I wrote a post a little while ago about using GPS for locating elders suffering Alzheimer’s or Dementia. Since then I have already seen 3 more Silver Alerts on the highway signs and in every case the missing elder was driving a vehicle, so in every case a GPS system on the vehicle would have probably ended the crisis. In these cases, there was no need for inconvenient GPS ankle bracelets or other wearable systems that have been proposed by some.  Not that a system like that wouldn’t have a place as well, but I can say that regardless of his condition, I doubt I could ever get my father to wear a GPS tracker, but I might be able to get him to install a system in his vehicle.

You may also notice that avoided the term “GPS tracking system” for this application and instead used the term “locating.” I think this is appropriate because unlike a fleet management application, the purpose is not to monitor a vehicles activities, but simply to be able to locate it when a crisis has occurred.

In the competitive world of GPS tracking everyone is trying to one-up the competition. As we’ve discussed previously Ublip is trying to one-down the competition. Our approach is less is more and we’ve identified the features that we feel are most important to companies or consumers with small fleets. We don’t believe in “everything but the kitchen sink” when it comes to our products. Wireless networks, devices, and protocols are complex beasts and we ultimately want to abstract our users from all this. Our goal is to provide a fun and engaging user experience when tracking mobile assets. If you don’t believe me then feel free to give us a try and we’re offering a 30 day money back guarantee on our GPS tracking device. We stand by our product enough to let you use it and return it if you’re not 100% satisfied. If you’re evaluating a GPS tracking system I encourage you to give us a try. You can order your GPS tracking device online and have it up and running in minutes (after you receive it, of course).

We’ve received quite a few emails asking for more information about our GPS tracking system. Our tour page shows a few screen shots of the system, but we’ve decided to expose a real GPS tracking demo based on demand. Please note that the GPS data in the system is intentionally delayed for security reasons. In our live system this data would be accurate within minutes of the current time. We believe you’ll agree that our Web-based GPS tracking software is simple to use and isn’t bloated with features. Read more about what you can do with it on our demo page. As always, feel free to contact us or post any questions in the comments section below.

As I was driving into the office this morning I noticed a message on the electronic highway signs, “Missing Elderly…Red Ford F150 TX license number XXX XXX…call police”. This was a Silver Alert, a recent extension of the Amber Alert program to cover missing elderly people suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s. I thought about how horrible an experience it must be for this person and his family. Then I thought about the fact that we now have the technology to make many of these alerts unnecessary. What if, instead of initiating a massive search, the family could simply log onto a website and see the exact location of their elderly family member’s vehicle. They would have a very good chance then of simply being able to go to this location and find their loved one.

Coincidentally,  I was also listening to a podcast of BioTech Nation on my commute and I heard a very scary statistic. Apparently, just a little under 50% of people living past 85 years of age are now expected to develop Alzheimer’s. When you consider that in light of current demographic trends, we are going to be seeing a lot more incidents like this in coming years. Hopefully, through the use of GPS technology, many of these incidents can become dinner conversations and not tragedies.

I just read a great story about a musician who left his beloved guitar in the trunk of a taxi cab. In this and most cases, passengers don’t remember the number of the cab they used. However, in this case, they were able to quickly figure that out because the cab was tracked using GPS and the story has a happy ending. While there are many obvious benefits that come from tracking vehicles and other assets using GPS, there are many other unanticipated benefits to knowing exactly where things are.