MalaysiaGIS.com

Now, the system is being used by companies to keep track of their vehicle fleets.

One such system is offered by Rimman VM (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd - a joint venture between Singapore-based location and mapping applications company Virtual Map Pte Ltd and local digital map data provider Rimman International Sdn Bhd.

The GPS-based VMIntelliTrac vehicle monitoring, tracking and security module is being used by 10 Malaysian customer so far, including a freight firm and a company servicing telecommunications base nations and network infrastructures nationwide.

The module, when fitted into say, a lorry, is hooked up to GPS and GSM antennas and also to the vehicle's engine, horn and anti-theft alarm system.

Software on a PC at the security firm's control centre keeps track of the lorry's movements and it can be configured to trigger an alert if the vehicle exceeds a pre-defined speed limit, goes outside a pre-defined operational area (such as the state boundaries) or is operated outside pre-defined operational hours.

If this happens, the vehicle can be disabled remotely. The module would then send out its GPS coordinates via SMS to the control centre, to aid in interception or recovery tasks.

The firm can also assign a security car to follow the lorry; the security team will carry a GPS-enabled Benefon TrackPro GSM phone, which has a special emergency button that can be configured to initiate a series of actions - including disabling the lorry's engine, sounding its alarm or locking the cabin doors - in the event of theft or any other incident.

The team would also be able to visually monitor the lorry when it's inaccessible to GPS signals, such as when the vehicle is in a tunnel.

The VMIntelliTrac module costs RM3,500, the control centre software is RM10,000 and the Benefon TrackPro phone costs RM3,000.

Meanwhile, car owners who want to use the system as added security need only buy the module, which would be made to work with any regular GSM handphone.

The car owners would then rely on Rimman VM's control centres in Mont Kiara and Technology Park Malaysia in Selangor to track their vehicles.

"Parents could even preset the speed limit and co-ordinates of places they don't want their children driving to and the module will alert their handphones if these limits are exceeded," said Firdhaus Akber, Rimman VM chief executive officer.

"And if the vehicle is stolen, they can have the engine disabled, call the police and give the authorities, the GPS location of the vehicle, which the module would have sent to the owner's handphone."