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US Fleet Tracking review
4:31 pm | April 29, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

US Fleet Tracking, established in 2005 in Oklahoma City, is one of the oldest and biggest GPS tracking businesses, providing services in over 150 countries around the world.

US Fleet Tracking is a company that provides fleet tracking services and hardware to companies like Academic Pest Control. They take pride in their logistical support at numerous marquee events in the US, including the 2010 Pro Bowl, 2011 NHL All Star Game, and 2010 Winter Olympics. They have also offered their services at every Super Bowl since 2007.

The company specializes in providing precise GPS tracking data through a user-friendly system that is reasonably priced for most people. Its pricing structure makes it suitable for both businesses with large fleets and individuals who want to track their personal vehicles. US Fleet Tracking's operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, South America, and Africa make it easier for businesses with a global presence to work with a single fleet tracking provider.

(Image credit: US Fleet Tracking)

US Fleet Tracking: Pricing

US Fleet Tracking is one of the most popular GPS tracking providers for a number of reasons, including its affordable pricing. The company offers a simple pricing structure with a base plan starting at just $29.95 per device per month for 10-second updates, and a slightly more expensive plan at $39.95 per device per month for 5-second updates.

Both plans are contract-free, and can be canceled at any time. They offer live, real-time location data to keep you up-to-date on the movement of your vehicles/assets, as well as mileage reports, hours of operation, and alerts based on preset geofences. They connect over the cellular network.

Businesses can choose a hardware tracking product from the website to meet their specific needs, in addition to the monthly service fee. The products available range in price from $129 for the AT-V4 Wireless GPS Tracker to $299 for the PT-V3 Pro GPS Tracker, and include the NT-V4 GPS Tracker, AT-V4 GPS Tracker, AT-V4 Pro GPS Tracker, and OBD-V4 GPS Tracker.

In addition to tracking devices, the company also sells a variety of accessories, such as USB cigarette lighter adapters, USB replacement antennas, wiring harnesses, interface cables, cases, and wall chargers. This makes it simple to locate a replacement cable or charger for the tracking device.

Apart from these tracking devices, the company also sells a bunch of accessories like USB cigarette lighter adapters, USF replacement antennas, wiring harnesses, interface cables, cases, wall chargers and more. This makes finding a replacement cable or a charger for the tracking device easy.

US Fleet Tracking: Features

US Fleet Tracking is one of the oldest and most well-known GPS tracking providers. Unlike most other providers, it does not offer fleet management services. This makes it a good option for businesses that are only looking for a vehicle or asset tracking solution and do not need features like scheduling, fuel reports, or periodic inspections.

The company's goal is to provide a truly live tracking solution that is affordable for most businesses and individuals. To keep prices under control, the company offers a basic tracking service.

While the basic features of US Fleet Tracking products include vehicle/asset tracking, most products offer additional features such as speeding alerts, aggressive driving alerts, one-way communication, routing updates, warnings when a vehicle/asset moves out or enters a geofenced area, idling alerts, and a panic button.

(Image credit: US Fleet Tracking)

The cloud-based tracking software provided by US Fleet Tracking is a simple and effective way for administrators to track vehicles. It is OS independent and can be run on any device connected to the internet. The company also offers native applications for iOS and Android mobile platforms for people who want to track vehicles on the go.

(Image credit: us fleet tracking)

Here are some of the key features and selling points to bear in mind:

Fast updates: US Fleet Tracking offers two plans: a premium plan with 5-second updates and a base plan with 10-second updates. Both plans provide near-live location tracking, so admins can always know where their vehicles are.

Alerts: These GPS tracking devices can send SMS or email alerts when they detect harsh braking, sudden acceleration, or long idle times. They can also alert the admin when a vehicle takes a detour, moves out of a geofenced area, or goes anywhere apart from the route planned for the vehicle. These alerts are generated the moment the device senses an incident, thanks to the tracker's ability to update faster than most. 

US Fleet Tracking offers additional ELD compliant hardware to meet the necessary compliance standards, as most GPS tracking devices are not ELD compliant. One such device is the ELD-ECM link, which is sold on the platform and enables the transfer of data from the vehicle's ECM to a desired smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. This is important because it ensures that companies are in compliance with the ELD mandate, which requires commercial truck drivers to use electronic logging devices to track their hours of service.

Multiple hardware products: US Fleet Tracking service provides a variety of GPS tracking devices for businesses to choose from, allowing them to customize their purchase according to their needs and keep costs down.

Location history: US Fleet Tracking's historical playback feature allows administrators to access up to 90 days of past GPS data for a vehicle. This enables tracking the vehicle's historical movements in the event of an incident.

(Image credit: US Fleet Tracking)

US Fleet Tracking: Support

The company provides direct email and phone support, available weekdays from 7am to 7pm CST and Saturdays from 9am to 4pm. Businesses that want to deactivate or reactivate tracking services can contact a dedicated helpdesk. A set of video tutorials is also available online to help users understand features like reports, historical view, maintenance, and more. Other self-help content includes a FAQ and product manuals.

US Fleet Tracking: Final verdict

US Fleet Tracking is a reliable GPS provider that is a good fit for businesses that do not need advanced analytics or the features of a fleet management solution. It is reasonably priced and offers the option to customize the package to meet your specific needs.

While BBB (Better Business Bureau) rates US Fleet Tracking as 'A+', the company has no user reviews on the BBB, and is not accredited.

More on fleet management:

Verizon Connect review
11:45 am | April 28, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Comments: Off

Verizon Connect is a leading telematics provider that offers a comprehensive range of  fleet management solutions. The company has a global presence with over 24 offices in cities around the world, including the city of San Jose and Costco.

Verizon Connect is a conglomerate of three companies: Fleetmatics, Verizon NetworkFleet, and Telogis. Each of these companies was a leader in its own category and region before joining Verizon Connect. Fleetmatics focused on small and medium-sized businesses, while Telogis served large enterprises.

Verizon Connect is now a large entity able to offer almost any fleet tracking and telematics solution that clients need. With key features like an advanced Fleet Management System (FMS), Field Service Management, and more, Verizon Connect can provide solutions to a variety of companies of different sizes. However, businesses with larger fleets stand to gain the most from Verizon Connect, as it collects a large amount of data that can be used to provide detailed insights.

The company offers a variety of vehicle tracking devices, from plug-and-play models to more advanced hardware and software solutions. These solutions are tailored to the specific needs of businesses and can help both field employees and office staff.

Verizon Connect: Plans and pricing

Like many other software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers, Verizon Connect does not disclose pricing information on its website. Instead, you must contact the company through a portal that asks a series of questions to assess your needs, and the company will contact you with a quote. While Verizon Connect does not provide specific details on its plans, it does offer a wide range of products and services that can be tailored to businesses of all sizes.

According to online reviews from customers who use or have used Verizon Connect's services, the company requires a 3-year contract, which is longer than most other companies in the same industry. This is beneficial for large organizations that do not want to change vendors frequently, but mid-sized and smaller companies are often more cost conscious and prefer shorter contracts.

