Global Cloud Fleet’s new VS800 Video Solution helps boost fleet management capabilities with many stand-out features. We have seen through previous posts many of the different ways that the VS800 Video Solution is advantageous. For example, our article on the dual camera illustrated how important dash cameras can be for fleets from both a safety and cost standpoint. Likewise other articles have shown how this solution can help fleets save on fuel and help with remote coaching.
In this post, we are going to further examine 4 features that make the VS800 Video Solution stand out. These include:
Two-Part Solution
A unique aspect to the VS800 Video Solution is that it comes as a two-part solution. That is, the camera is one part, and the GPS tracker gateway (EZ750) is the other. In other solutions, the gateway and camera are contained in one piece of hardware, but there are a few advantages to having this two-piece design. First, the footprint of a two-part solution is less bulky as both parts can now be smaller and separated from each other. This offers more windshield visibility—as the gateway is placed in a more discrete location like under the driver’s seat—and is overall less of a driving distraction.
Even more important, though, is that a two-part solution greatly helps in preventing overheating. Technology by itself gets hot. Cars in the hot sun? Very hot. So, putting the two together shapes up to be an overheating problem waiting to happen. The ways to reduce this is by minimizing the features that the camera device in the windshield can perform. So, by separating the VS800 from the gateway, much of the computing and video communications can be done away from the hot windshield. This keeps the devices reliable in hotter temperatures, minimizes the production of extra heat near the driver, and thus allows the capacity to accommodate more available features.
Also, what if your fleet is not ready for cameras or does not need them? What makes the two-device design so great is that the EZ750 can be installed by itself before the VS800. So, if fleets are not ready for cameras, they can still unlock the library of capabilities that the EZ750 provides, such as GPS tracking, harsh accelerations and braking, idling, and much more. Then, when ready, fleets can easily and seamlessly add on cameras as they just plug in to the already installed gateway device. No device replacement is necessary. This allows fleets to progress at their own pace and not face pressure of going “all in” on both a tracker gateway and the camera. Likewise, they do not have to worry about any installation nightmares when they are ready to move forward.
Gateway & Camera Coupling
But why does the VS800 Video Solution need the gateway/tracker to connect to it in the first place? What benefit does that bring? Well, by having the VS800 Video Solution couple with the EZ750 gateway, it creates a full device ecosystem that unlocks so many more invaluable capabilities. By having this coupled solution, the devices can communicate with one another and to provide analysis that each device alone cannot. Let us take harsh braking as an example. With the EZ750, the device will utilize its accelerometer to trigger the event of harsh braking. If the EZ750 is the only device in the fleet vehicle, then at that point the event would be logged, and the fleet manager would be notified of a harsh brake and receive the GPS location and time. That is very useful, but a harsh brake can mean anything. The driver could have not been paying attention, and broke to prevent a collision or not run a light. Or the driver could have broken harshly because an animal sprinted across the road out of nowhere. The driver could have even broken harshly because an accident ahead occurred, and it was the best way to avoid further collisions. With the VS800 Video Solution, though, fleet managers can see exactly why the harsh brake occurred and see what the driver was doing during the event. This ability to supply context to many of the events that the EZ750 can identify helps fleet managers figure out what events are real issues and what are not.
Moving beyond context, with the VS800, the two devices can work together to monitor events such as collision risks and traffic violations. The VS800 can communicate with the EZ750 that the vehicle is at a stop sign or red light, and the gateway can ensure that the vehicle comes to a full stop. These issues are very important to pick up as traffic violations can add up and even result in higher insurance rates. Even more, having the ability to see when drivers are at risk of collision can help fleet managers take proactive steps to ensuring drivers stay safe while on the road.
Resolution and Object Pickup
If you have scrolled through our website or seen some of our LinkedIn posts, you have seen some of the amazing footage that the VS800 captures. The resolution of the camera is top-tier and allows fleet managers to have a clear picture as to what happened. But on top of that, the actual object pickup of the camera makes this solution so great. Using AI technologies, the camera can identify many different types of objects while on the road. That ranges from the necessary ones—stop signs, traffic lights, and adjacent cars—but also goes even further than that and picks up many more objects. On the highway, it captures and identifies all surrounding cars with upmost accuracy, and in residential roads it picks up objects of all different shapes and sizes. Below shows the wide range and accuracy of objects picked up. By being able to locate and identify all these different objects, fleet managers can be certain that nothing will be missed, and critical events can be accurately triggered. On top of that, this object pickup allows for reliable in-cab alerts of collision risks with any object, not just cars.
Critical Event Monitoring
As mentioned earlier, the video solution identifies, triggers, and uploads video using a “critical event” criterion. This is one of the camera’s best advantages. We have all seen the comedy scenes when they replay hours upon hours of security footage and find all sorts of wacky behavior before finally finding what they were looking for. With the capability of recognizing “critical events” on the road, the VS800 streamlines video footage to only what the fleet manager would want to see. These critical events include stop sign and red-light violations, harsh braking, turns, and accelerations, reckless driving, collisions, and even collision risks. Not only does this vastly reduce the amount of actual video uploaded to the cloud server, but it gives fleet managers invaluable insights on the most important events on the road.
But it goes further than that too. By being able to label certain critical events, the hardware solution can take proactive, real-time action with in-cab driver alerts. Also, catching and labeling these events helps with producing a diver score rubric that can be applied when evaluating fleet drivers. This capability goes beyond just limiting the amount of video uploaded, but genuinely helps fleet managers create a comprehensive management program.