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If your vehicles need to be either in or out of certain areas at defined times, you’ve likely already discovered the benefits of geofencing.
This feature lets you draw geographic zones and establish the rules for each zone. In mandatory mode, the vehicles must be inside the defined zone during the designated times; in prohibited mode, they must not enter the zone. If the geofencing rules are broken, an alert will be emailed so that the behavior can be investigated and corrected right away.
The aim of geofencing is to give you peace of mind when it comes to your vehicle’s whereabouts. But there are other, less well-known benefits that geofencing could bring your business.
Compliance with emission zone regulations
In the global effort to reduce the effects of climate change, the governments of many metropolitan areas where traffic and pollution are a growing problem have created low emission zones. These laws impose hefty fines on certain types of vehicles operating within those areas at established times of the day. One famous example is London’s ULEZ, or Ultra Low Emission Zone.
Geofencing is a handy tool if you do not want your vehicles paying fines to enter those low emission zones. By setting up the zones as Prohibited during the times that fines will occur, you ensure that, should your drivers enter the zone, you will receive an emailed alert. You can even keep track of the fines you owe by knowing how many times it was necessary to go into those zones, helping you keep an eye on costs.
Looking for other ways to help the environment? Get a free copy of our Eco-driving guide.
Improving overall efficiency
Geofencing can help you ensure that your business is running efficiently by providing you with another way to monitor your fleet’s daily routine. If your vehicles come and go from your depot or office through the day to restock or unload, you can establish a geofence around the site and get an alert when a vehicle enters and departs. Along with reporting tools, like our time on site report, and with the goal of keeping turnaround times low, you will be able to identify sites that have a poor performance record, where it takes longer for vehicles to get back out on the road. Those sites can be restructured or retrained, to ensure that your operations are running as smooth as possible.
Making customer service a priority
Geofencing can make your customer service stand out from other businesses. Geofencing alerts can be sent to multiple email addresses, including your customers. If you regularly deliver goods or provide services to a particular customer, you can establish a geofence that extends a kilometre around their site. They will then receive an alert when your driver crosses into their zone. Your customer will be better prepared to meet your driver, eliminating unexpected arrivals or delays.
Tracking and restricting travel through Covid areas
In an effort to keep the public informed about infection rates and reduce the spread of the virus, many governments and local authorities have designated certain geographic zones as high-risk areas for Covid-19. If your drivers travel around the country and you want to keep track of these areas, geofencing can help.
Quartix geofencing zones can easily be created for different areas and you can get real-time alerts via email or text message when your vehicles enter or leave these zones.
You may wish to set up the following geofences:
- If you want to stop your drivers entering a high-risk area for insurance purposes, set up a geofence around that area and mark it as prohibited for all hours of the day. You will receive an alert if a vehicle should enter that area.
- If you live in a high-risk area and don’t expect your vehicles to be travelling outside your area at all, create a geofence for your region and set the rules so that your vehicles must stay within the boundaries. You will receive an alert if any vehicle leaves the area.
- Different rules and geofences can be applied to different vehicle groups.
Quartix geofences are easy to create with our drawing tool—you can even use colours for different areas, such as red for very high-risk areas or green for areas with a low risk. There is no limit to how many geofences you can create, so if the status of an area changes, you can adjust your geofences accordingly.
Recently, we’ve updated the Quartix geofencing feature; read how we’ve made it even more user-friendly.
There are many more ways you can use geofencing to the benefit of your business. Find out more by contacting us today!
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