In addition, the pricing of Verizon Connect's products will be directly proportional to the solution a company is looking for, as well as the specific software and hardware required, since the company offers a variety of products. Verizon Connect offers a free demo of its software, allowing you to assess exactly what add-ons or features are helpful for your business needs.

Verizon Connect 1

(Image credit: verizon connect)

Verizon Connect: Features

Verizon Connect is a smart fleet management and optimization solution that provides clients with data and insights to seamlessly manage their vehicles and workforce across multiple aspects, including efficiency, safety, productivity, and compliance.

Unlike some other fleet management companies, Verizon Connect’s software refreshes its data every 30 seconds, providing the most up-to-date vehicle location information to the company using the system.

Some of the key services offered by Verizon Connect include:

  • Fleet tracking
  • Hardware
  • Compliance management
  • Asset tracking
  • Field servicing and scheduling
  • Marketplace for ready to implement solutions

Verizon Connect 2

(Image credit: Verizon connect)

The software provides a variety of reports, including fuel efficiency, vehicle maintenance, safety management, driver scorecards, and more. These reports allow businesses to monitor fuel expenses and vehicle performance and to provide coaching, feedback, and training to drivers as needed. Drivers frequently follow their own preferred routes; therefore, coaching them improves not only fuel efficiency but also overall delivery time and customer experience.

Verizon Connect also offers another interesting feature: maintenance alerts. These allow businesses to schedule maintenance cycles and ensure that their vehicles are in good working order.

Verizon Connect 3

(Image credit: verizon connect)

Key features include:

Routing: Verizon Connect makes life easier for administrators by providing an automatic routing option. This feature automatically identifies the shortest route between two locations. It can also plan an optimized route that takes into account all deliveries and orders for the day, saving time and effort for both the backend team and drivers.

Dedicated apps: Verizon Connect has apps for Android and iOS phones; the dashboard is cloud based, so it can be used on any device. The apps are designed from the ground up and optimized for different screen sizes, such as phones and tablets. When we looked into the iOS Verizon Connect app, be aware that it has received only 2.7 stars based on just six reviews.

Electronic Logging Device (ELD) compliance: It provides ELD-compliant solutions that can save drivers from manually tracking their Hours of Service (HoS), prevent log errors, and most importantly reduce the risk of policy violations.

Alerts: The software issues real-time alerts for predefined safety events. Administrators can be notified as soon as a vehicle enters or exits a geofenced area and when sudden acceleration or braking occurs, among other things. It is also quite useful for managing various assets.

Dashboard: The company is proud to be one of the only solution providers that integrate data from all possible sources, such as vehicles, workers, and assets. This allows clients to manage all of their field operations in a single, cloud-based platform. The intuitive dashboard has separate segments for different teams or departments, allowing them to stay up-to-date on the latest developments and trends.

Verizon Connect is one of the largest fleet management companies, but it has a grade of F from the Better Business Bureau. Based on reviews on TrustPilot and among the 143 complaints closed in the last 3 years from the Better Business Bureau, the most common complaints are a lack of clear communication, customer support issues, and software problems.

Verizon Connect 4

(Image credit: Verizon connect)

Verizon Connect: Support

Verizon Connect doesn’t really specify the support options. There is a toll-free phone number listed, with hours of operation on weekdays at 7:30AM to 5PM EST, but it does not indicate if this is for sales, support, or both.

We also did not find any self-help support information on the Verizon Connect website, but there is an automated chatbot on the main screen. However, when we went through the questions and indicated that we could use information on support, we did not receive the information we asked for, nor did we get a connection to a live person that could provide some help; we only got a response saying “Thank you for completing the survey.”. 

Verizon Connect: Final verdict

Verizon Connect is one of the leading providers of fleet management solutions, offering a wide range of features and benefits to its customers. While there is room for improvement with its customer service and support, it is still a choice to be considered for businesses that require a comprehensive end-to-end solution, as it offers global coverage. 

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NexTraq review
4:23 pm | April 27, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

NexTraq is a top telematics solutions provider based in Atlanta, USA. It is a Michelin group company and provides services such as fleet tracking, a job scheduling board, automatic driver assignment, routing, and real-time alerts. The company has been in operation for 19 years and offers its services to a wide range of industries, including construction and heavy equipment, food and beverage, manufacturing, transportation, oil, gas and mining, agriculture, distribution, government and public safety, and many more.

NexTraq: Plans and pricing

Unlike most fleet tracking services, NexTraq does not list pricing details on its website. Instead, businesses must contact the company directly for a quote. NexTraq is suitable for businesses of all sizes, as there is no limit on the number of vehicles that can be included in a contract. The company can be contacted by phone, through a chatbot, or by filling out a contact form on its website.

NexTraq's key selling point is that it offers free installation and does not charge an activation fee. Many people are not experienced in installing hardware on vehicles and machinery, so having a professional set up the tracking system is a highly desirable perk.

NexTraq, like most other companies, offers a three-year contract. The hardware cost is paid upfront, while the monthly payment is primarily a software license fee.

NexTraq: Features

NexTraq is a cloud-based fleet management solution provider that offers a cost-effective way to manage and track moving assets, while also helping businesses optimize their resources for maximum output. To meet industry standards and stay compliant with government regulations, NexTraq offers ELD, HoS, DVIR, and FMCSA compliant solutions.

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NexTraq 1

NexTraq 1 (Image credit: NexTraq)
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NexTraq 2

NexTraq 2 (Image credit: NexTraq)

NexTraq's system is powered by Google Maps, which means it can provide precise location and terrain information to meet business needs. Its software refreshes every 30 seconds, providing admins with real-time vehicle location details.

The software is easy to use and allows users to track vehicles, as well as a variety of other features that help businesses stay informed. Geofencing, two-way communication, and other options are available, and the system can generate a variety of reports that keep administrators up-to-date on driver performance.

(Image credit: NexTraq)

The following features make NexTraq’s software extremely useful:

Cloud-based solution: NexTraq provides a cloud-based solution that can be accessed from any mobile device, laptop, computer, or tablet, regardless of the operating system. This gives users the flexibility to monitor their fleet from anywhere, even on the go.

Third-party integration: NexTraq's software integrates with the most widely used back-office systems, allowing businesses to seamlessly manage their operations and monitor vehicles using a single integrated system.

Route optimization: NexTraq's data and insights can be used to create and manage fuel-efficient optimized routes for fleets.

Fuel efficiency: NexTraq's fuel cards are very helpful in tracking, managing, and monitoring fuel consumption for each vehicle. This helps to reduce fuel waste and inefficiency, and to coach drivers to follow better fuelling habits.

(Image credit: NexTraq)

NexTraq also has a native mobile app for both Android and iOS devices. Drivers can use the app to log their daily attendance, record start times, break times, and finish times. On the back-end, the app can be used to generate various reports, such as individual or team attendance reports, or to compare historical data.

