The Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When
Choosing a Mobile GPS Solution

An effectively implemented GPS solution can bring a wealth of benefits to your enterprise. But all the benefits of using GPS can be jeopardized if you make even one wrong turn while navigating the process of selecting the right GPS solution for you needs. So here are the 10 mistakes to avoid when selecting a GPS solution:

Mistake #1 - Limiting your platform options – The GPS hardware choice you make will determine what your overall options for GPS will be down the line. A single-purpose “Black Box” GPS solution may at first seem to fit your needs, but for the life of the device it will only do one thing, collect and send GPS points. While there is no doubt that this a very useful thing, it also means that you won’t be able to take advantage of all the great things GPS is doing to improve the operations of other enterprises. On the other end of the scale, you need to consider if a GPS enabled cellular phone is the best solution. It has a very limited user interface for enterprise applications, many features don’t work if you’re in a cellular dead spot and you’ll rack up ongoing monthly GPS and data service charges in addition to airtime. We’ve seen that a mobile computer (handheld, tablet, laptop, etc…) with GPS is often the best choice in terms of leveraging a single mobile hardware investment that gives you the flexibility to get the most out of GPS.

Mistake #2 - Limiting your use of GPS to a single application in the field – This goes hand in hard with the first mistake. You can chose an open platform, but then fail to exploit the benefits of GPS by only using it for one thing. You're doing your business a disservice if you just use GPS for real-time tracking. You can also use GPS to monitor field worker productivity and efficiency, navigate, collect customer and asset location information, validate transactions and inspections…you can even use it as a time clock.   

Mistake #3 - Not fully exploiting the GPS data you collect on an enterprise-wide basis – There is a common misconception that Improving dispatch operations is the only real use for GPS in an enterprise. The reality is that there are many benefits enterprises can gain from GPS and most of them don’t have anything to do with real-time vehicle tracking. GPS can help you monitor on-time performance, identify safety violations, analyze stop times for better operational planning, gather accurate locations for all your customers, look for inefficient routing, add “location stamps”  to transactions and inspections, manage maintenance schedules, tie into accounting systems to provide mileage and time clock functions and more. I’m sure you can identify additional areas where location would help you improve your specific operations.

Mistake #4 - Not fully understanding the ROI - GPS delivers a very nice return on investment when you just look at fuel and labor savings, but that’s where the ROI begins, not ends. GPS can help you increase fleet safety, reduce accidents, improve on-time performance, add more stops per day, reduce maintenance costs, cut insurance premiums, fine-tune your routing and retain customers though better service. There’s even some evidence to suggest that GPS route analysis can reduce workers' compensation claims. And if you are deploying a mobile automation solution, GPS can be integrated with your core solution, increasing the overall ROI on your investment in mobile computing equipment. All of these improvements add to your bottom line. There are also returns that are hard to quantify, such as a customer that recently used GPS vehicle history tracking data to avoid a lawsuit by proving none of its trucks were in the area of the alleged incident.  

Mistake #5 - Thinking GPS is easy – The fact that hikers use cheap GPS units to find their way through the woods and many cars now come equipped with GPS navigation systems has led to the erroneous idea that “GPS is easy.” GPS really is “rocket science” and trust me that it wasn’t “easy” for the companies that developed the hiker’s GPS or the in-dash navigation system in the new Lexus. And in these examples we are talking about single-purpose systems that rely on a number of advantages that are not available to the enterprise user. Neither of these systems requires integration with business processes and have either utter simplicity (the handheld hiker GPS units) or unlimited power and peripheral hardware (the in-dash navigation systems) on their side. Mobile GPS solutions face challenges that can include battery power management, interference from multiple radios (wide area, local area, Bluetooth), integration with field automation software and other issues that make it vital that your GPS provider understands all the potential pitfalls and has the proven experience and know-how to make your solution a success.

Mistake #6 - Getting too focused on the technology – It’s important to resist the temptation of getting too focused on what GPS does instead of what it can do for you. I may not be a particularly neutral observer, but GPS has a high “coolness” factor. It’s easy to get mesmerized by the mechanics of the satellite system, the various protocols and hardware form factors. Instead, you should seek to understand the capabilities of GPS and then examine how the technology can help you improve your field operations. You might end up with hardware that isn’t the “coolest,” but you will be able to implement a GPS solution that delivers wide-ranging and measurable benefits to your organization.

Mistake #7 - Linking GPS and wireless technologies – It’s a myth that wireless data and GPS are a necessary combination.  In some cases, such as real-time vehicle tracking, wide area wireless data transmission is needed. In most other cases, you won’t require the added expense of accessing GPS data in real time. For example, a consumer goods company may want to monitor the activity of drivers following static delivery routes. The routes traditionally don’t change and it is extremely rare to have to reroute a truck for an emergency delivery. This company knows they don't need real time data, but they also know GPS can help them improve driver productivity, save fuel, improve their routes, reduce accidents, manage customer location information and even help navigate their new drivers along their routes. All the data needed to do this can be “batch processed” at the end of the day, without the complexity or expense of wireless data. (To be completely honest, 802.11 wireless technology is often the best way to transmit GPS data at the end of the day when the vehicle is back in the depot – even better is that it doesn’t rack up airtime charges for every byte sent.)

Mistake #8 - Thinking GPS is not ready for business use – GPS may be the hot "new" thing on the block, but it actually predates the Internet as a consumer technology. GPS is a technology that has been proven in life and death situations in the military and commercial navigation. Don't let hikers using cheap GPS, or the talk of using it to track where your dog roams make you think GPS is a toy. It is a battle-proven technology that can help you improve your field operations today.

Mistake #9 - Not integrating GPS with field force automation applications – In the first wave of GPS for enterprises, it was a standalone solution that did one thing – real-time vehicle tracking – and did it well. Today, you will get the most value from your mobile applications if you approach GPS as an intrinsic part of your overall solution. Think of your solution as providing your field workers with a single device and user interface that manages the worker's assignments, verifies where transactions were completed, navigates lost drivers and tracks vehicle travel for greater safety and efficiency. That’s how integrating GPS can significantly increase the value and capabilities of your mobile field application.

Mistake #10 - Assuming GPS can't help your business - If you think GPS is for the “other guy,” you’re right. Unfortunately, that “other guy” is your competitor. The truth is, if you have workers in the field, chances are that GPS can help you improve your productivity and cut costs. With average field worker productivity said to hover around 50%, GPS can help you extend your control over field operations in a way that will make a real contribution to improving your bottom line. 

Knowing the mistakes to avoid will make the process of selecting and deploying your GPS solution much smoother – and make the solution itself a much stronger one. Rather than ending up with mixed results or disappointment, you’ll succeed with a GPS solution that delivers process improvements in the field and financial returns throughout your organization.

Mike Forbes
LinksPoint, Vice President
Marketing & Product Development
 

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