Ctrack leads the way with continuous innovation

Ctrack, South Africa’s leading fleet management and asset monitoring solutions provider, is continuously innovating its product offering in order to provide its customers with the latest solutions in an ever-changing environment.

Ctrack is a South African company that provides solutions for South Africans, developed locally through continuous research and development. Considering the country’s harsh business environment, especially over the last two years, Ctrack’s product development has needed to cater for unique business difficulties. At the same time, the company has strived to improve efficiencies for owners struggling to ensure positive cashflows in a highly competitive environment.

The result of these efforts is a suite of product solutions that not only provide quality data interpretation of fleet operations in South Africa, but also have a global appeal.

When developing and refining operations, Ctrack always considers the five keys of fleet management: risk, cost control, fleet utilisation, operations control, and asset control. These ideals remain at the core of all the company’s solution offerings.

Ctrack’s On-The-Road (OTR) application combines navigation and fleet experience into a platform that integrates with Ctrack’s software platforms for easy data extraction. One major development is that the high-quality, reliable, fleet-specific in-cab solutions operating with the OTR application are now also available for mobile Android devices. A basic Android 6 device with 2GB RAM, an internal GPS, and Bluetooth will suffice, eliminating the need for a second piece of hardware inside vehicles.

Drivers are a key part of running fleets successfully and efficiently, and the OTR solutions allow drivers to complete their daily tasks as required. Features include driver behaviour monitoring, navigation, driver status, messaging, task management, voice calls, and behaviour history. This new development saves operators money whilst empowering their drivers with a powerful in-hand tool.

Ctrack’s unique software capability, SMILE, is the perfect solution for challenging operational environments and bespoke solutions. With SMILE, operators can create unique efficiency and risk outputs, which open up endless opportunities for measuring and solving critical Key Performance Indicators. In high-risk environments such as cash-in-transit or valuable goods deliveries, for example, SMILE enables integration with risk-reducing technology such as gunfire detection or foam encapsulation technology, with the ability to match various planned delivery addresses. This ensures complete control of high-risk packages and leads to unique monitoring and reporting options in the Online Software platform.

Driver fatigue is a very serious problem, due to high demand on production and service delivery. By creating a SMILE script that monitors driving hours, operators can configure the Ctrack device to audibly alert the driver when limits for driving time or distance are reached. If the driver ignores these warnings, the Ctrack technology can use the SMILE script to put the vehicle into limp mode (reduced speed and engine power), ensuring that the driver takes the required break.

“Jamming” is a growing threat to various industries and the economy as a whole, directly impacting risk for fleets. This unscrupulous practice not only interferes with the transmission of vital telematics data required for successful fleet operations but can also prevent the tracking of vehicles and/or assets as part of a stolen vehicle recovery attempt. Ctrack’s jamming detection technology reacts accordingly when a threat is detected, by implementing several mitigating protocols.

The Live Productivity Dashboard, meanwhile, forms part of the company’s online software suite. The Dashboard provides a 24-hour timeline of vehicle or asset movement, enabling quick and easy fleet dissemination and management. Users can view movement, stationary, and driving times in a single graphical view, while stopping locations and operating times allow fleet managers to quickly identify any unauthorised vehicle usage.

Finally, Ctrack’s Fleet Monitoring Service is a complete outsourcing option of fleet control room activities, providing the perfect solution for managing larger fleets. Data analytics integrates highly proficient hindsight, insight and foresight, and concise reporting considerations. This allows business owners to streamline fleet operations, enabling them to spend more time managing their business.