The Police and Safety Office at North Dakota State University, or NDSU, is using a smartphone app with GPS tracking in a new pilot program. They are testing the app among students and teachers with the objective of improving security.

Called Pathlight, the app lets dispatchers at the school track a user on monitors at the Police Communications Call Center when the user triggers a safety assist indicator. One of its most common uses is when a student needs to walk across a dark campus by herself late at night.

Ongoing Safety Measures

The app is the latest in ongoing security measures available at the school. It complements the Campus Security Escort Service started in 1992. Read the rest of this entry »

GPS fleet tracking is transforming the way businesses today operate. One of the industries most affected by advances in GPS tracking technology is the linen and uniform delivery industry. Since most businesses you serve are service industry or healthcare businesses, it’s important to work within certain time constraints and to provide prompt and reliable service. GPS fleet tracking can help with all that and so much more.

Improve Customer Satisfaction with Timely Deliveries and Pickups

Service industry businesses run in peaks and lows. Restaurants often have limited times during the day where staff is free to accept deliveries, whether that is ingredients, uniforms, or table linens. Fleet tracking can help you prioritize your tracking in order to reach each business at the right time of day without sacrificing fuel efficiency and economy in order to do so.

Customers are happy to receive delivery of their goods on time and ready to wear or use in their businesses and much happier with the service you provide. The ability to do this day in and out is what will set your business apart from others in the area. Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers are using GPS devices to track the earth’s most endangered animal species, the marine turtle. Three out of its the seven existing types are classified as critically endangered, and the other four are listed as endangered.

The devices, weighing less than a quarter of a pound, have been attached to the backs of baby flatback turtles. Scientists at the James Cook University in Australia hope to find out where the turtles travel while young, where they live and how they navigate currents in the ocean.

The goal is to identify threats that affect them, everything from destruction of their preferred habitat to predators and fishing tackle.

100 Million Years Old

The species is one of oldest on the planet, going back for 100 million years. It is only in the last 200 years that they have been under threat due to human interacting with the environment.

The turtles are an essential part of the marine and coastal ecosystems. The males never leave the water and female come on land just to lay eggs. They mature slowly and can easily live to be 80 years old. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you have a fleet of five business vehicles making daily calls or 50, dispatchers have a lot of responsibility on their hands from day to day. GPS fleet tracking can help take many burdens off the shoulders of your dispatchers while, simultaneously improving profits for your business. These are just a few ways GPS fleet tracking can make your dispatcher’s life much easier.

Streamlines the Dispatch Process with Daily Itineraries

Letting your drivers know their route and itineraries from the very start helps to eliminate the fits and starts involved in the next call throughout the day. More importantly, with GPS fleet management and tracking systems, emergency calls and route adjustments are a simple matter to make on the fly.

Since dispatchers have access to the drivers via two way radio and the GPS system itself offers simple turn by turn directions for any route deviations there’s no reason drivers have to be married to the original itineraries when adjustments are needed. Read the rest of this entry »

University of Queensland (UQ) scientists are now placing GPS tracking devices on goannas in an attempt to find ways to get them to stop stealing and eating loggerhead turtle eggs.

A two-year new research project being led by UQ has been put in place to get a better understanding about the Wreck Rock Beach goannas’ responsibility in the predatory behavior of turtle nest egg stealing.

The UQ School of Biological Sciences team leader, Dr. David Booth, says these GPS tracking devices are helping to study goanna behavior and allowing the team to test devices and deterrents such as red flags, plastic mesh and pepper.

In fact, he goes on to say, “GPS tracking indicates that yellow spotted goannas are the main culprit”.

With some observation, it looks as though the first to attack a nest is the large yellow spotted goannas — since they have the persistence and the strength to really get deep down into the sand. After they have dug a tunnel leading to the eggs, the other smaller predators like the lace monitors and small yellow spotted goannas give it a go. Read the rest of this entry »