How GPS Tracking Can Help Protect Business Assets from Theft
For many businesses, vehicles, plant, machinery and equipment are some of their most valuable working assets.
GPS tracking can give a business greater visibility of where compatible assets are located, when they move and whether they leave an area where they're expected to remain.
A tracker doesn't physically prevent somebody from stealing an asset, and it shouldn't replace appropriate locks, alarms, insurance or other security measures.
What it can provide is information — and knowing that something has moved unexpectedly can be extremely useful.
Monitor the location of valuable business assets
A suitable GPS tracker can allow you to view the location of an asset through an online tracking platform.
For a business operating vehicles or powered equipment across several locations, that can provide a much clearer picture of where valuable assets are.
It can also answer everyday questions such as:
Is the equipment still at the site?
Which location was it moved to?
When did it leave the yard?
Which team currently has it?
So GPS tracking can be useful even when nothing has been stolen.
Receive movement alerts
With a suitable tracker and configuration, movement alerts can notify you when a tracked asset begins moving.
For equipment that should remain stationary overnight or at weekends, an unexpected movement alert gives you an opportunity to check what is happening.
A movement alert doesn't automatically mean that an asset has been stolen. There may be a perfectly legitimate reason for it to move.
But it can provide an early indication that something has changed.
Use geofences around yards and sites
A geofence is a virtual boundary created around a location on the tracking platform.
For a business, that might be:
- A yard
- A depot
- A construction site
- A farm
- A storage facility
- A regular customer location
The tracking system can then generate an alert when a tracked asset enters or leaves the area you've defined.
That can be particularly useful for equipment that normally remains within a particular site.
Track vehicles and equipment from one account
GPS tracking isn't limited to cars and vans.
Depending on the device, available power and installation environment, tracking can also be suitable for assets such as plant, machinery, trailers and other powered equipment.
Multiple compatible trackers can be viewed within the same tracking account.
For a business operating both vehicles and equipment, that can make it much easier to see where important assets are without managing each one separately.
If your main concern is tracking company vehicles, see How Can I Track All My Work Vans?
Help locate equipment across different sites
Not every missing asset has been stolen.
Equipment moves.
One team takes something to a job. Another person moves it to another site. Something gets left at a customer's premises or returned to a different yard.
Then somebody asks:
“Where is it?”
Tracking can help reduce the time spent ringing staff, checking paperwork or searching several locations for valuable equipment.
For businesses with assets regularly moving between sites, that visibility can be useful in its own right.
Can GPS tracking prevent equipment theft?
A GPS tracker isn't a physical anti-theft device.
It doesn't replace locks, secure storage, alarms, immobilisers or other appropriate security measures.
Its role is different.
Depending on the tracking setup, it can provide information about location and unexpected movement.
Used alongside appropriate physical security, that information can form part of a broader approach to protecting business assets.
What happens if an asset is stolen?
If you believe a vehicle, piece of machinery or other asset has been stolen, report the theft to the police and follow their instructions.
Don't attempt to recover stolen property yourself based solely on tracking information.
Tracking data can provide useful information about the asset's location or movement, but recovery should be handled appropriately and safely.
Does every tool or piece of equipment need the same tracker?
No.
This is particularly important with asset tracking.
A vehicle or powered machine may have a suitable permanent power supply for a hardwired GPS tracker.
A small hand tool doesn't.
Other factors can also matter, including:
- Available power
- Size of the asset
- Installation location
- Exposure to water, dust or weather
- Satellite reception
- Mobile-network connectivity
- How frequently the asset moves
That's why it's better to choose a tracker around the asset rather than simply buying the smallest device you can find.
For a fuller explanation, see Can I Track My Tools and Equipment If They're Stolen?
How does the tracker send its location?
A cellular GPS tracker uses satellite positioning to establish its location and mobile connectivity to send tracking information to the tracking platform.
Global Trackers' standard tracking service includes a multi-network M2M SIM, so customers don't need to arrange a separate SIM for each compatible tracker.
We've explained this in Why Do GPS Trackers Need a SIM Card and Subscription?
Can I access asset tracking from my phone?
Yes.
Global Trackers customers can access compatible tracked devices through the GPS Monitor Plus app or through a web browser.
That means you don't need to be at the yard or sitting at an office computer to check your tracking account.
Is GPS asset tracking right for my business?
That depends on what you need to track.
GPS tracking can be particularly useful where a business has valuable mobile assets and wants better visibility of where they are and when they move.
But not every Global Trackers device is suitable for every asset.
If you tell us what you want to track, how it's powered, where it's used and what you'd like to know when it moves, we can help establish whether one of our current GPS trackers is suitable.
We'd rather recommend the right type of solution — or tell you when a particular tracker isn't appropriate — than sell you something that doesn't fit the job.