You might be asking yourself, what’s the big deal with the new video telematics trend, and what will Fleet Complete Vision actually do for me? Why do I need it? Below, we explain all the what’s and why’s for you.
We are visual learners
The buzz around video telematics is due to the advantage of having the actual visual proof of certain driving activity that can either be detrimental to your fleet or can potentially save you a variety of costs – insurance, liability, maintenance.
Video telematics provide short video recordings of driving violations as well as trip replay and analysis. If you integrate it with your regular GPS fleet tracking, you will also see metrics on distance, route, fuel economy, idling and so on.
Now you might be thinking, I already have the vehicle tracking and driver behaviour analytics, why do I need to add video recording on top of all that? Is this just one of those schemes to get more money out of my pocket?
Not really. Let’s say that your driver is on the road, and you see harsh driving alerts in the trip replay. You speak to the driver about them, but the driver doesn’t quite understand what happened there, because, in his personal opinion, he was doing a fine job and didn’t notice any adverse patterns in his driving – is the tracking system having a glitch? Is it too sensitive to the slightest variation? Can we trust it?
Or, perhaps, there were some extenuating circumstances, where your driver didn’t have a choice, but who would believe it? It’s all ‘he said, she said’.
That’s where the video event recording will come in handy – seeing is believing. You can easily demonstrate to the driver via video recording what the driving infraction was while on the road; or alternatively, review an incident where the circumstances have conspired against your driver.
How does it work?
It’s simple. You have the Fleet Complete web portal set up for all your fleet management activities, and your drivers have uploaded the Fleet Complete Vision app on their mobile devices.
The dedicated dashcam connects to the Vision app automatically, as soon as it detects its presence in the vehicle. It has its own SSID for the Wi-Fi connection, so no mobile data is required for the connectivity to the app. As long as the Wi-Fi is enabled on the mobile device you’re using, the camera will connect.
It will start and end the trip recording on its own without any input – all thanks to the sensor technology that detects vehicle movement.
It will also stream high-resolution videos into the Vision app and the dedicated portal, where fleet managers and drivers can review the video clips after the trip.
As an administrator, you will be able to see the most recently used vehicles appear on top so that you don’t have to do a long search in the list. Also simple.
When the trip recording is active, the camera won’t be recording the entire trip. Its sensors will be triggered when an infraction or aggressive driving behaviour occurs:
- Not stopping at a STOP sign (rolling stop)
- Harsh cornering or braking
- Lane departure
- Harsh acceleration
- Speed limit violation
That’s when the camera will actually be recording.
After the trip, if you’re a fleet manager and would like to review the recorded infractions, log into the web portal and you will see a google map with special ‘video camera’ icons that mark the spots where a poor driving activity occurred. Just click on any of them, and it will replay the video recording of what happened during than poor driving activity.
Biggest benefits
Driver safety, coaching, and vehicle cost savings.
Improving driver behaviour on the road – either on individual or fleet level – will help with your overall operational business safety. This will add more credibility in your customer relations.
More over, drivers can self-coach! With Vision, your drivers will be able to proactively manage their own performance and review their driving daily in a personalized app.
This will also reflect on how often you need to service your vehicles – changing brake pads less often due to fewer harsh braking instances, for instance – will positively affect your finances.
You’ll be able to moderate fuel spending – harsh acceleration, for example, burns 10-15% more of it.
Insurance premiums can also be positively affected. Many insurance companies today will give discounts if driver monitoring technologies, such as video recording, are implemented.
So what’s the catch?
None. Fleet Complete Vision serves as an auxiliary tool for your fleet and risk management to monitor what actually happens on the road. It’s an affordable coaching item for your drivers to actually see what their driving looks like and improve from there.
As for your fleet administrators and safety coaches, it’s a great tool to ensure proper training and help the entire fleet with proper driving analysis.