NexTraq is unlike other fleet management companies in that it has a strong focus on safety features. It provides a detailed comparative report based on driver performance, which can be used to reward top performers and provide necessary coaching to those who are lagging behind.

The company offers a suite of features ensuring driver safety and accountability. These include:

NexTraq Dashcam: This provides HD video evidence that makes it simple to show driver accountability in situations involving disputed claims, disputes, negligent driving, insurance fraud, staged accidents, and more. Encouragement of safe driving practices is also beneficial to lower insurance costs.

NexTraq MobileBlock: This feature makes sure that the driver's smart gadgets, such as phones or tablets, are locked while they are in motion. This keeps the driver's attention on the road rather than on playing games, sending texts, or checking email.

NexTraq Driver Training: Drivers may be provided training based on their performance reports in order to break poor driving habits like speeding or texting while driving, and to encourage defensive driving and fuel-efficient driving. Such training not only aids drivers in enhancing their performance but also aids the company in resource optimization.

NexTraq Driver Safety Scorecard: Detailed reporting on driving habits, fuel efficiency, and other topics can hold drivers responsible for their actions. These comparison scorecards show the drivers who require tutoring on various difficulties and help identify the drivers who are performing well, who can then be recognized for their performance.

NexTraq Driver Awareness: Drivers can adhere to business policies while driving thanks to this tool. Every time the vehicle is involved in an event, such as a harsh acceleration or aggressive braking, an automated beep cautions the driver to drive carefully.

NexTraq: Support

Customers can reach out to NexTraq via multiple mediums. The company offers telephone support six days a week via a dedicated helpline with available hours from 7:30am to 6pm EST, and hours from 8am to 3pm on Saturdays. The support team can also be reached via email.

While there is limited training material available online on NexTraq’s website that includes a FAQ, whitepapers and a blog, its YouTube channel offers some resources. The company has explainer videos that can help first time users and drivers while on the go, but the most recent videos are from 2 years ago.

NexTraq has been rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. However, it has some feedback on the site related to price increases during the 3 year contract, and then users complaining about the cancellation fees under those circumstances. On balance, it does appear that these issues when escalated to the BBB were all resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

NexTraq: Final verdict

NexTraq is a solid choice for GPS fleet tracking services due to its focus on safety, lack of minimum vehicle requirements, free installation, and lifetime hardware warranty.

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Piriform Recuva review
5:24 pm | April 20, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

Choosing the best data recovery software can help you recover lost files and data from computers, portable hard drives, USB sticks, and more. In our Recuva review, we’ve looked closely at this popular file recovery program to determine whether it’s worth using. It’s competitively priced and comes with a fast, efficient data scanner.    

Recuva: Plans and pricing

If the name 'Recuva' is unfamiliar too, it's a creation of the developers of CCleaner, an extremely useful utility for clearing out junk file and generally maintaining the health of your PC. 

A free version of Piriform Recuva is available for personal users and those wanting to test the software. 

Piriform Recuva review

(Image credit: Piriform)

For commercial use, you will need to upgrade to a paid license, which starts at $24.95 per computer per year. For just $5 more you can also receive a license for CCleaner Professional for Windows, macOS and Android as well as Speccy Professional hardware monitor. 

Piriform Recuva doesn’t use a tiered pricing structure, so all users have access to all features. The software comes with quick and deep scan options, and it works with memory cards, iOS devices, and virtual drives, among others. Unfortunately, though, it’s only available for download on Windows PCs.

Recuva: Features

Piriform Recuva was designed to be fast and efficient, reducing business downtime when recovery is needed. While the basic free version can only recover files, the Pro version can not only take a snapshot of your recovered files but also create a virtual disk image to prevent future data loss.   

Piriform Recuva review

(Image credit: Piriform)

On top of this, Recuva Pro is compatible with data recovery from virtual hard drives (VHDs). And, it even enables you to create and restore to a new virtual hard drive. 

Unsurprisingly from the makers of Ccleaner, Recuva can also securely overwrite tool to ensure sensitive or confidential files are truly deleted forever. To do this, you need to wait until a scan is complete, then check or highlight a file or group files. Next, all you have to do is right click and choose "Securely Overwrite Highlighted" or "Securely Overwrite Checked" as appropriate. 

Recuva: Client and client setup

Downloading and installing the Recuva client takes no more than a few minutes and requires no technical knowledge. Simply click the download link and follow the prompts. No special setup is required before starting a scan. 

Upon first launch you'll see a helpful wizard. First it will ask you which types of files you wish to recover. You can choose "All Files" or just a specific type like "Music".

Next you're asked to specify a file location such as the Recyle Bin. There's even an "I'm not sure" option in case you can't recall where the deleted files were. You can then click "Start" to begin your search. 

Piriform Recuva review

(Image credit: Piriform)

If you choose to skip the wizard, the Recuva user interface is just as simple and effective. It includes a drop-down menu for drive selection, a button to start a new scan, and an options popup. In the options menu, you will be able to select your language and specify the layout of the client. 

Different scanning options can also be chosen, including deep scanning and scanning for non-deleted files. 

From looking over Recuva's documentation, it seems the "Deep Scan" feature scans drives on a sector by sector basis. While you may have more joy recovering files with it than a simple scan (as we did during our tests), the documentation states it can't recover filenames. 

Recuva: How we tested

For our data recovery tests we used a virtual machine with a clean install of Windows 11. The only third-party tools installed besides Recuva were VLC Media Player and GIMP. 

Data files

The files we chose for recovery are an album of Mozart's Music available from the Internet Archive. 

We did this as we wanted to see how the utility performed with a wide variety of files.The album included 4 music files (2 in Mp3 and 2 in FLAC) format, 6 JPG image files of album covers (with thumbnails) and 2 PNG image files. The files also included 2 XML files, a torrent file and an 'SQLite' file containing details of the album. There were 25 files in total. 

We copied the files in the music album to a 512MB virtual NTFS-formatted hard drive, which was then attached to the Windows 11 virtual machine.

Data tests

The tests were performed one after the other on three separate virtual drives:

1. File deletion: the album files were simply deleted from the drive and the Recycle Bin emptied. No other data was copied to the drive. We then tried to recover the files.

2. Delete & format: The files were deleted as outlined above and we also performed a 'Quick Format' using the 'Disk Management' utility built into Windows 11. We then tried to recover the files from the formatted partition. 

3. Recover corrupted files: We used the freeware program 'Victoria' to overwrite the volume header of the drive containing the files with zeroes. The drive didn't mount automatically in File Explorer and showed as being unpartitioned in Windows "Disk Management" utility. We then checked if the utility could see it and if so, recover the files. 

 

We do not believe that running data recovery tools in a virtual environment has a significant effect on how they function. Still, if you're considering buying software we encourage you to read all reviews thoroughly and make sure that the developer offers a refund policy.

Recuva: Performance

To gauge Piriform Recuva’s performance, we completed both a standard and a deep scan on our three chosen virtual drives. 

