Vehicle Tracking

Some time ago I was chatting to a bloke who worked for a company selling vehicle tracking. It was an informal, social discussion and I said that I should consider it for my little car. What were the benefits? I assumed that it was about having a small device fitted to the car, then forgetting about it. If the car was stolen, I’d report the theft, and the company would track it. 
Wrong. They fit a small inconspicuous device, certainly, but “vehicle tracking”, I soon found out, was about far more than looking for stolen cars! He explained to me that I would have access to software that tracked the vehicle’s progress, and kept a history. His reason for saying that was really in the context of speeding fines! He was trying to tell me that if I wanted to check the accuracy of the gadget they’d used to trap me, I could use the vehicle tracking software to see where the vehicle was at the time, and what speed I was doing. 
He went on to tell me about a person who had submitted a claim for damage to his vehicle “under normal driving conditions”. When they checked the tracking software for location and driving patterns at the time of the “accident”, they discovered that he had been on a speedway at the time, racing the vehicle! 
That convinced me. I didn’t install vehicle tracking. I remembered that on the weekend, I’d been teaching my young daughter to drive the car – on a very quiet, deserted road – but she was still under 14 years of age! All I needed was for the tracking system to detect erratic driving patterns and to alert the police, who would come and investigate! Vehicle tracking would have to wait awhile! 
Fleet Management: 
Typically, a neat GPS/GPRS receiver would be installed in the car, van, truck, motorbike, boat – whatever the vehicle. The Global Positioning System (GPS) will then track the vehicle permanently. The receiver sends out a position signal every 15 or 30 seconds while the vehicle ignition is on, or every 15 minutes when the ignition is off. (The frequency appears to vary according to the product.)  
However, software is provided, often windows based, for the customer to be able to keep track the vehicle – or fleet of vehicles – personally. This has numerous benefits, as it allows customers to be able to: 
Track multiple vehicles and view them on the screen at the same time, giving real time positions of every vehicle in the fleet. (U.K. and Europe.)
Monitor speeding of vehicles – a message is sent either by sms or a pop-up window when a vehicle is speeding.
Monitor unauthorized use of a vehicle – it works 24/7.
Be able to advise customers of estimated delivery times, based on the position of a vehicle.
Obtain reports when a vehicle is used outside of prescribed limits.
And, of course, the tracking of stolen vehicles. 
Each journey is recorded and then archived, so it can be recalled for investigation at any time. 
Seems like a worthwhile investment.