Summer 2006

It may be increasingly common for operators to track vehicles when they are at risk of being stolen, but it can be equally beneficial for security companies to track their own vehicles. This has been recognised in the decision by Bournemouth-based Eagle Hoburne to designated SupaTrak from CMS Global Technologies as its preferred vehicle tracking solution.

The company operates 14 vehicles on nightly mobile patrols that take in the premises of around 400 customers. The area they cover extends from Portland to Hayling Island along the south coast up to Petersfield in the north.

The guards also provide an alarm response and keyholder service to another 400 to 500 customers in the area, and reaching a given location quickly can be very important.

One of the company's prime objectives in adopting a tracking system was to reassure its security guards that the control room would always know their location, and be able to respond appropriately to any security situation.

At the same time, by using SupaTrak's postcode finder technology, it is able use the system to direct guards to locations where an alarm has been activated - an invaluable time-saver.

And in the event of a vehicle being stolen with keys to customer premises on board, Eagle Hoburne believes the system will provide an ideal way to track its movement whilst alerting the emergency services and directing them to its location. Fortunately, it stresses, it has not yet had an opportunity to try this out.

According to Danny Surface, Eagle Hoburne's regional operations manager, the system has also reduced radio communication time, cut the cost of insurance premiums, and enabled the company to provide customers with a better overall service, particularly in terms of alarm response. "Being able to have a historical record of vehicle movements is also a bonus," he adds.