First we tested to see if the utility could recover files that had simply been deleted and the Recyle Bin emptied. The results were great. 

All 25 of the original files were found and listed. Recuva listed their status as "Excellent" and when we copied them to a folder on the main hard drive found that they all opened without issue. 

We weren't quite as successful with the drive where the files had been deleted and then "quick" formatted to NTFS. A simple scan had no results, so we followed Recuva's suggestion to do a 'deep' one. 

Piriform Recuva review

(Image credit: Piriform)

This time, 19 of the 25 files were recovered : all of the image files and the two MP3 music files. The remaining two audio files in FLAC format, the 2 XML files and the torrent file weren't recovered. As the documentation warned, the image filenames were missing but the names were intact for the two working audio files. 

For our final test we simulated the drive with a corrupted header volume. Recuva was unable to see the drive or the 'damaged' partition, so no recovery could take place.  

All the scans took less than 3 seconds to complete on the 512MB drives. On average, it used around 10% CPU and 600MB of RAM. This is impressive and suggests that you shouldn’t have any problems running Recuva alongside other programs. 

Recuva warns that a deep scan can take hours, but if its footprint is so small, we could comfortably run it in the background while working on other tasks.

Recuva: Efficiency

We were very happy with the results of our Recuva test. Alongside the test files we deleted intentionally, we ran a scan on the main hard drive partitions and found thousands of objects in under a minute. These included a wide range of file types, among them images, text files, and cached web data.

Additionally, the vast majority of files retrieved were fully recovered. A small percentage of older files had been overwritten or were in poor condition, but that’s to be expected. If you know what sort of file you’re looking for, you can also specify this before commencing your search for a faster, more effective file recovery scan. 

Piriform Recuva review

(Image credit: Piriform)

In cases where you're working with many different files, Recuva has a handy preview mode which can show thumbnail images, as well as file info and headers. 

One of our favorite features, is that at the end of each scan Recuva will display a summary of exactly how many files have been recovered and the time it took. We were slightly less impressed to see that the developers also take this opportunity to push you to upgrade to the paid version of the software to benefit from the premium features. 

Recuva: Support

Recuva users can contact customer support directly by submitting an email ticket. Those with a paid subscription have access to priority support and most issues are sorted quickly. 

There are also four different self-help resources. The FAQ section contains answers to popular questions, both about Recuva and data recovery in general. For instance, the website states (correctly) that it's much easier to recover data from NTFS file systems than FAT. 

They also acknowledge that even if a file's been deleted, the preview and header information may still be visible. Luckily this is easy to spot using Recuva's "Advanced" mode.

Piriform Recuva review

(Image credit: Piriform)

The technical documentation pages also provide a detailed overview of the software. Our only complaint was that when we clicked "support" on the main CCleaner website, the only products listed were their flagship ones. We had to scroll down to find Recuva. 

More specific questions can be asked in the active community forum and an impressive selection of short video tutorials is also available. There's also a dedicated troubleshooting section for people having difficulty registering their copy of Recuva Professional. 

Recuva: The competition

Recuva is good, but there are similar applications that could be better suited to your needs. 

For example, if you’re looking for a simple data recovery program for occasional use, the Ashampoo Undeleter costs just $14.99 for life. It doesn’t come with any advanced tools, but it does the job. 

Meanwhile, Recover My Files has similar features to Recuva. It costs from $69.95 for a lifetime license and is suited to those with high-spec computers and regular data restoration needs.

Recuva: Final verdict

Ultimately, Piriform Recuva is up there with the best data recovery programs we’ve tested. The free version is great for those who want to test the software before purchasing, and annual subscriptions are very competitively priced. In our tests it had no trouble recovering every single file that had been deleted intact. It also recovered most of the files from a formatted drive.

What’s more, Recuva is backed by powerful features, including a deep scan tool, secure file overwriter, and formatted drive scanning. And although its client interface isn’t the most attractive we’ve seen, it is simple and effective. 

Scans are fast and thorough, and the program runs comfortably in the background. 

The only real letdown was the fact that it couldn't detect the drive with the corrupted volume header. Most data recovery utilities with free tiers can not only do this but offer features to try to rebuild broken headers and/or partition tables. 

Still, Recuva is a perfectly reasonable choice if you’re looking for a reliable data recovery solution, provided the drive can still be mounted in Windows. While we're on the subject, it would also be good if Recuva could enjoy the same cross-platform support of CCleaner, which is available for Windows, macOS and Android. 

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Wise Data Recovery review
12:34 pm | April 17, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: | Comments: Off

Wise Data Recovery is one of the best options you’ll find anywhere if you want to recover data, photos, and files without paying for any extra software, and its abilities are turbo-charged when you upgrade to the pro version.

That sounds great on paper, especially for people who don’t want to spend any cash, but the free photo and data recovery software market are busy and packed with top contenders – so any successful app needs to have an intuitive design alongside a broad range of features.

This software enables you to restore deleted files for free, and can also help recover your files after hard drive damage or reformatting. While this review focuses on the  Windows version, there's also Wise Data Recovery for Mac. It's compatible with M1, M2 & T2 chip-enabled Macs but the free version only allows you to recover up to 1GB of data rather than the more generous quota for Windows versions (see below)

So, is this the right data recovery tool for you? Our Wise Data Recovery review will help you decide.

Wise Data Recovery: Plans & pricing

Wise Data Recovery review

Pricing options for Wise Data Recovery. (Image credit: WiseCleaner)

The free version of Wise Data Recovery is one of the most generous free photo recovery options you’ll find anywhere. Its 2GB recovery limit is better than most no-cost rivals, and you can use the free download on an infinite number of systems and with no time restrictions.

During our tests we noticed that the utility played extremely fair with us, measuring this 2GB limit only on files we actually chose to recover. 

Impressively, Wise Data Recovery keeps its feature set virtually identical across all product tiers, so if you decide to pay for the product you’ll get benefits in other areas.

The more affordable of the two paid options costs $40 (approx. £32 / $60 AUD), and it includes a one-year license for one system.

If you want to spend an extra $10 (approx. £8 / $15 AUD), you’ll be able to register the software across three different PCs. Those are good prices – lower than many of Wise Data Recovery’s contemporaries.

If you buy either of those paid options you can access premium, faster technical support services and automatic updates for the length of your license alongside unlimited file recovery capacity. 

Sadly, no enterprise options are easily visible on the site, so you’ll have to talk to Wise directly if you want to deploy this software across your organization.

Wise Data Recovery: Features

The number one reason to choose Wise Data Recovery for file recovery is its adaptability. The software is able to recover thousands of file types, including almost every common type of document, image, and video file. It can also save email files, zip folder archives, and executables from permanent deletion. 

Wise Data Recovery review

A sampling of some file types that Wise Data Recovery supports. (Image credit: WiseCleaner)

Windows users also won’t have to worry about compatibility with multiple file systems on partitioned hard drives. Wise Data Recovery for Windows works with FAT, NTFS, HFS, HFS+, HFSX, Ext2, and Ext3 file systems. Mac users may run into more trouble, though, since the software doesn’t support exFAT file systems.

