Econet’s ‘big brother’ tracker

At the launch of the Econet Connected tracker product.

EVERY time a vehicle is on the road, it incurs costs. One has to pay the driver’s salary and keep the vehicle fuelled. If a loading crew was waiting, they must be paid for that idle time.  If the driver diverts from his route for personal business, it might also cost a company potential revenue.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s recently launched “Econet Connected Car,” which is expected to take fleet management services to another level, could be an ideal way to manage the vehicle fleet for any business, or even individually owned vehicles.  If one closely monitors what is happening on their fleet, they can make the necessary adjustments to improve efficiency and earnings.

Speaking at the launch on Wednesday last week, the chief executive officer of Econet Services International, Darlington Mandivenga, said that after spending years connecting people, the company was now shifting attention to connecting all aspects of people’s lifestyles, starting with their cars. “This is the first from a very wide range of products that will offer our customers what we call connected lifestyles by ensuring that everything is connected. This is going to be big, very big,” Mandivenga said.

Through the range of connected lifestyles products, Mandivenga said Econet Services was offering customers an “unparalleled, personal, intuitive, effortless, personal and instant ability to remote control, monitor, manage, protect and maintain their various assets”.

Satellite tracking is said to keep employees honest. If they are being tracked or monitored, they tend not to make inappropriate pit stops, and will not sit idly while the pay clock runs.  Global Positioning Systems (GPS) mostly in developed countries, just like what Econet Connected Car intends to achieve, has become a popular way for employers to monitor employees whose job depends on driving and for the parents of teenage drivers to monitor how the teens are behaving on the roads.

Speaking at the same event, Dorothy Zimuto, chief operating officer for Econet Connected Car, said that the company would ensure that most of the over 1,2 million cars in Zimbabwe could be connected within a few months. “We have invested in the necessary infrastructure to deliver this service efficiently with over 100 installers specifically trained for the Econet Connected Car ready to offer unparalleled installation turnaround time,” said Zimuto.

With a once off installation fee of US$100 per car and US$20 monthly service fee, the Econet Connected Car is bound to disrupt the vehicle management solutions industry in the same way that EcoCash did to financial services. “The Econet Connected Car will take fleet management services to another level with very unique value added services such as the Connected Car Mobile Application which can be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple store,” she said.

With Econet Connected Car, the car performs regular self-diagnosis and reports to its owner. This is under what Econet Services calls the personal vehicle management service, which also offers services such as geo fencing and driver habit monitoring.

Zimuto said that the service is available at any Econet shop and the many authorised Econet Connected Car dealers across the country, as well as from the Connected Car Crew. As companies with which one does business with can watch you closely, they can spot inconsistencies, and have the capability to compare one’s business with other similar businesses. It is in any company’s best interest to have a firm grasp of operations so that they can maintain a strong reputation.

While this may work in the company’s interest, many people consider the act of tracking vehicles to be an invasion of privacy. When many businesses started using GPS tracking in developed countries, employees became angry and stated that they felt like the company no longer trusted them. They felt that by tracking where they travelled for work, the company was questioning their loyalty. Many employees also felt that it was an invasion of their rights under the constitution.

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