GPS technology has all kinds of advantages in the commercial world. If you’re a business looking to reduce costs, improve efficiency or even attract more customers, consider whether any of the following GPS uses could be beneficial to your operations.
Route planning
This is the most obvious use for GPS technology in business. Being able to plan routes can be beneficial to most companies that use vehicles, preventing the need to rely on signs and traditional roadmaps when exploring new locations. However, today’s GPS apps can do more than help commercial drivers get from A to B.
GPS technology can firstly help drivers to choose the fastest route, which can be essential when meeting tight delivery schedules. Real-time updates can report road accidents and congestion as they occur, allowing drivers to save time even on familiar routes by advising when to take last-minute detours.
Alternatively, for instances when tight deadlines are not so much of a concern, GPS apps can help to find the most fuel-efficient route. This is useful for businesses that want to save money or that are dedicated to being as green as possible by helping to reduce carbon emissions.
For planning multiple stops, specific GPS software can meanwhile help to find the most sensible route for hitting all of these stops without having to go back on oneself. Solutions like commercial waste management software can use GPS technology to plan individual waste pickups, while parcel delivery software can use this tech to plan the best route for delivering multiple parcels.
Shipment tracking
It’s not just the drivers that can benefit from GPS technology, but also fleet managers. Being able to track the location of shipments using GPS can allow logistics co-ordinators to make sure drivers are on the right route, as well as helping to adjust schedules if a driver has been held up.
GPS can also be used to provide transparency to customers. Many companies now provide client apps and web-based platforms that allow customers themselves to see where their orders are in real time, which can help to reduce ‘where’s my delivery?’ phone calls. This can be useful for delivery restaurants that may already be inundated with phone calls, while B2B customers such as manufacturers waiting on materials can adjust production deadlines in advance if there are delays.
It may even be possible to integrate GPS technology with IoT (Internet of Things) technology in some cases to provide more detailed shipment tracking. On top of the location, sensors may be able to be used to track the temperature of shipments – which could be useful for making sure sensitive goods don’t spoil en route.
Field worker coordination
GPS technology can also be used to help co-ordinate field workers. If you run a sales team who are all scheduled to do door-to-door sales in different areas, you can ask each of your sales reps to share their location – this allows you to check that they are each in the areas that they should be without having to call each of them.
In the case of trades where you may have emergency jobs coming in, GPS technology also allows you to find nearby field workers so that you can assign them to the job. For example, if you run a plumbing company and a client has contacted you about a burst pipe, you can search for the nearest technician and ask them to attend to it. This reduces the amount of time clients have to wait for help in urgent situations – emergency electricians, vehicle recovery teams, locksmiths and paramedics may also rely heavily on this technology.
You may also be able to use GPS to check that lone workers are safe. If a worker gets trapped somewhere while working in a remote area, you can find their location and send out a rescue party. Some GPS apps can require employees to check in at regular intervals and may have features that allow workers to send out an SOS alert. This could be useful when tracking park rangers, mining works, security guards or even cleaners/janitors in empty buildings.
Geo-fencing
Geo-fencing involves using GPS to create an invisible boundary. This can be used by businesses to digitally track movement of goods or employees in and out of this area, sending alerts whenever they enter or leave the perimeter.
Warehouses and stores sometimes use this technology to flag up stolen goods – if a tagged item leaves the perimeter, staff can be alerted. Other industries like construction can meanwhile use this technology to track tools and equipment, preventing them from being stolen.
In the case of tracking workers, geo-fencing can meanwhile be used to track the exact time when employees enter or leave a premises, which could be an accurate way to digitally track their hours at work, while also flagging up when workers arrive late or leave early. On dangerous sites, geo-fencing can also be used to alert you when employees enter hazardous areas.
Geo-targeted advertising
Finally, it’s possible to use the power of GPS to also run accurate location-based marketing campaigns. Many sites like Google and Facebook are able to send users location-based adverts using both their IP address and GPS location – this could include promotions for local events or local business services.
By creating a customer app, you may even be able to explore more unique and creative forms of geo-targeted advertising. For example, using geo-fencing, you may be able to send customers notifications through an app when they venture near your premises. A coffee bar might use this to send notifications about discounts on coffee to lure customers in, while an event company might use this to alert a customer of an upcoming concert or conference in their area.
Meanwhile, when it comes to SEO on Google, creating a Google Business Profile is recommended for allowing you to advertise your location on Google Maps. Your location can also be linked to keywords – so if you own an Italian restaurant and someone searches ‘pizza near me’, your restaurant will appear on Google Maps. This could potentially help you to get more business.
Leave a Reply