When we previously reviewed Wise Data Recovery in October 2022, it offered two scanning options: Quick Scan and Deep Scan. Quick Scan Was extremely fast and was generally used to recover recently deleted files. Deep Scan, on the other hand, took significantly longer and is more suited to recovering files from formatted or damaged drives.

From checking the online documentation, deep scan is still advertised as a feature for Wise Data Recovery - both the free and Pro versions. However during our tests we didn't see any "deep scan" option and the instructions to activate it didn't match the version of the software we seemed to be using. 

Naturally whether a scan is "quick" or "deep", what really matters is whether your lost data's recovered but if the scan features have changed, we felt there should be more information on the "Wise Cleaner" website.

Wise Data Recovery: Client & client setup

Setting up Wise Data Recovery for hard drive data recovery is fast and simple. Just download and install the software on a clean hard drive, and it’s ready to run. 

If your computer’s boot drive is damaged, you can install the software to a USB flash drive on a working computer and move it to the damaged computer. The "Portable Apps" website even has a handy USB-installable version of the utility

Wise Data Recovery review

Wise Data Recovery enables you to select either a Quick Scan or Deep Scan. (Image credit: WiseCleaner)

The software’s user interface is modern and easy to navigate. It will automatically recognize all connected hard drives. Once you select a drive, the scan begins automatically. Discovered files are displayed in a familiar table format. You can sort results by size or file format, or use the keyword search tool to find specific files.

Wise Data Recovery does have a "preview" feature for files like images but during our tests, we found that it was only able to display a part of the file. We were told to click "Recover" to copy the files to another location to see them in full.

Wise Data Recovery: How we tested

For our data recovery tests we used a virtual machine with a clean install of Windows 11. The only third-party tools installed besides Wise Data Recovery were VLC Media Player and GIMP. 

Data files

The files we chose for recovery are an album of Mozart's Music available from the Internet Archive. 

We did this as we wanted to see how the utility performed with a wide variety of files.The album included 4 music files (2 in Mp3 and 2 in FLAC) format, 6 JPG image files of album covers (with thumbnails) and 4 PNG image files. The files also included 2 XML files, a torrent file and an 'SQLite' file containing details of the album. There were 25 files in total. 

We copied the files in the music album to a 512MB virtual NTFS-formatted hard drive, which was then attached to the Windows 11 virtual machine.

Data tests

The tests were performed one after the other on three separate virtual drives:

File deletion: the album files were simply deleted from the drive and the Recycle Bin emptied. No other data was copied to the drive. We then tried to recover the files. 

Delete & format: The files were deleted as outlined above and we also performed a 'Quick Format' using the 'Disk Management' utility built into Windows 11. We then tried to recover the files from the formatted partition. 

Recover corrupted files: We used the freeware program 'Victoria' to overwrite the volume header of the drive containing the files with zeroes. The drive didn't mount automatically in File Explorer and showed as being unpartitioned in Windows "Disk Management" utility. We then checked if the utility could see it and if so, recover the files. 

 

We do not believe that running data recovery tools in a virtual environment has a significant effect on how they function. Still, if you're considering buying software we encourage you to read all reviews thoroughly and make sure that the developer offers a refund policy.

Wise Data Recovery review

Wise Data Recover was able to find a folder of recently deleted RIFF and TIF files. (Image credit: WiseCleaner)

Wise Data Recovery: Performance

Wise Data Recovery is relatively fast and does an impressive job at recovering files. 

In our original test we used an undamaged 107 GB SSD. The Quick Scan finished in about 18 seconds, while a Deep Scan took about 7.5 minutes. The utility's "Deep Scan" feature did turn up a folder of multimedia files and TIF images that had previously been deleted from the recycling bin, but were not wiped from the drive.

We did something similar for the first of our most recent tests with a 512MB virtual external drive where the files had simply been deleted from the Recycle Bin. 

The drive appeared immediately inside the utility and the scan lasted less than 3 seconds. A total of 38 files were found. When we recovered these to another drive we found all 25 files intact with their filenames. The remaining files were duplicates of these or system files. 

Wise Data Recovery didn't do quite so well on the drive that had been formatted after the files were deleted. In that case only 13 of the 25 files were recovered. These included all 4 of the audio files, all 4 of the PNG image files and a JPG thumbnail. The remaining 4 were system files. With the exception of the thumbnail, the utility was also able to recover the filenames.

The corrupted drive wasn't visible in file explorer but Wise Data Recovery showed it as a "Lost Drive" almost immediately upon launch. When we selected it, it took less than 10 seconds to find 49 files. The 'Preview' function told us that we could only see them partially, so we copied the files to another disk. 

All 25 of the original files were present and correct, with their filenames. We opened each individually and found non were corrupted. The remaining files were duplicates of the originals or system files. 

Wise Data Recovery: Efficiency

Wise Data Recovery review

Wise Data Recovery doesn’t include an estimation of how long your scan will take. (Image credit: WiseCleaner)

What we found most impressive about Wise Data Recovery was the fact that the software kept a minimal footprint even when performing a Deep Scan. 

During our original tests, the software never used more than 20% of our computer’s processing power, and memory usage peaked at around 450 MB. Our most recent tests were on a much smaller drive but even when we tried scanning a 185GB drive we had similar results, with an active scan taking up just 253 MB of RAM.

That’s a big plus, since it ensures you can run this software even on computers that are having widespread memory and drive damage issues.

In previous reviews, we lamented the fact that scans only showed a blue bar. There was no "estimated time remaining". Fortunately the most recent version of Wise Data Recovery clearly shows the percentage of a scan progress along with the ETA to completion. 

Screenshot of Wise Data Recovery Software and photo recovery tools

(Image credit: Wise)

Wise Data Recovery: Photo recovery

Wise Data Recovery has an impressive core of photo restoration features. As one of the best photo recovery apps, it can restore more than 1,000 types of files, which instantly lifts this app above many of its rivals – and when it comes to photography, that means you can hunt down common formats like JPG and PNG alongside pro-level files like RAW, CR2 and SWF. That means this app is a worthwhile option for hobbyists, home users, and professionals who need more power and versatility.

Beyond photography, this app can recover every common video format, documents, audio files, email archives and compressed folders, so it’ll find photos even if they’re not stored using conventional formats.

The versatility doesn’t stop there. Wise’s software can recover data and photos from conventional devices like hard disks, SSDs, USB drives and external storage, but it also works with memory cards and digital cameras – another area that will handle professional needs.

It has a portable version too, so it’s ideal for file recovery on different PCs or crashed systems. Bear in mind, though, that the portable version can’t boot directly into a recovery environment, so any stricken system must be mounted from another device in order for this to work. 

