Fast arrest thanks to TomTom WORK tracking system

3 April 2008, London: A light-footed opportunist thief in Sheffield has just had his collar felt very quickly thanks to the tracking capability of TomTom WORK, TomTom's Connected Navigation solution for fleet management companies.

The thief struck when the driver of the £30,000 Mercedes Sprinter van belonging to local company Dedicated Couriers left his vehicle for just a few seconds on Tuesday afternoon to get a delivery note signed.

Despite the vehicle being in a secure compound at a customer's premises with security staff on duty, the thief was able to make a clean getaway, said Dedicated Courier's managing director, Eric Whittaker.

What he didn't know was that I could instantly locate the van, thanks to the tracking capability linked through our WEBFLEET system to my office in the centre of Sheffield.

This enabled me to relay precise details of the van's position to the Police, and they immediately alerted their helicopter. Within a very short time, they had tracked the stolen vehicle down to an area of Rotherham, an arrest was made and our van was recovered intact.

Our principal reason for using the TomTom WORK WEBFLEET system is to relay collection information directly to the driver without having to call his mobile phone. He can acknowledge the instruction by simply tapping the screen, and the unit then directs him by the shortest route to the customer.

Having a built-in tracking capability is a bonus – and what a good bonus it has proved to be. We received our vehicle back the same day and the Police took a vehicle thief off the streets of Sheffield. A superb result for TomTom WORK and super work by the South Yorkshire Police!

Dedicated Couriers use TomTom GO 715 units in their 26 vehicles as part of a connected navigation system based on TomTom WORK's WEBFLEET service. This is a web-based vehicle tracking and tracing service that monitors and guides vehicles and staff, and supports better fleet management and business planning and control.

The TomTom GO 715 unit itself provides:

• Easy to use navigation showing the best routes
• 3D map views
• Simple and timely spoken instructions
• Touch screen confirmation of instructions received linked to instant navigation to the address
• Hands-free communication with Bluetooth enabled mobile phones

This comprehensive capability is backed by the WEBFLEET service. This enables traffic offices and control rooms to know precisely the location of a vehicle and to obtain accurate information on arrival times, which can significantly increase vehicle utilisation and improve customer service levels. The system can also provide audit trails to satisfy Duty of Care legislation and produce a range of useful management reports such as driving times, overtime, vehicle mileages, and dead running time.