Cover Your Assets And Track Them Too

Although the cost can be a bit prohibitive, a derivative of GPS known as AGPS (Assisted GPS or Advanced GPS) may be a good fit for loss-prevention of extremely high-value items. AGPS devices can continue tracking, even when there is no clear line of sight to the open sky. These units can be hidden inside equipment or cases and still track in realtime, providing customers with location information via the Internet.

BrickHouse loaned the Test Center an AGPS device and created a temporary account for us on its Web site. The device was taken on a trip from New York to California and then shipped in a box via FedEx ground service back to New York. Reviewers were able to log into the Web-based account, click into a MapQuest-based application and follow the package from home to the airport runway, and then again as it made its way back across the country.

AGPS utilizes cellular phone towers for the "assist" (in this instance, Sprint's), so tracking can be impacted by the cellular network. We temporarily lost touch with the package while it was in the Nevada desert where Sprint's coverage dropped. But even with the short-term blackout while the device rode through the desert, the BrickHouse solution provided much more timely and granular tracking data than FedEx.

As the solution is mostly software-based, the back-end part of a GPS system is where the magic happens. It's usually where most of the customization is done and where solution providers will find an opportunity to support their customers best. Once the data comes across, it can be formatted to a spreadsheet, e-mail or tracking application.

Here's an example of realtime tracking: Traditionally, the jewelry and diamond industry is a face-to-face business, where the product changes hands in person, so by utilizing two devices, one hidden in a jeweler's case and the other somewhere on his person, BrickHouse could monitor a jeweler's security from beginning to end. Any unreasonable separation of the signals would trigger an alert that something is wrong. After being alerted, monitors would have a constant, realtime location of both the jeweler and the goods.

A reverse use of the same software could be utilized by fleet managers whose vehicles have assigned territories and should not be near each other. By having the system trigger a proximity alert when the two vehicles are within a defined distance, employee productivity can be increased.

In fact, any business with a fleet or even a handful of vehicles may be able to benefit from some kind of GPS system. Fleet managers can effectively adjust routes and schedule additional pickups on the fly, as well as see when their drivers are not where they are supposed to be or are violating speed limits. In addition, GPS units can help reduce vehicle and cargo theft, which may also lower insurance costs.

Building a GPS security practice isn't done on the cheap, nor overnight. With a $3 million-plus investment (including a six-figure licensing fee to MapQuest), BrickHouse developed its current practice and is now one of only six companies, plus the federal government, with direct access to Sprint's wireless network for this type of solution.

The bottom line: GPS is for more than just navigation, and knowing a customer's business needs may provide an opportunity to supply a custom solution that prevents loss and delivers ROI.