Screenshot of Wise Data Recovery Software and photo recovery tools

(Image credit: Wise)

Wise Data Recovery is easy to use. Load the app, select a drive or device to scan, and the software will get to work. It’s one of the quickest photo recovery apps you can use today, and it does a good job with results – it displays files in clear categories so you can easily see the types of files you’ve found.

Users can restore photos while the scan is ongoing, and batch recovery is also possible. The app supports file previews, although as we said you can often only see a partial preview until the full system or device scan is completed. The search function is fast, and filtering by file type, size or modification date is similarly rapid.

Beyond this impressive speed you’ll find a clean interface and support for Windows and MacOS file systems, albeit with less generous free data recovery allowances if you want to use the version designed for macOS.

The app also has some notable omissions: you can’t scan specific folders – only entire drives or devices. 

Other admittedly pricier tools include photo and video repair, more support options and compatibility with a broader range of devices, so it’s worth considering those apps if you need mission-critical software for professional photo recovery situations.

Wise Data Recovery: Support

Wise Data Recovery review

Support for Wise Data Recovery is only available over email. (Image credit: WiseCleaner)

Support for Wise Data Recovery is available by email. This is why we were pleased to see that there are now some extra support features.

The basic user manual is available online or via a PDF. You can access this from within the utility. There's also a link to the support forum.

You can now also click on "Feedback & Suggestions" to open the support center. Although this doesn't connect you to a live chat. It does allow you to select "function abnormal" or "other issues" to flag any problems. Clear instructions are given on what information to provide, such as screenshots.

The support team is available 24/7, but how long it takes to get a response depends on whether you use the free software or pay for a Pro subscription. Free users may wait up to three days, while Pro users can expect a response within 24 hours.

Unfortunately, there’s not much documentation for Wise Data Recovery online. The website includes a brief FAQs section, but it doesn’t go into any detail about troubleshooting the software.

Wise Data Recovery: The competition

Wise Data Recovery can recover files from damaged or formatted hard drives, but there’s no Deep Scan available and not much additional information if you run into difficulties. 

If you feel comfortable without having your hand held, you could consider using the free and open source TestDisk and PhotoRec file recovery utilities. These were able to recover all files during our tests, though the interface is quite basic. You can use the graphical QPhotoRec tool if you don't feel comfortable with the command line. 

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro offers alternative data recovery software that includes more options for trying to recover deeply buried data from a formatted hard drive. While it’s more expensive than Wise Data Recovery Pro for a one-month or one-year subscription, EaseUS offers a lifetime subscription for $149.95.

Wise Data Recovery: Final verdict

 

Wise Data Recovery is a good choice for file recovery if your main goal is to save recently deleted files. It works with almost every common file type and Windows file system, although Mac users may have issues since exFAT file systems aren’t supported. Wise Data Recovery is simple to use, although that simplicity may be frustrating if you’re not able to find the files you want to recover.

We’re used to testing data and photo recovery tools that offer free versions without the power or versatility of their paid upgrades, but that’s not the case with Wise Data Recovery. Download the free app and you’ll get access to all of the features that are offered with the paid upgrades – you’re limited elsewhere, like in file restoration capacity and access to upgrades.

Wise Data Recovery is impressive in use, too. This app is fast and intuitive, does a good job of recovering lost files, and displays its findings in a straightforward manner. It’s got a portable version and it works with every kind of file format and device you’ll likely encounter when you’re restoring photos in mainstream situations.

During our tests we saw that it was able to recover all the files, with filenames intact from a drive where they'd been deleted and even from a drive with a corrupted volume header. It only fell down on a drive that had been formatted, where only a small number of files had been recovered but of those that were, they opened without issue and almost all had their original filenames.

We feel this is more than balanced out though by the very generous 2GB free data recovery allowance for Windows users. This means you can try the software without obligation to see if it can recover files, even from a formatted drive. 

Indeed, there aren’t many big issues here – some apps have better previews, others support an even broader array of devices, and some companies offer more support and extra granularity.

None of those issues are dealbreakers, though, and Wise Data Recovery remains a great option if you want a free or affordable app for photo restoration. You’ll only want to hunt out alternative software if you need specialist settings and abilities.

Wise Data Recovery can recover files from damaged or formatted hard drives, but there’s only one level of Deep Scan available and not much additional information. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro offers alternative data recovery software that includes more options for trying to recover deeply buried data from a formatted hard drive. While it’s more expensive than Wise Data Recovery Pro for a one-month or one-year subscription, EaseUS offers a lifetime subscription for $149.95.

We've listed the best free data recovery software.

BlueJeans Video Conferencing Review: Pros & Cons, Features, Ratings, Pricing and more
2:04 pm | April 16, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

If you’re looking for the best video conferencing software, BlueJeans has no shortage of features that help it stand out, such as high definition video and crystal-clear Dolby Vision sound, encrypted conference calls, and advanced user management, which will appeal to professionals and business owners alike. Find out if BlueJeans video conferencing software is right for your business by reading our full review below.


BlueJeans: Plans and pricing

BlueJeans charges a fee for each host—someone who can organize and lead meetings and invite attendees—like the majority of video conferencing providers. Given that no meetings can be held without hosts, you'll want to secure enough hosts for your organization. The good news is that BlueJeans never puts a time limit on your meetings; conference calls can last for as long as needed.

On the starter end is the Basic plan, which comes in at free. The standout feature is that there is no time limit on the length of the meeting, unlike other competing free tiers. It has Dolby Voice for clear audio, and can be used to host up to 25 participants.

The Pro plan costs $13.99/host/month and comes with unlimited meetings of up to 150 participants and 25 hours of video recording per month. Enterprise plans cost $16.66/host/month and support up to 300 participants, with unlimited hours of recording, advanced call analytics, and live transcriptions. Both plans can be paid annually to benefit from a 20% discount, making this a good deal.

Tailor-made plans can be had with flexible licensing, brand customization and advanced support at custom prices for organizations.

Finally, you can try out the software with a risk-free14 day trial, before making any commitments.

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Pricing for businesses of all sizes. (Image credit: BlueJeans )

BlueJeans: Features and utilities

BlueJeans is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS/iPadOS and can be accessed through any major browser. There are a number of standout features in the software that will appeal to business owners and professionals. A meeting recording can be broken down into chapters, with highlights of segments, task assignments, and smart follow-ups.

In addition to meetings having no time limit, hosts can divide participants into 20 breakout sessions if needed, allowing them to collaborate on subtasks. You can share your screen with ease, annotate with whiteboard features, and even grant remote desktop access to an assignee -- great for smooth presentations. For even greater privacy and distraction-free meetings, we did miss out on the ability to blur backgrounds.

Advanced user management features are available to administrators, who can also enable or disable features on a group or company-wide basis.

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Break meetings down into chapters, highlight segments, and assign tasks in real-time. (Image credit: BlueJeans )

BlueJeans: Setup

Our 12.9" iPad Pro and 16" MacBook Pro both had no trouble installing BlueJeans. You only need to download the program and log in to start using it. We were up and running on both devices in less than 2 minutes. It will take a little longer to add users, assign groups, and manage permissions on the admin side of things, but we thought the admin interface was quite user-friendly and appreciated all the starting-out tips and tutorials.

