When the safety of others is entrusted to you

When the safety of others
is entrusted to you, count
on us to keep them safer!

While watching a recent PBS special, we noted that some very progressive and caring churches were providing vans to transport children to visit their mom's in prison. Since prisoners (at least in Alabama) are allowed two monthly visits by family members, there exists a tremendous potential for witnessing both to the children and their parents through a bus/van ministry.

However, there is a potential problem in that most prisons are often purposefully placed in remote areas where modern cell phones don't work. In the event of a breakdown, a disturbance among passengers, or other emergency; your driver can get help with the push of a button virtually anywhere in North America - even in rural areas! Even if you don't do prison visits (which really isn't a bad idea), you probably transport students or seniors for special activities. There are some other things you can do as well. You can keep exact records for IRS reporting purposes. You can monitor vehicle activity (Some people have been known to use busses or vans for personal use. If you permanently mount your system, you can even track down your vehicle if it is stolen! Here's how it works!

Before leaving, a portable GPS tracking device is plugged into the vehicle DC outlet (they used to call them cigarette lighter receptacles, but since most of us don't smoke anymore, we had to come up with a new name - hence, DC outlet...) Anyway, you take this little gadget about the size of a student Bible (you know, the one with the small print that you can put in your pocket), and plug it in to the vehicle DC outlet

This little gadget, called Trakit, is a self contained GPS receiver with a built in Cellemetry® network transceiver. Without getting technical, let's, just say that it lines itself up on three stationary satellites whizzing around in outer space, then calculates your exact location within 30 feet or less. This accumulated location is stored in a buffer and transmitted at predetermined intervals (typically once an hour which is sufficient for administration purposes). The accumulated data is transferred via the Cellemetry network as information that can be displayed in text or graphic format. More about this shortly. For now, our concern is how to help a driver needing assistance.

Now we add a second component. For lack of a better term, let's call it the button box. It's really not so complicated, It's just a little brown box, only slightly larger than a package of cigarettes. It has a red light, a green light, and a button. In the event of an emergency, the driver pushes the button to send an emergency location message. The red light will come on to indicate the message has been sent, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. There is yet another component (actually two) that are required to complete the system configuration.

In order to transmit a data message and receive an acknowledgement, you need an antenna. In the case of Trakit, there are two antennas - one for receiving GPS signals, and another for transmitting data. These antennas can be permanently mounted, but most church users prefer a magnetic mount combination. This allows the device to be used in different vehicles as required. The antenna shown here can be placed on the dashboard or window ledge with no outside mounting required. Velcro mounting strips are supplied for easy mounting and removal.

Now, we have all the equipment required in the vehicle. Your total cost for everything including activation is $720 plus $12 shipping. There are two other components required - the message delivery network, and the reception device. Let's begin with the discussion of the network. The Cellemetry network is provided by Bellsouth Corporation. Without getting into all the details, let's just say that this network combines the coverage capabilities of both the newer digital systems as well as the older analog systems. The bottom line is that it works in both urban and rural areas, nationwide!

Use of the Cellemetry network requires an service agreement with an annual payment of $240, payable in advance. This service includes records of up to 4 stops per day for general administration, tracking, and recovery purposes. If total hourly fleet registrations exceeds 350 per month, the excess registrations will be billed at $.15 each. Normally, the basic fee (which works out to $20 per month) is more than adequate for church vehicle use. There is one additional charge that we hope you never have to use and that is the emergency alert or query function. In an emergency, there is a $1 charge for activating the panic button (special message handling required). There is also a $1 charge for making an emergency query from your cell phone or PC to determine the current location of a vehicle. As we said before, we hope you never require either of these special activations, but if you do, it is a very small price to pay when lives may be at stake.

There are two ways to display location and alert information from Trakit mobile devices. The most efficient and least expensive method is to send the messages to a cell phone! If you have a cell phone that has text messaging capability, the location alert information can be sent directly to your cell phone! Most cellular rate plans have text messaging capability either as a standard feature or at small additional cost. There is no cost, other than the $1 message delivery charge associated with the Trakit system. A cell phone can also be used to query (i.e. request location) of a Trakit equipped vehicle. Again, there is no charge other than the aforementioned $1 message delivery charge.

The alternate message exchange system is to use your Windows Internet connected PC. For a one time charge of $399, you can purchase the necessary software and maps to visually display movement, stops, speeds, and trips outside assigned boundaries. If in doubt, start with the free version working with your cell phone. You can add the PC software at any time.

Let's summarize! You have an initial investment of $972 for equipment and your first years service. Your only additional cost would be emergency or query activations. Hopefully there will be no need to make any of these calls. We assume you already have a cell phone. If not, click here for the best cell phone prices anywhere! If we amortize our cost on a daily basis, it works out to less than $2.70 per day for the piece of mind in knowing that help can be immediately available to your driver and passengers when needed. You will also have a detailed record of trip activity (very handy when dealing with the IRS) and even track down your stolen vehicle (if you have permanently covertly mounted your Trakit device).

The second year, your cost would be just $240 or just $.65 per day. If you have a need for emergency alarm and location reporting capability from just about anywhere, Trakit is for you! When you are ready to order, just give us a call at 1.800.489.2611 or order on line at www.falcondirect.com in the GPS Products section.

®Cellemetry is a registered trademark of Bellsouth Corporation

36 - 20th Avenue NW- Birmingham, AL 35215