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USA System Pricing Guide
Pricing a complete iTRAK™ AVL solution from Future Quest involves 4 basic steps:
| 1. |
Purchase the iTRAK™ java application or hardware device for each of your vehicles for a one-time cost that is highly competitive. |
| 2. |
Determine your wireless connectivity source. For many users, such as current Nextel™ or Telus Mobility Mike™ users, your existing wireless phone can be used as the data transmitting device, by simply adding a packet data airtime package. |
| 3. |
Activate that existing unit on a packet data plan that suits your expected usage requirements. Contact Future Quest for help in choosing the most appropriate network and packet data phone or modem. |
| 4. |
Subscribe to the monthly iTRAK Fleet Manager service plan that suits your fleet size and contract length preferences. |
iTRAK™ Pricing
As described in these web pages, the iTRAK™ series of GPS products covers almost any installation and network configuration possible, from java applications for GPS phones to permanent installation on most any network.
U.S. iTRAK pricing ranges from $24.95 for the one time purchase of the java application for a GPS phone (iTRAKjava™) to $399 for the standard iTRAK™ for use with a non-GPS phone. Permanent installations of the iTRAKpro™ range from $799.00 to $999.00, depending on the modem and wireless network chosen.
In addition to the purchase price of the iTRAK™ device, a one-time activation fee is often required, depending on the device and network chosen.
Packet Data Plans
Each iTRAK™ unit or GPS java phone used for tracking must have an associated data services plan from the wireless carrier. Billed data is based on the number of kilobytes of data transmitted to and from the mobile device.
Follow this simple process to approximate the amount of data you will require for your fleet tracking application:
| 1. |
Determine whether you would like position reports based on time or distance. For example, would you like to know where your vehicles or people are every mile or every 5 minutes? Lets assume for this example that you want to know where the vehicles are every km. |
| 2. |
Calculate the expected number of reports per day based on the average distance your vehicles travel daily. For example, lets say your vehicles average 100 km per day. With reporting every km, this would equal 100 reports per day. In the time example above, reporting every 5 minutes would equal 12 reports per hour. On a 12 hour day, that would be 144 reports. |
| 3. |
Add on 20% to these calculations to account for stop and start reports. In the distance calculation above, this would now equal 120 reports per day. In the time calculation method, this would equal 172 reports. |
| 4. |
Multiply this by the number of days per month that the vehicle will be driving or the person will be working. In this example, we'll use 20 days. That would equal 2400 reports for the distance based calculation and 3440 on the time based calculation. |
| 5. |
Now multiply this number by the factor in the chart below, which approximates the number of bytes a single position report uses, depending on the network. You will notice that some networks use less data than others. This is primarily because some networks assign static I/P addresses to the mobiles, while others use dynamic I/P's. The static I/P based networks use less data because they require less network overhead. Generally, the dynamic I/P based carriers know this and make up for it with larger monthly data allotments, so it is not usually an important factor in the decision process. |
| 6. |
The distance based example would require approximately 240K of data on an IDEN or CDPD network and 720k on a GPRS or CDMA 1X network. The time based example would require 344k of data on an iDEN or CDPD network and just over 1 MB on a dynamic I/P based network. |
| 7. |
Add an additional 25% contingency margin, to account for peak periods. In these examples, you would require a 1 MB plan on static I/P based networks and 1.25 MB on dynamic I/P based networks. Remember, these are general rules of thumb, but they are based on experience. |
Data Multiplier Chart
| Protocol |
iDEN |
CDPD |
GPRS |
CDMA 1X |
| Multiplier |
100 |
100 |
300 |
300 |
In USA, most users tracking needs will fit comfortably into the standard data rate plans offered by the major carriers, which range from $20.00 to $30.00 monthly, plus carrier system access fees of $6.95 monthly.
iTRAK™ Fleet Manager Internet Mapping Service Plans
iTRAK™ Fleet Manager is an Internet based AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) service that provides a highly functional array of services on a monthly subscription basis. Once an iTRAK™ product has been purchased and activated on a wireless packet data service, a subscription to iTRAK Fleet Manager is all that is required to have your complete solution operating. Because iTRAK Fleet Manager is an ASP based service, there is no need to purchase, install, configure or maintain expensive software, digital maps or hardware servers. The iTRAK Fleet Manager service provides these components and a wide range of innovative features that allow your company to maintain tighter control over your mobile assets, while improving customer service and efficiency.
Mapping services for NavView™ are charged on a monthly subscription basis, but billed quarterly in advance. The monthly rates vary by device, unit quantity and type, ranging from only $14.95 per month to $24.95 per month.
Pricing for all iTRAK Fleet Manager Service Plans are based on an unlimited number of position updates/month. Unlike many other internet based location tracking providers, iTRAK Fleet Manager rates do not increase depending on the frequency of GPS position updates from the mobile units. The only limiting factor is the size of your data plan from your wireless carrier.
Click here for more information on iTRAK Fleet Manager™
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