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Lots of setup instructions and resources to get your business preferences online quickly. (Image credit: BlueJeans )

BlueJeans: Interface and performance

The BlueJeans UI is incredibly user-friendly and intuitive, in our opinion. It was simple to schedule and begin meetings, and we appreciated the click-to-copy tool for sharing your meeting's ID. Recording, participant management, chat, whiteboarding, screen sharing, and other "apps" were all bundled together and easy to discover. The Low Data and Commute modes on the iPadOS were quite enjoyable in use. 

We were pleased to note that BlueJeans utilized just approximately 25% of the CPU on our 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 and just a little RAM. However, we would have gladly given up a few more system resources for higher latency because it is longer than some competitors' video and audio delays, which are about 1.5 seconds. The 720p visual quality is excellent and matches what most competitors offer, and the built-in Dolby Vision technology ensures that sound is clearly audible.

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The Apps drawer conveniently groups meeting functions. (Image credit: BlueJeans )

BlueJeans: Security

In order to keep your meetings and data secure, BlueJeans boasts excellent security and offers a number of client-side and on-server measures. Calls can still be AES-128 encrypted even though end-to-end encryption is not supported (which is normal for conferencing software and relates to the technological difficulties involved in encrypting video for numerous participants). Additionally, administrators can mandate that users connect through channels that support encryption.

Additionally, administrators have complete control over meetings and can add a passcode, remove or muffle attendees, enforce specific user password policies, and enable or disable features like session recording and remote desktop control.

Overall, we found BlueJeans’ security plenty sufficient for a variety of business settings and, just as important, simple to understand.

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BlueJeans puts privacy and security center-stage. (Image credit: BlueJeans )

BlueJeans: Support

First off, BlueJeans has a rich knowledge base and FAQ, plus lots of tutorials and live training videos to get you started, understand features, and set admin preferences appropriately for your business. On top of this, BlueJeans’ phone support and online chat are both available 24 hours a day, seven days per week—that’s a big advantage for businesses, who may need quick support at any time.

BlueJeans 7

(Image credit: BlueJeans )

BlueJeans: The competition

Businesses now have more options as suppliers expand to satisfy rising demand for video conferencing solutions.

GoToMeeting is another great business-oriented suite. Starting at a slightly lower price point of $12/host/month, it has an intuitive interface and, in exchange for a slightly heavier use of system resources, a smoother audiovisual experience. If your conferences tend to include lots of active conversation, this may be a better option.

Alternatively, for those with conference needs that are relatively light, with short, infrequent meetings, Zoom’s free plan is a surprisingly feature-rich solution. It supports an unlimited number of meetings with up to 100 participants for up to 40 minutes which may be sufficient. Upgrading to the Zoom Pro plan allows for unlimited time on the meetings, adds polls and recording capability, but at a cost of $14.99/host/month.

BlueJeans: Final verdict

BlueJeans provides various useful business capabilities, including video recording, meeting highlights with task assignment, and up to 20 breakout sessions for collaborating on subtasks. The program was designed with security in mind, and administrators will like the extensive control they have over participants and features.

While the image and sound quality are excellent, we found the lag to be slightly longer than that of some other video conferencing solutions. Try the free tier, or sign up for a free 14-day trial, and test out the program on your own network to check whether the latency meets your needs. If favorable, then take advantage of BlueJeans' business-oriented features, including excellent security, and ease of use.

Geotab Review: Pros & Cons, Features, Ratings, Pricing and more
10:50 am | April 3, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

Geotab offers hardware and software services for fleet management. It was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Oakville, Canada. It is one of the largest telematics outfits in the world and was also the first company to surpass two million connected vehicles built on a single, open platform. It currently has over 3.5 million vehicles connected from over 47k companies.

Geotab offers a range of fleet tracking solutions, including Go devices for real-time tracking that can be easily installed with a plug-and-play connection, and MyGeotab software. These solutions provide businesses with the intelligence they need to improve efficiency, stay compliant with regional regulations, and enhance driver safety.

Geotab pricing

(Image credit: Geotab)

Geotab: Plans and pricing

While most other companies involved in fleet management services or tracking equipment, sell its solutions directly to the end customers, Geotab takes a different approach. Rather, it operates through a network of resellers. 

A shortcoming of Geotab is that it does not list any plans, pricing or contact information online. This provides resellers the option to offer additional features by including software based on the fleet manager’s requirement. Therefore, the pricing and the contract may vary for each customer. 

Geotab’s solution, on the other hand, can support all compliance requirements, and the company offers a standard one-year warranty with Go devices. Additionally, with the ProPlus plan, this warranty can be extended for an additional year. The Geotab Go device requires an upfront payment followed by a recurring monthly payment for the service.

Since pricing can vary from case to case, it is best to contact the company or reach out to the nearest reseller directly to get a direct quote for your particular business requirements. A contact portal is on the website under sales to help initiate contact.

Geotab: Features

The company offers multiple plans with different features, but live GPS tracking is only available with the top-tier ProPlus plan. The other plans are Base, Regulatory (HoS), and Pro.

The software, MyGeotab, is a cloud-based solution that can be accessed through any web browser. This makes it platform-independent, so it can be used on any operating system or device that can run a browser.

The MyGeotab dashboard provides administrators with all the data they need at a glance, including real-time vehicle location, speed, fuel consumption, and other key metrics. It also offers a variety of reports, such as driver scorecards, Hours of Service (HoS), driver productivity, and more, with an easy drag-and-drop customization option.

Additionally, MyGeotab claims an SDK that provides a collection of tools for working with car data, allowing integration with hardware or systems from other companies. If you already own a tracking device, pairing it with the dashboard is a simple task. This can prevent businesses from having trouble with replacing outdated equipment, with a benefit of a significant upfront cost reduction.

There are plenty of add-on solutions available on the Geotabs website under the marketplace section. These ready to use solutions allow fleet management companies to add specific features to meet their requirements.

(Image credit: Geotab)

Going beyond the MyGeotab dashboard, there is a Geotab Drive app that can be used by drivers to complete vehicle inspections, engage in messaging, and much more. It abides by FMSCA compliance standards as a part of the Geotab ELD cloud system. It is available for both iOS and Android, but both have a lower rating, with the iOS version only getting 2.5 out of 5 stars with multiple complaints such as the negative impact to battery life.

With the help of this easy-to-use mobile app, drivers may automatically enter their work hours, easing the burden of paperwork. They can also stay in touch with their administrator while they're on the move. Also, administrators can provide real-time feedback and coaching to drivers using the in-vehicle driver feedback feature.

(Image credit: Geotab)

Numerous user testimonials posted online indicate that MyGeotab is quite user-friendly with a straightforward interface. Multiple businesses even state in those reports that they were able to more effectively optimize their spending by monitoring drivers, achieving cost reductions in real-time.

