Irish f6 and Digicel Business partner to offer Fleet Management and Vehicle Tracking Services

“(Customers) want to be able to drive business efficiencies and deliver cost savings while maintaining visibility into how their drivers are using the company's vehicles; the f6 solution allows them to do just that.”

General Manager of Digicel Business, Jason Corrigan commenting on their partnership with f6, a Vehicle Tracking and Fleet Management Company

St. Patrick’s Day for the Irish is a little special for Telecom Provider Digicel this year, as apparently more Jamaicans seem to be aware as noted in “Go Green For St Paddy's Day”, Published Sunday March 16, 2014, by Melissa Douse, Contributor, The Jamaica Gleaner and “Roots, Rock, Paddy!”, published Monday, March 17, 2014 The Jamaica Observer.

This as for St. Patrick’s, Digicel has decided to invite yet even more Irish people to Jamaica. This time it's Dublin, Ireland based Fleet Management company f6 to enter the crowded Fleet Management and Vehicle Tracking Businesses in Jamaica as noted in “Digicel Jamaica To Market Vehicle-Tracking Product”, Published Wednesday March 19, 2014 by Richard Browne, Business Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner and “Digicel Business launches vehicle Management solution”, published Friday, March 14, 2014, The Jamaica Observer.

Effectively this means that Telecom Provider Digicel is now doing the same thing as KingAlarm, with whom they’d partnered to provide this service and already doing in its Pacific Island States with Fleet Management company f6.

And based on the article Protect Your Ride, published Sunday December 12, 2010, by Laranzo Dacres, The Sunday Gleaner, it’s a very lucrative business that many small companies would like to get into, as locating Stolen Motor Vehicles is a priority for any Car Owner and is a service that many are willing to pay to protect and recover their investment.

Now note this brings the number of Fleet Management and Vehicle Tracking Businesses to approximately six (6), as listed below:

1.      Guardsman via its subsidiary ClearChannel now Guardsman Alarms in partnership with Telecom Provider LIME as noted in “Guardsman launches car tracking system”, published Wednesday, 28 January 2004 by the Jamaica Observer, Archived by TechJamaica

2.      KingAlarm in partnership with Telecom Provider Digicel as noted on King Alarm's Website

3.      Hawkeye Electronics Security Limited service HawkTracker via their own private Network

4.      PBS Tracking and Motor Vehicle Security 

5.      Safe and Secure Tracking and Technologies, a subsidiary of POGAS Fourth World Investments

For those inclined to watch videos, I found one for HawkTracker that should bring back some memories!

The advantages of these tracking services are obvious:

1.      ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival Projections thereby reducing Employee's idling on the Road

2.      Efficient Fleet Management for Large Deliver and Service Companies

3.      GPS Services for Lost Drivers (inna Jamaica??)

To this end, many companies, even the Jamaican Police as noted in the article “Tracking system coming for police vehicles”, published Saturday, March 02, 2013 BY ALICIA DUNKLEY-WILLIS Senior staff reporter, The Jamaica Observer, are looking to the Fleet Management and Vehicle Tracking to better manage the use of their vehicles.

Fleet Management and Vehicle Tracking Services  - GPS Data and other Services as You Like It

These services all work the same way, mind you. A Tracking Module is installed in your vehicle with its own Battery to power the device yet charged by the Vehicle. The Tracking Module can track your vehicle movement via its built in GPS (Global Positioning System). 

It will relay the Tracking Data via a Telecom Provider Partner GPRS (Global Packer Radio Service), EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) or 3G Data Network or a Private Radio Network to a NOC (Network Operation Center) Controlled by the Security Company.

In some rare cases, the Data can be routed over GSM Voice via a series of sound pulses or even SMS (Short Messaging Service) messages, which requires only an Active Postpaid or Prepaid SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) Card.

An example of such a platform is Rottguard, owned by General Manager of Auto-Don Trading Company Limited Mr. Donahue Martin as stated in “Now You Can Control Your Car By Cell Phone - Auto-Don Develops Rottguard As Anti-Theft System”, Published Sunday June 16, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner . 

Rottguard is unique not only because of the fact that the Data is routed via the GSM Voice or SMS, completely bypassing the need to subscribe to the Telecom Provider’s Services but also in the fact that the package offers BOTH Vehicle Tracking and Car Alarm Service in a Device package that priced competitively at JA$28,000 with no monthly charges.

That’s hard to beat, especially as it puts you in control of your own security. If you’re good at Car Electronics, is basically a Sunday DIY (Do It Yourself) installation that’ll save you a fortune on Car Alarm Security!

All these Tracking Modules, however, offer other services, often provided by the Security Company, mainly involving remotely monitoring and control of that Vehicle’s Condition and State.

It’s this side of the business that f6 plans to get into via a partnership with Telecom Provider Digicel to quote f6 Sales Representative, Michelle O'Connor: “By embracing the f6 service, insurance companies and fleet providers have the opportunity to create new products and services for their clients which will enable them to generate a long-term strategic advantage over their competitors. Road safety organizations will also benefit as the service has the potential to reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads annually”.

Perhaps the Luck o’ the Irish will prevail yet again as Digicel Business pushes into a new Frontier via Blood Ties (2013) Vehicle Tracking and Fleet Management Company with f6 to Rob the Mob (2014) in Jamaica!