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10/07/05
Companies use GPS-enabled cell phones to save time and
money and to increase safety.
by Jerri Stroud
(reprinted from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, OCT. 7, 2005)
Road warriors for years have used cell phones to make sales and connect to the office while on the go. Companies now are finding other uses for cell phones that are equipped with global positioning system capabilities. Companies can use GPS-equipped phones to keep tabs on employees, vehicles and other assets. The phones allow employees to accurately clock in and out from remote work sites, and they increase safety and efficiency.
Several St. Louis companies use GPS phones to track delivery fleets, repair crews and construction workers. Other options are available for GPS tracking, but cell phones can be a cost-effective tool if voice communications also are needed.
Drivers at Security Armored Car Inc. cut nearly an hour off their time on the streets after the company issued them GPS-enabled phones, said Vice President Jill Schanzle. The company, based at 1022 South Ninth Street, operates 56 trucks in Missouri and Southern Illinois. "We had looked at all kinds of different systems," Schanzle said.
The GPS-enabled phones solved several problems. On a computer screen, Security can see when one of its trucks is approaching a customer's gate, Schanzle said. The company calls ahead so security personnel can open the gate as the truck arrives, increasing safety while saving time and fuel. Schanzle said Security expects to begin using the GPS software to plot the most efficient routes, a key concern with fuel prices on the rise.
The company also can determine whether drivers are on schedule, how fast they're driving and whether they're in areas where they're supposed to be. And Security can call a driver to check if there's a problem.
Tim Gray, the owner of Gray Painting Inc., 8510 Page Avenue in Vinita Park, said GPS phones helped eliminate a weekly hassle for employees in the field and the payroll department. "We have 30 to 40 painters, and the paperwork was just crazy," Gray said. "We decided there must be a wireless way to get the painters' time" at remote work sites. There was.
Nextel put Gray in touch with ActSoft, a software vendor, which set up Gray's GPS time-reporting system late last year. Now, painters use their phones to log in when they report to a job site and log off at the end of their shifts. "We get much more real-time data," Gray said. "We can track our payroll daily."
Gray Painting also uses the GPS-equipped phones to coordinate delivery of supplies to job sites. Some painters initially resisted the system, Gray said. But most like it now, because they know their time is reported more accurately, he said. "It really has changed the way we operate in a fundamental way," Gray said. "I knew (the technology) existed. I just didn't know how simple and elegant it could be."
Nextel began putting GPS functionality in its phones in 2001, about four years before its recent merger with Sprint. Other cell phone companies are starting to offer location-based services as manufacturers add GPS functionality to phones along with cameras, music and video players. Some provide GPS-assisted services, which rely on relating a user's position to cell phone towers rather than on GPS technology in the phone.
So far, commercial uses for GPS phones are outpacing consumer uses, largely because Nextel traditionally has focused on business customers. But cell phone companies expect consumers to buy into the concept, too, as more applications are developed and as the cost of phones and mapping services drops.
Sprint Nextel declined to say how much revenue it derives from location-based services, many of which are subscription-based services from third-party vendors. But Sprint Vision, the company's data service, accounts for less than 10 percent of the average revenue per customer.
A recent study by market-research firm TNS found that 40 percent of consumers rated the inclusion of GPS on cell phones among the features they desired most. It ranked behind long battery life, high-resolution cameras and popular software programs.
"All of these new applications seem to be only limited by the imaginations of people," said Mary Folz, director of location and mobility services for Sprint Nextel. "We're still learning how to build market awareness and how to show people how to use the services."
Location-based services are in their infancy, said David Chamberlain, senior analyst for wireless at In-Stat, a research firm in Scottsdale, Ariz. Some services, such as turn-by-turn directions for pedestrians and drivers, don't work smoothly enough for most consumers -- especially if someone makes a wrong turn, he said. Other applications cost more than users are willing to pay, Chamberlain said. "There's quite a balance here that people are trying to figure out."
Nextel is in a "really good position" to profit from location-based services, because more of its phones have GPS capability than competitors' models, he said. "They've really set themselves apart. Other cell carriers have dragged their feet."
Most of the applications for GPS technology are coming from small startups rather than the cell phone carriers. For example:
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Agilis Systems of Creve Coeur develops a variety of business applications for tracking mobile workers, optimizing their routes and notifying customers that a service truck is on the way to their home or business, using GPS-enabled phones and stand-alone GPS devices. |
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Trimble Outdoors has developed applications for trip planning and navigation used for recreation activities, such as hiking, boating, hunting, skiing and other off-road activities. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company also offers services used by contractors and fleet managers. Customers can use Trimble's Web site to research trips and download maps in advance. The GPS feature on their phones lets them track their progress, even if the phone is out of cell-tower range. |
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Geosnapper is among several services developed by uLocate of Framingham, Mass. The service stamps GPS coordinates on digital photos taken with camera phones. Users can share photos with geo-tags at the Geosnapper Web site, www.geosnapper.com. |
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Intransix, based in Mountain View, Calif., has developed several programs for monitoring and analyzing workouts that include running, walking, biking and other outdoor activities. It measures distance, speed, time and calories burned. The service also can produce a route map. |
Joe Averkamp, a senior director of business development at Sprint Nextel, said the company expects to introduce more services as developers bring them out. "There are so many applications that you can exploit beyond the ones we've launched."
Reprinted for web use with permission from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
© 2005 all rights reserved.
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