The Best Smart Devices For Your Fleet? - Copy

Just about every fleet company relies on smart devices to communicate with drivers, technicians and customers to enhance business operations. With the popularity of smart phones and tablets, seemingly everyone has this technology in the palm of their hands.

For fleet companies, this presents a world of opportunity along with plenty of tough decisions regarding how best to manage a variety of devices.

Should Fleets Integrate Personal Computing Devices Into Their Business Operations?

Choosing between a bring your own device (BYOD) or company owned, personally enabled (COPE) method is a big decision for a fleet to make, which is why it’s crucial to keep these factors in mind:

Make a clear business decision on your biggest goal: regulatory compliance, optimizing asset utilization, managing operating costs, improving customer service or reducing driver turnover.

Data Requirements
Identify what information needs to be in real-time, daily, weekly or monthly to drive mission-critical operations and which employees need that information and for what purpose.

Technology Requirements
Are there additional factors beyond location that need to be monitored? How often do assets need messages to be sent? Plenty of questions need to be assessed before honing in on a particular type of technology for the company to use.

Plan for the Future
Can the smart device system grow and adapt along with company goals? Find out how updates and upgrades are handled and what happens with the equipment if new vehicles are introduced.

Driver Satisfaction
Think about how drivers and technicians will realistically be able to use the system. Consider how it could affect driver satisfaction and loyalty. Ultimately, a company should find a system that will be considered a benefit by employees and managers throughout the  organization.
 

Shazia Haq is Teletrac's senior creative editor and contributor to the Teletrac blog. She has an impressive background in journalism and b2b content marketing. Shazia earned her master's degree in international politics from NYU and worked for both the LA Times and NPR before joining the Teletrac team. When she's not interviewing the major players in the commercial fleet space, you can find her at the dog park with her Lab puppies, Email Shazia