Author: Jimmy Song

A Technical Horror Story

Around the end of May 2017, British Airlines had a major IT error.

This type of glitch affects more than just big airlines. Let me share my story.

A few years ago, I was working on a project. I spent a long time and thought I did a fantastic job. However, I made a fatal mistake. I did not backup my work and my computer’s hard drive crashed.

I lost hours of work and had to frustratingly start from scratch. It made me want to do this (Caution – loud volume).

Technical glitches are common horror stories for businesses. In the data driven fleet management world, glitches also leads to lost time and money. Here are some common glitches involving GPS fleet trackers.

Error 1: Outdated GPS Tracking Systems Causing Inaccurate Data

Australian paramedics are struggling from failing tracking systems. Their tracking signals are disrupted by “black holes” in areas with towering buildings. The system also runs on an outdated 2G network.

This causes dispatchers to received outdated data. Instead of getting live updates, there is a huge delay. In some situations, ambulances were found 50km from their actual location. Dispatchers would then send the wrong ambulance instead of the closest ambulance.

Paramedics fear that the lost time will impact their ability to save lives.

Error 2: Drivers Given Wrong Directions

Over the years, business and personal vehicles are being equipped with GPS maps. GPS maps are incredibly useful – when they work. There also have been remarkable failures where drivers were given wrong directions from their GPS map.

Wrong directions not only make drivers miss their destinations but can also put drivers in dangerous situations. For example, some tourists almost drove into the Pacific Ocean because they followed their GPS. Instead of driving down the road as suggested by the map, the tourists were stranded in mud and were pulled by a tow truck.

Error 3: GPS Tracking System Doesn’t Integrate With Existing IT Structure

For many businesses, GPS tracking is just one of many software solutions. Businesses need to integrate tracking software with their current solutions to improve processes like accounting and dispatching.

For example, one business tried running commission reports for its technicians. Data was lost when the business tried to import fields from one software to another. The business was forced to use two separate apps instead of a seamlessly integrated system, which meant lost time & money.

How to Avoid a GPS Tracking System Horror Story?

Due to tech glitches, businesses are understandingly cautious when planning their fleet management systems. In order to prevent glitches, businesses should evaluate potential systems with questions such as:

1. Does the tracking system provide real-time data?
2. How accurate are the maps?
3. Will the system integrate with our existing solutions?

To leave off, there is a cool video by Geotab’s Neil. He explains using curved-based algorithms to avoid problems such as lost data.

Sources:

The Star: British Airways Computer Outage

Sydney Morning Herald: Patients Lives at Risk with Ambulance GPS Tracking Glitch

PRI: 8 Spectacular Fails

I was a weird kid growing up. Rather, my friends teased me for being a weird kid because I was crazy about history. My friends asked, “When are we ever going to use history? What happened in the past stays in the past.”

The reality, outside of me seeking self-validation, is that history is important. History teaches us to use the past to improve the future. Let me present an example.

Who likes vacations? Did you know the idea of taking a vacation comes from history? It’s true; vacations came from the idea of taking pilgrimages to visit shrines. This video shows other examples of history helping us today.

I’d separate the timeline into 5 parts.

1. Birth, 1960s. During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union competed on who could create the coolest tech. The Soviets launched into outer space the “Sputnik”, the first satellite to orbit our planet. The American military also saw value in this technology and launched their own satellite. Throughout the 60s, the US military tracked its submarines, and hence, the GPS was born.
2. Civilian use, 1983. It took a tragedy for the GPS to be released to the public. In 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 0007 veered off course into restricted Soviet airspace. It was mistaken for a spy plane and was shot down. President Reagan, in response, decided to release GPS technology to prevent future tragedies.
3. Innovation, 90s-00s. Since being introduced to the public, GPS tracking continued improving. The first consumer GPS fleet tracking device cost $3000 and ran on short-lasting batteries. Since then, engineers improved size, cost, and accuracy to the point where GPS tracking was installed on many fleets.
4. Internet Age, 00s. Other technologies also grew and supported GPS tracking. One of these technologies includes cell phones. Cell phones switched to 3G networks and can be used as a remote computer.
5. Present & Future. Due to the progress of tracking and related technology, there are cool new ways to use GPS tracking. Recent advances include using collision avoidance in self-driving cars and using 100% mobile-based tracking.

