Everything You Need to Know About Keyless Entry and Car Sharing in Fleets

When productivity and efficiency is addressed in fleets, typically attention is never brought to key management. However, with keys being easy to misplace and hard to manage, there is a lack of efficiency that often goes unnoticed. 

With the introduction of keyless entry with Geotab Keyless, the management process will be simplified as fleets will embrace more freedom with keys going digital. Geotab’s IOX add-on for keyless functionality with integrated key fobs will convert a smartphone into the key giving drivers access to the vehicle when in close proximity.

How to Know Whether Car Sharing and Keyless Entry Will Work for Your Fleet

If your fleet falls under one of the following categories, car sharing would be a great choice:

• If you’re a corporate or government fleet that only needs vehicles on an occasional basis or a fleet manager who needs to pool vehicles together for multiple drivers to share
• If you’re planning to have a car sharing business
• If you’re a dealership, test driving can become much easier with keyless entry giving you, the manager, full access over the vehicle going out for a test drive
• If multiple drivers are able to or need to access the same car
• If you’re a small fleet wanting to make the most use out of your fleet without expanding
• If you’re a large fleet who often deals with vehicle confusion, mismanagement and theft
• If your fleet isn’t always returning to one area but is situated in different locations
• If drivers aren’t using their own vehicles and are being provided with vehicles for part time use

How Geotab Keyless Can Be Leveraged 

Taking a look at the manager’s perspective, micromanaging vehicle utilization can become efficient and straightforward. When keyless entry strategies are implemented within MyGeotab, fleet management can expect to notice the following: 

• Visibility of all vehicles in a fleet and where the vehicle is located on one map
• The ability to find a driver and assign them to a vehicle within minutes
• The ability to unlock, lock and even completely shut down a car (when the car isn’t in motion)
• Access to various other features offered by Geotab in MyGeotab

From a driver’s perspective, an app on their smartphone will inform them about the vehicle’s location and allow them to access the vehicle in close proximity. 

It should be noted that being out of cellular coverage will not be an issue. When you are out of range, the vehicle will be accessible via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. As BLE is a simple highly automated wireless local data network that enables informational communications between assets requiring no barcode, no paperwork nor wire to operate the network, it is part of the success of keyless entry. 

What are the Benefits of Keyless Entry?

After the implementation of keyless entry, fleets can typically begin to notice 4 main benefits:

1. The process of switching between vehicles being as simple as leaving one vehicle and getting in close proximity to the other one you are assigned to, hence, the process of returning/receiving keys will come to an end.
2. Vehicle ownership won’t be required as the concept of car sharing will be applied.  Drivers won’t own the car since the manager is in full control of the vehicle and can restrict access immediately for any reason.
3. Since car sharing is now simplified, managers can make more use of every vehicle in their fleet resulting in more productive routing and planning to increase profits.
4. If vehicles are only accessible by smartphones, it will be more difficult to steal a vehicle. Moreover, with the additional addon of a vehicle immobilizer, the vehicle can shut down completely and even if someone breaks into the vehicle, it can’t be operated.

Interested in Keyless Entry and Car Sharing? Additional Points You Need to Know 

To install the Keyless entry IOX, it’s important to know that one of the key fobs must be soldered within the hardware as a permanent fit.

If a vehicle operates with a key rather than through push-to-start, one of the vehicle’s keys must remain inside the vehicle for the driver to use. However, since the key will be inside the car and not with the manager, the issue with using and exchanging keys will no longer be an issue. 

As well, since cell phones will become the new key for the vehicle, drivers must be made well aware that the mobile device requires enough battery life at all times to ensure the digital key functions properly.

With Geotab Keyless entering the market and car sharing dominating various vehicle-based industries, it is predicted that fleets will increasingly begin to leverage keyless strategies. Since the simplicity of a keyless entry process requires minimal hassle with getting into the right vehicle and even changing between vehicles, it’s something many fleets won’t be able to overlook.

As we’re dedicated to always help to improve operations and efficiencies in fleets of any size, keyless entry is something that many businesses should look into. To learn more about Geotab Keyless and how it can help increase productivity and efficiency, contact us to speak with our Car Sharing Experts!