Platform4 Patrol Fleet More Secure with Argus Tracking
With patrol vehicles on the road 12 hours a night, Platform 4 Group’s business heavily relies on knowing their whereabouts.
Based in Auckland and Christchurch, Platform 4 provides guard services, patrols, monitoring and event security for a wide range of customers, including government offices, major sporting bodies like the SkyCity NZ Breakers, and events like the Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park.
General Manager, Commercial Dan Scott explains that their fleet is a core part of business, but until they invested in fleet-management software, Argus Tracking, it cost them a lot in time and resources.
Argus Tracking was a perfect fit for all sorts of reasons. It’s helped them monitor driver behaviour, automate dispatch, and streamline customer service.
Driver ID Technology Enables Safer Driving
Before Argus Tracking, monitoring driver behaviour issues like speed camera fines was a prolonged process. Dan explains the security company has multiple drivers using the same vehicles, so it was sometimes hard to determine who was driving when. “I’d have to manually track who was rostered on, and who was driving the car, to figure out who was responsible for the fine – if I could. By implementing Argus Tracking with Driver ID, it helps us track our drivers’ behaviour.”
Driver ID technology, iButton, makes managing and measuring daily performance and safety easy work. It gives Platform 4 24-hour, real-time tracking of how its fleet is being used – and whether the drivers are being safe and responsible. Dan says he’s incredibly lucky to work with a responsible group of drivers, but better visibility of what is happening across the fleet is an important part of health and safety – something he takes really seriously.
iButton monitors driver behaviour at an individual vehicle and driver level. The benefits? Accurate driver timesheets, reduced administration time, accurate billing for jobs, vehicle activity related to individual drivers, and knowing who is driving each vehicle in compliance with health and safety obligations.
Dan has found the driver reporting easy to use, making it quick for him to monitor at-risk drivers. Platform 4’s drivers find the technology’s driver ID tags simple – drivers place the magnetic tags in the vehicles at the start of their shifts, taking them out once they’re finished.
In real-time the company can pinpoint a driver’s location, providing peace of mind for both Platform 4 and its drivers, and they can track the driver history of all their staff to make sure customers within each driver’s scheduled run have been checked and patrolled.
Geofencing and Reporting: Great Customer Service
Accurate reporting is essential to Platform 4’s services and without Argus Tracking, Dan explains, the process involved a lot of manpower. “When we needed to dispatch an asset to a job, we previously had to determine via phone call or radio call who was closest and best to go to that job,” he says.
Argus Tracking gives Dan a complete overview of his fleet in real time, so he can make informed decisions about who is best to respond to an incident. The geo-fencing and reporting capabilities also help Platform 4 provide more detailed and accurate customer service.
They’ve set up geo-fences around their clients’ sites, so they can monitor and accurately report on-site checks. They use the Stop Report to check vehicles are stopping at the right locations, and view travel time and distances between stops. The View Report also shows whether vehicles are travelling the correct routes and carrying out drive-by checks on the correct locations.
Dan can combine the information from these reports to identify and mediate things like discrepancies in timesheets or workload, something he believes has been great for customers.
Latest Software Version Gets Thumbs Up
Argus Tracking is constantly working to improve its software, and since its implementation, Dan describes an update in the software’s dashboard as one of its best improvements.
“In the latest version of the software, the dashboard presentation is simpler, making it easier to navigate.”
He adds that there are a lot of other features Platform 4 could take advantage of with Argus Tracking, but for now, the software is helping them to solve their most immediate issues.
“For me, the biggest thing was finding a fleet management solution that would save me time, and provide accuracy of knowing where my fleet is at any one time. If there are ever any issues, the Argus Tracking team is responsive, and when on the case, they’re very helpful.”
