Using GPS to Track Staff Travels Pays for Itself in the First Three Months

Want to keep track of your installation staff? Want to make sure your sales people are where they say they are? If so, then maybe Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is exactly what your company needs. Over the last several years there has been significant interest in how the security alarm industry can benefit by offering customers new security and productivity solutions based on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.

Security companies face the same business opportunities and challenges as other businesses: they rely on workers in the field to make sales calls, install equipment and visit customers for service appointments. Often these workers are paid by the hour, and the efficiency and quality of services that they provide directly impacts the bottom line.

Utilizing a mobile monitoring system to manage the activities of employees has proven to significantly increase the productivity of workers in the field. With a mobile monitoring system, a manager can review the location and driving patterns of employees, including the ability to review the location and duration of stops during a day. In some cases, systems provide the ability to actively track a vehicle in real-time, if necessary, and some systems can also alert managers of situations where a driver is regularly speeding or driving to unauthorized areas. In other situations, managers can use the system to find the closest workers to a customer site, and route the appropriate personnel as required.

For installation staff, it is often important to know how long an installer spent at a job site, and routine examination of this data can help to improve service call times and increase the number of installations that can be completed in a day. Also, mobile monitoring systems are useful in proving to customers that an installer was on site for the time they charged for — a frequent complaint from many customers who are billed by the hour.

In many cases, the security of the vehicle and its contents are also a concern. Thieves will target vehicles that appear to contain high valued goods, and a mobile monitoring system can be used to detect unauthorized entry to a vehicle, as well as indicate if a vehicle has been unexpectedly moved from its location. One of the key benefits of utilizing GPS is the level of actionable data that becomes available. Recently, a security company in Alberta installed several GPS units into their installation vans and within a week discovered that one technician was taking long lunches at home every day when he was complaining of being overworked, and billing for overtime. The company was able to take corrective measures with the individual, resulting in an overall increase in productivity and a net savings on overtime.

A similar situation occurred with a leading alarm monitoring company in the southern United States. After installing GPS beacons into the sales vehicles, management found that one of the outside sales staff was not visiting customers during a road trip. After working through the situation with the individual, the company is now happy to report that his productivity has increased significantly. In fact, the company now has GPS beacons installed in every installation and sales vehicle, and this potentially negative situation has turned into a positive one, with an increase in performance across the board for all field staff.

In another example, a security company on the East Coast informed staff that a GPS system would be installed in their vehicles within the coming weeks, and this announcement alone prompted the resignation of an installer who had not been pulling his weight. Beyond the obvious benefit of weeding out an unproductive staff member, a by-product of this situation was an overall more productive team.

These are just several examples of many; with all of them illustrating the significant impact GPS technology can have on a security company’s bottom line. Often, security company managers dismiss the use of GPS within their own organizations as a tool for larger fleet companies, but the reality is that these benefits are ofparticular importance for companies that have a small team. It is easy to see how in an organization with just three installers, with one of them being unproductive, can account for a productivity loss of up to 33 per cent. Conversely, by adding just one more installation per worker per week, the increased revenue and productivity typically pays for the GPS service within the first month.

Implementing a GPS solution in your organization can yield many benefits, and there are several approaches that can minimize the negative implications and increase buy-in with staff. First, it is generally a good idea to inform staff that the units will be installed, along with an explanation of why and how the data will be used. Typically, happy employees with nothing to hide do not have an issue with monitoring their performance; actually, they often embrace the technology as a way to set themselves apart from less productive workers. In many cases employees who do not wish to “rat out” a fellow worker rely on the GPS system to expose the bad apples. Another approach is to offer incentives based on the productivity of workers. Several companies are working on changing the hourly-wage model for installation teams to provide methods of increasing productivity without sacrificing quality through the use of GPS.

Not only can using GPS within an organization improve productivity and customer service, but it is also a great way to see the benefits first hand and learn more about the technology prior to offering these services to their own customer base. Using GPS also presents the opportunity to do what many other users of the technology are doing by rethinking old business models and introducing new, revenue-generating programs and services that until now were difficult to measure and manage.

Rob Goehring is the vice-president of product management for Guardian Mobile Monitoring Systems (www.guardianmms.com), a provider of GPS solutions for the security alarm industry.