*Note: Geofences are specifically appropriate for use with the 2830 Asset Tracking Devices
What Are Geofences?
Geofences are virtual boundaries placed around a property or geographical area. Asset trackers, also known as trailer or equipment trackers, will notate in their readings when the equipment enters or exits the area. The shaded area on the Map without an icon in the middle is a Geofences.
Why Are Geofences Important?
Geofence readings are used to ensure that tracking data regarding a specific geographic location can be easily found. Perhaps you’d like to know if equipment leaves a jobsite. Or see which equipment is currently assigned to which location. Setting up Geofences in the desired area will make these goals much easier to achieve. The entry/exit data can be viewed within Reports on demand, along with being used to trigger in-the-moment Alerts regarding the entry and exit of equipment.
How are Geofences Created?
Geofences are created on the Maps tab, under Map Utilities. Make sure the map is set to Satellite view. Begin by clicking the Wrench icon and make sure the Geofences button is selected.
To begin creating a Geofence, click on the Plus button. Next, select the Geofence type. Please be aware that 2830 model asset trackers can only recognize Polygon geofences.
The boundaries and shading for each Geofence can have their color customized. The default color is purple. To change the color, click on the purple square. After clicking on the square, the new choices will appear. Simply click to select.
Next, the Geofence will need a unique name along with any Tag assignments. Tags are an organizational tool that can be used for Geofences. This is particularly helpful if there are a large number of Geofences to organize.
Then, locate the intended property on the map. There are three options to do so: Address, Use Map Click and Unit. Address means searching for a particular address. Map click means dragging and zooming the map to find the desired location. And Unit means selecting a Unit from the list as you want to place the Geofence over that Unit’s current location. The Square and Circle options also provide the ability to search by Lat/Long.
For this example, Address will be used. Enter this information in the Address field. Look at the map to be sure the search has brought up the correct location. Zoom and move the map if needed.
Polygon geofence boundaries will need to be added manually. To set the boundaries, click on the map to set the pins. Pin placement can be adjusted to ensure adequate coverage of the area of interest. Move the pins around until satisfied with their placement.
GPS Trackit does not recommend overlapping Geofences with each other. They can be placed close together but boundaries should not touch.
Just a reminder, these boundaries can’t be changed once the Geofence is saved. Changing the boundaries after saving means deleting the Geofence and starting again.
Alerts are available for Geofences and are enabled as the Geofence is created. To set up an alert for a Geofence, toggle the Send Alert button. There are a choice of three, seen here. In, which triggers when the Geofence is entered. Out, when the Geofences is exited and In/Out to cover both actions.
The Inside Duration button is optional. The purpose is to set off the Alert if the vehicle has been inside the Geofence for a specific amount of time. For example, let’s say two hours are allotted for a piece of equipment to be used at a job site. The Inside Duration would trigger if the equipment remains inside the Geofence for longer than the chosen duration. To use, toggle the button to green, then select the duration using the Hours and Minutes field. If Inside Duration isn’t needed, simply leave the button on gray.
As with any Alert, Subscribers to receive the Alert must be selected. That means you must first build your contact list in the Account tab before creating Geofences. Click on the Subscribers field and select who the Geofence Alert should be sent to if triggered. Make sure to save.
Creation of the Geofences is step one. The second step is to assign (also known as pair) units to the Geofences. If this isn’t done, no readings will be produced from the Geofence nor will any alerts be triggered. There are two options for the pairing. The first option is to click on the Wrench icon, then find the Geofence on the list.
After finding the Geofence to work with, click on the ‘Manage’ link. Any Units paired to this Geofence will now be visible. Use the dropdown menu to select Units to pair. To unpair a device, click the X to the right. Use the Assign button to save changes.
The second option for pairing is the Units button. Each tracking device can only recognize a certain number of Geofences. That number varies by device type and is seen here. The number directly to the left is the number of geofences the unit has already been set to recognize. The number to the right is the total number of geofences the unit is able to pair with.
Click the link to update the Geofences attached to a particular unit. Use the drop down menu to select the Geofences to be paired. To remove the pairing, use the X to remove the Geofence from the selected list. Make sure to save the changes by clicking the Assign button.
To edit or delete a Geofence, locate them on the list and hover your mouse over the card. A 3-dot button will appear in the right corner. Click on this button to see the Edit and Delete options.
To control whether or not the Geofence boundaries are visible on the, use the Map Settings button. Simply toggle the button on and off as needed. And lastly, use the Geofences Visible At slider to adjust how tightly the map needs to zoom for the boundary lines to be visible.