From automation to the Internet of Things (IoT), technology is continuously making great strides in human lives and readily improving the way to drive businesses forward, and so does telematics. With the widened adoption of telematics in the early 2000s businesses across the globe have learned to streamline operations without becoming overly invasive to accomplish them . Telematics is A IoT-based technology that combines informatics and telecommunication to send, receive and collect insightful real-time data over a wireless network without human intervention. From household appliances to factory machines, nearly every piece of technology with embedded sensors that can track and transfer data remotely is making use of telematics.
The advancement of telematics in the 21st century is no longer limited to monitoring and tracking certain factors related to web-based fleet management systems or niche services like defense intelligence, Rocket science, and automotive as it did during the beginning of its integration initially along with some restrictions like slow tracking rates and no cloud module. Meanwhile, in the current scenario, it heavily promotes tailoring down a digital blueprint of information required to optimize performance and steer data-driven decisions which are important to maneuver business operations in outdoor industries like agriculture, Landscaping, Facilities management, and snow management.
Telematics as a solution: Making reliable outdoor businesses.
Every technology proves favourable for organisations when it's incorporated into their relevant operations, aiming to improve customer reliability and higher margins. With existing competitiveness and tight ROI requirements, businesses including outdoor services have discovered that telematics is paving a healthier way to increase margins while keeping business goals aligned with available time and resources. Here are three ways in which Coupling a fully integrated telematics solution would prove beneficial for outdoor businesses in 2022 -
1- Growing Business value with assets tracking.
Outdoor businesses like landscaping and snow management rely heavily on timely service fulfilment to cater to customer needs promptly, making it important to show -up at the client's property within a scheduled appointment. To make this happen it's crucial to monitor the tracking of resources, such as logistics (tools and equipment), as well as the driving patterns of drivers who carry crew members, machines, and tools from the warehouse to clients outdoors. Imagine a situation when a landscaping crew did not show up on-site within a given timeframe owing to issues with traffic congestion, extra drive hours, Unplanned route, or vehicle malfunction. This can lead to the disgruntled customer that would give bad feedback on your service website or even worse, negative word of mouth, all of which impart the risk of losing potential opportunities in the future. Here, telematics comes as life saver technology. With Telematics solutions integrated within vehicles, Landscape managers can quickly notify clients in a real-time update about any such unforeseen incidents that would cause service delays. This builds customer trust and will add huge value to the business in the long haul. Additionally, Integrating Telematics can also be used to track driving behaviour to generate a digital blueprint for overspeeding, harsh braking unproductive idling, and vehicle accidents, making it easy for operation managers to prepare driver's report cards and supervise driver management efficiently which helps to prevent accidents and other unforeseen occurrences in the future.
2- Efficient machinery with data-driven decisions.
Every outdoor business operates efficiently when the performance checklist of machinery and equipment utilized in their operations are correctly recorded and regularly fixed. It becomes even more crucial for Snow management services which rely heavily on excavators machines like snow blowers and telehandlers that need regular maintenance checkups due to high engagement in the winter season. Long-term use of fleet vehicles and excavators without carrying out regular Maintenance checks could risk manpower and financial wastage. With telematics technology, owners can arrest such issues before they turn out to be business-impacting problems by getting a timely notification alert with warnings like low mileage, excess fuel consumption, and harsh brake system that are obvious indicators of machinery fault. Data driven by integrated telematics makes it easier to maintain a digital log history of vehicles regardless of their class and get them repaired before a severe malfunction occurs. This will eliminate late manual checkups of vehicle's that result at high maintenance costs while also reducing the tedious paperwork, proving this technology meaningful at times when outdoor businesses struggle with a shortage of skilled maintenance crew to look over transportation constraints in their peak productive times.
3- Increasing driver motivation for better operations.
Drivers, who play a critical role in maintaining efficient operations, are an essential part of the crew for outdoor businesses. For their fleets to keep smiling, fleet managers must identify and address drivers' pain areas. Here are a few examples of what telematics integration may accomplish
Telematics can be used to plan routes before a driver's departure, reducing the likelihood that they would go lost or become stranded in severe weather or congested traffic.
Keep tracking the driving Hours of service using an Electronic logging device ( ELD ) connected with a telematics solution to ensure that drivers don't overwork to suffer from muscle fatigue which is dangerous while driving long routes.
Rewarding drivers for effective driving behaviour has been shown to boost employee engagement in outdoor services. This factor can be determined based on skills and reports utilising the data collected by fleet management software and telematics.
Telematics presents a wide range of financial and time-saving benefits for landscaping industry. It's essential to undertake business analysis, choose effective fleet management software paired with telematics, and integrate all the processes from full asset tracking to data reports that let you point out operational errors and measure overall trends. Are you making use of Telematics technology or any otherAutomation Software for your Outdoor business? Comment down below and follow us for regular updates on how technology will drive the Outdoor industry in upcoming years.