames onto the monitor bezel, while ensuring the touch surfaces align with the screen of the existing monitor. A small weight is evenly applied to the frame for 24 hours, and then it is ready. Metal brackets are sometimes used on large frames.

The remaining task is to connect USB (and power cable if there is a separate one) and install the device driver. Most IR touch frames are plug & play, although some may involve simple calibration before use.

If you are still using an ordinary monitor, perhaps it is time you considered switching to touch screen using an IR frame converter kit.

For call center agents, one of the worst things they can face is an irate client.  In some cases there is little they can do to avoid having to deal with angry clients; there is always more of that when they are assigned to handle complaints hotlines.  It really takes very special skill and an absolutely calm demeanor to be able to face and sometimes even defuse such situations.  Call center industry organizations like the British Columbia Contact Center Association are always on the lookout for those exceptional types of people they can train.

Aside from complaints about products and services, one of the most common causes of client anger is having been made to wait too long to get connected to a person qualified to resolve their issues.  Some contact centers try to keep the client busy so they don’t get impatient.  They provide music over the line, or offer information about their products or services.  Sometimes they use interactive voice response (IVR) systems both to occupy the client and to gather information which would allow faster and more accurate call routing.  When there are no operators available, the contact centers offer clients a call back option.  But some clients resent IVR systems and view them as a way of dismissing them and their concerns.  [Others try and source more effective inbound call center service after they get fed up from low client satisfaction.]

A more effective solution involves the use of software called acd call center; acd being an acronym for automatic call distribution.  With automatic call distribution software in place, each call is compared to information in the database to determine whether records for the client already exist.  Available information is used to route the call to the call center agent whose skills match the client’s requirements or issue.  This is done much faster than any human can, because software makes it possible.  For more information on the advantage of using automatic call distribution software, click here.

Having an acd call center system in place gives the contact center the advantage of using algorithms based on client information, the number the client dialed, IVR configurations, whether call center agents are available, the caller’s area code, the skill of the agent, and rules governing the response as defined by their client company to quickly and accurately route calls to the right person; the call center agent and the company he represents come across as very professional.  Through the use of this system, there are very few errors, dropped calls or transfers to the wrong department.  The system can even monitor calls intentionally or accidentally dropped by a client for a call back.

Automatic call distribution services are usually provided through the cloud so there is uninterrupted real time connectivity to all agents.  This enables managers and supervisors to monitor individual and team performance.  They can also intervene whenever necessary to limit any errors they may find.  Because calls are routed much faster, clients are less likely to become impatient; this makes it just that tiny bit easier for call center agents to resolve issues.  That is but one of the benefits of efficient call routing enabled by automatic call distribution software.