Additionally, a few businesses have claimed that they were able to teach errant drivers through the aid of driver scorecards after using Geotab to identify those who were not following efficient routes.

All that said, some reviews have reported random inconsistencies in driver’s duty functions. This can result in unnecessary delays, wait periods, and even disciplinary action against drivers.

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(Image credit: Geotab)
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(Image credit: Geotab)

As for the hardware products offered by Geotab, the website highlights:

Geotab Go: This is a plug-and-play device that connects to the vehicle's OBDII port. Once connected, it can record data such as vehicle status, engine idle times, route distance and time, vehicle speed, and even collisions. It is compatible with add-ons available in the market that can provide additional features.

(Image credit: Geotab)

Geotab: Support

Geotab, which sells its products through resellers, does not offer direct customer support. There is no direct contact number on the website for customers to call. Instead, the website directs customers to the nearest authorized reseller, who can handle basic inquiries and even driver training, if necessary. There is also a Support Center, which links to documents and guides to help users, as well as a community forum to connect users with product experts.

The hardware products come with extensive DIY guides to set them up and the company expects customers to install the devices on their own. We did not find any ebooks, video content or webinars to help users.

Geotab: Final verdict

Geotab is a one-of-a-kind provider with a unique business model. This has both advantages and disadvantages. Customization and flexibility are two of the advantages, but customer support and lack of transparent pricing are major drawbacks. Because direct support is entirely dependent on resellers, your experience may vary, as may the pricing and contract.

The dashboard is simple to use, and the openness of the platform is another positive feature. Geotab is a trusted brand with a good reputation among its users which explains its popularity.

More on fleet management:

Samsara review
5:14 pm | April 1, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

Samsara is a cloud-based fleet management solution that helps businesses organize and manage their vehicles and assets. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company has offices in San Jose, Atlanta, and London. Samsara has over 2,200 employees and serves tens of thousands of customers globally, processing over 6 trillion data points annually.

Founded in 2015, Samsara is one of the market leaders when it comes to offering complete fleet tracking solutions. The company offers a combination of IoT devices and AI to provide real-time visibility and accurate analytics to a wide range of customers, including transportation and logistics companies, field services, food production, energy, construction, local governments, and manufacturing.

Samsara offers a free trial before you commit to a purchase, and even has a dedicated team to help you build a custom solution that meets your specific needs. Additionally, Samsara is compliant with ELD regulations and is FMCSA-approved. 

Samsara: Pricing

Samsara’s pricing model consists of two parts: an upfront hardware cost and a monthly subscription fee. The subscription fee includes the software license. While the website does not list specific pricing, it does mention charges such as a basic initial hardware investment and an annual license fee. There is only a contact portal that asks a few basic questions on the anticipated fleet size, and anticipated needs, and the “Get a quote” button ends with the need to provide a business email, rather than any pricing being provided. While Samsara is not the only company in this field to do this, they really could just provide a direct email to contact them, rather than have us go through this portal.

The upfront hardware was previously known to start at $129 per device and can go up to $399 per device depending on the product you choose, but there is no direct pricing info on the site that we could find for the hardware. The recurring software licenses range between $13-30 per month as reported by a few customers on various online forums, but again this is unconfirmed. 

The exact price charged by the company will vary depending on your fleet size, business type, the levels of service you choose, and any other specific requirements. While many competitors do not charge an upfront fee, Samsara's upfront fee allows you to own the hardware over time. 

There are demos available on Samsara’s site to show the savings available through improvements in efficiency, such as reducing idling time.

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(Image credit: Samsara)

Samsara: Features

Samsara stands out from the competition with its industry-leading features. It provides real-time traffic updates and displays the best available route to drivers, helping them reach their destination on time. 

The software not only allows administrators to track vehicle movements, but also to monitor unnecessary stops made by the driver, the vehicle's overall performance, any breakdowns, and even fuel waste reports.

It surpasses the capabilities of a regular fleet management app by providing a wide range of hardware integrations, such as dashcams, wireless sensors, and paper digitization, which are not available from most competitors. The integrations with third-party software are also very comprehensive.

Samsara software can be integrated with a variety of other software, such as payroll, CRM, TMS, route planning, inventory management software, and fuel cards, to ensure compatibility with your existing software licenses and to help you get the most out of the solution.

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Samsara 1 (Image credit: Samsara)
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Samsara 2 (Image credit: Samsara)

Among the key features of Samsara are:

Safety for drivers and vehicles: Samsara provides a vast amount of vehicle data, and its vehicle diagnostics help businesses quickly determine the condition of their vehicles. It also keeps drivers and administrators informed of upcoming preventive maintenance, vehicle fitness inspections, and services.

The sensors are able to identify reckless driving and keep track of situations including abrupt acceleration, hard braking, speeding, sharp corners, accidents, and crashes. Business owners may quickly determine whether drivers need a coaching session to enhance their driving skills with the aid of this data. Having a dash cam in your fleet’s vehicles makes life easier because it is connected to all of the sensors that are already there.

These cameras can automatically record video footage of both the exterior and inside of the vehicle after receiving a signal from the sensors, upload it to the servers, and provide details to the support staff in the event of an incident. Depending on the situation, the driver can be contacted in real time, or briefed later.

Route optimization: Samsara provides a real-time aerial image of the vehicle's precise location- a unique feature that is quite helpful. The business owners may schedule deliveries more efficiently with the aid of its software, which can automatically generate an optimum route map for the driver that includes a customizable stop time for each delivery location, which then leads to higher overall performance, with the additional benefit of an increase in fuel efficiency.

Reporting and analytics: The sheer volume of reports you can obtain with Samsara, made possible by the numerous sensors mounted on the car, is one of its primary selling features. This comprises numerous driving-related reports, vehicle performance reports, maintenance records, and most significantly, fuel reports, which are seriously thorough and detailed.

Over time, admins learn specific information about each vehicle and its operator, such as the driver's name and vehicle ID, as well as accurate data about the amount of fuel still in the tank, fuel consumption over a period of time, engine run time, idle time, average fuel consumption for the vehicle, and so forth. This is again valuable to rewarding the better operators, and coaching those that fall short.

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(Image credit: Future)

Samsara: Support

Samsara offers multiple channels for customer support. This includes a 24/7 support center that can be reached via a contact portal via a login. This is unfortunate that this is the only option, as previously it had phone support as an option. There is also no fax, or chat for direct support options. There is also no indication of the turnaround time for a response. 

While direct support could be improved, on the self help side it is well done. There are FAQs and videos that can help users solve their basic queries, along with webinars as well. On the social media side, the Facebook channel appears to have regular updates, and the YouTube channel gets new content on a regular basis.

Samsara: Final verdict

Samsara is a leader in the field of advanced fleet management services. It offers a wide range of features, and there is a free demo available to see if it meets your needs. Samsara is a reliable and trusted service provider that meets all major compliance requirements, with an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited since 2019.

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