Automotive Fleet Magazine recently released the 2013 Fleet Guide that highlights the top 20 questions to ask telematics companies when looking to select a provider. These are great questions to put on your RFP.
What kind of warranty do you offer?
Like with any gadgets, such as cell phones or tablets, you always get a warranty with a GPS device. The length of the warranty varies though from provider to provider. When you purchase a GPS device, some providers offer a few months, and some a year. If you forego purchasing the devices, and become a rental/subscription customer, you may get a life-time warranty. This is important to consider.
Does your solution have full feature 3D mapping?
Most GPS tracking companies have “street view” mapping options within their platform, but very few actually have full feature 3D mapping. You can view current location and breadcrumb trails of multiple vehicles, visualize reports, create landmarks, use mapping overlays, and more. 3D mapping provides better visual insight into fleet activity.
Are you financially stable, with high growth and high profitability?
Financial stability should be key in your decision. In this industry there have been a number of companies that have come and gone, leaving their customers in the dust with no service. Stability is important because you want a telematics partner that will be there for the long run, since this is neither a cheap nor a short term investment.
Can you handle diverse fleets with diverse assets?
Some GPS tracking platforms do not support assets and vehicles. Make sure that if you have a diverse fleet, that you will be able to view the entire fleet from one interface and that the platform can provide the appropriate data for each type of asset you have.
Will your telematics solution provide free, unlimited historical data?
No matter what your business is, being able to go back historically and pull reports and information is critical. Find out if the provider discards your data after a certain amount of time and if they will charge you to get old data. There are companies out there that provide unlimited historical data for free. Be sure to bring this up, because there are many instances where this could come in handy as proof for your employees and business.
*Source: Automotive Fleet Magazine
