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Wireless Matrix marketing director Mark Freeman and CEO J. Richard Carlson have expanded their advanced GPS-based fleet tracking service to small- and medium-sized operations.

HERNDON, Va. — In refining its GPS fleet technology, Wireless Matrix started big before moving up to the small.

The company built its technology on a client roster of major cable, utility and railroad companies that need to accurately track their fleets in real time to operate as efficiently as possible. Now, the GPS innovator is bringing its FleetOutlook Web-based system to small- to medium-sized fleet operations, including the chauffeured transportation and charter and tour sectors.

“People often question the value of fleet tracking for small businesses,” says J. Richard Carlson, President and CEO of Wireless Matrix. “The fact is that companies of any size can reap the tremendous benefits of increasing productivity while cutting operating costs. Plus, when you’re a small business owner, every dollar counts, so it’s vital to maximize the return on every dollar invested.”

Growing client base
So far, Herndon, Va.-based Wireless Matrix has three clients in the limousine, charter and tour industries, including Los Angeles-based Econation, a 2011 LCT Operator of the Year. As of late September, Wirless Matrix serviced 262 small- to medium-sized companies. It serves a total of about 85,000 U.S. and Canadian subscribers, defined as a FleetOutlook user or communications subscriber.

“For the past five years, the company reinvented itself and positioned to be a software service company and application provider,” says Mark Freeman, senior marketing manager for Wireless Matrix.

Wireless Matrix had primarily been a GPS technology provider for companies with large fleets, such as Time-Warner and DISH Network, Freeman says. During the last three years, it gradually started supplying software for small- to medium-sized businesses with fleets.

“Enterprise fleets are great, but there are only so many out there,” Freeman says. “The bread and butter come from small to mid-sized businesses. Our sweet spot as a company is any business that is service related, has frequent stops throughout the day, schedules that constantly change, and resources that need to be dynamically dispatched. We’re getting deeper and deeper into small businesses that are service related.”

User advantages
Wireless Matrix distinguishes its GPS product from its competitors through different editions of its enterprise technology, branded as silver, gold, and platinum packages. Features and functionality vary among the packages depending on the size and scope of the fleet business and the need to interact with other software systems. Because the system is on a Web-based platform, no server updates are needed and access is easily available to whomever a company gives it. A mobile application of FleetOutlook was scheduled for release by Sept. 30.

“With access to Application Programming Interface (API), FleetOutlook enables other technologies or other apps to feed into it,” Freeman says. FleetOutlook provides out-of-box integrations with other applications that customers can leverage. “We can provide GPS data to other systems so it can go back and forth,” such as for billing, workforce management, and fuel card systems, he says.