Mobile Tracking

Speaking of exciting advances, a hot trend is to use smartphones in order to satisfy tracking needs. Businesses can now subscribe to an app instead of installing devices.

What are some of the common uses of mobile tracking?

Location tracking. Going back to the historical question, “where are my drivers?”, mobile tracking can also provide live tracking. Managers can look up driver location and set location-based alerts to update customers and ensure productivity.

Tax reporting. In Canada, the CRA allows a tax break for (a) employers that paid business fuel expenses, and (b) employees that paid, out of their own pocket, for business trips. A common issue is for taxpayers is how can they verify personal vs. business trips. Enter GPS tracking: some GPS mobile apps such as Mobile Trax allows users to mark these their trips for accurate tax reporting.

Sources:
Geotab: History of GPS Satellites and Commercial GPS Tracking
Mother Jones: The 2,000 Year History of GPS Tracking
Business Insider: The 17 Most Important Moments in the 70-Year History of the Cell Phone
Canada Revenue Agency: Allowable Motor Vehicle Expenses

A short time ago, on a galaxy close, close to here…

There lived a human with a guilty pleasure. That pleasure is to spy on landscapers..

Yes, that human would be me. One of the perks of living in a condo is not having to worry about yard work. I, however, was always curious when landscapers worked on our property. I curiously watched them plant trees & flowers, re-shape land, and essentially beautify my surroundings.

On the other hand, I get intrigued when my colleagues tell me about their own landscaping. One of my office mates told me that his neighbourhood would compete in a yard war to see who has the best property. It was competitive! They would use rulers to measure the consistency of the lawn and accuse each other of sabotage if they saw someone stepping near their prized property.

With summer right around the corner, landscaping season is in full swing. To win the Yard Wars this year, here are some battle tips for landscaping businesses (or even for DIY homeowners looking to win neighbourhood bragging rights).

Battle 1: Online Databases

Landscapers and homeowners must choose between what type of plants to include. Instead of just relying on neighbours (*and hopefully they are not ill-hearted sabotagers) or friends for advice, there are databases of plants.

An example of a great resource is the St. Johns River Water Management District. Users can research details such as size, growth rate, soil & lighting needs, etc. For example, I thought about the classic “roses are red, violets are blue” line and compared Cherokee roses & Florida violets.

Battle 2: Tax Planning

There are several tax planning opportunities to save money for landscapers. Probably the #1 advice is to use your home as a place for business.

The CRA allows for tax deductions if business is “principally” (more than half of the time) conducted out of a home and if clients consistently visit the home office.

Why is this a great tool? Let’s say Jane sets up a home office for her landscaping business. Jane can then deduct a percentage of her home costs. Think of Jane’s savings for costs such as property tax, utilities, home insurance, and maintenance!

Let’s illustrate an example, inspired by accounting firm Grant Thornton.

Jane’s landscaping business generated $60K of revenue and $55K of expenses. Imagine that Jane set up a home office and spent $6K for home expenses for that office space.

Because Jane set up her home office, she can deduct her tax income from $5K to $0 and still use a $1K carryforward for the following year.

Battle 3: Remote Worker Management

Landscaping businesses often send employees off-site. How do businesses ensure resources are not wasted when there isn’t a manager on-site?

One of these resources is time. Some businesses use timesheets to log work hours. Unfortunately, some businesses are victims of time theft where employees would claim unworked hours. In order to prevent time theft, businesses have turned to systems where time is electronically verified.

Another resource, for landscaping companies with vehicles, is fuel. Similarly to time management, it is difficult to verify driving behaviour on the road. Company resources may be wasted on anything from traffic tickets to unauthorized use. Similar to electronic timekeeping, managers can now pull driver scorecards to measure driving behaviours and usage times.

With these battle tips, may the green be with you in the Yard Wars!

Sources:
The Globe & Mail: How to Turn Your Landscaping into Tax Savings
St Johns River Water Management District: Landscape Database Saves Time, Money & Water
Tax Planning Guide: The Home Office