Summary
We sat down with Global Telemetrics to chat about van tracking devices and how these increase your campervan security. The tracking devices are professionally installed and monitored from a secure control centre, offering features like battery backup, ignition alerts, and geofencing. Subscription costs range from £9.49 to £17.99 per month, depending on features. Their devices support global tracking, offer 24/7 customer support and offer repatriation services to track and protect stolen vehicles.
Focus: Global Telemetrics, campervan trackers, vehicle recovery, vehicle security, tracking solutions, tracker kits, professional tracker installation, geofencing.
Interviewed by: Simon from Van Bandits
Interviewee: Mike Boynes, Gavin Hennessy & Lou Townsley
Read time: 7 – 10mins
Simon, Van Bandits
Our van-banded vehicles are our pride and joy and our biggest asset, after bricks and mortar. Are you seeing an uptick in the number of campervan inquiries for van trackers?
Global Telemetrics
Yeah, motorhomes and caravans have featured in our top 10 recovery figures for the last 3 years. We help fit devices to a large number of motorhomes, caravans and campervans each year.
Simon, Van Bandits
I’ve seen a lot of DIY tracker kits. Some of them have been like the size of a matchbox. There was one the size of a house brick and I was thinking, where am I going to put that? You know, given the tech required, because these are quite complicated bits of kit. Do you need a lot of space? Do I need to find a space at the back of a cupboard somewhere? Or are they discrete little creatures?
Global Telemetrics
Yeah, they’re very discreet and hidden within the vehicle. All our devices are professionally installed as part of the Thatcham criteria. They’re wired in, and they also have to have a control centre that monitors them, which we have in our head office in Leicestershire. We have over a thousand dealers spotted around the country that fit our products, and we then monitor the products from here.
Simon, Van Bandits
My next question is regarding DIY. It’s not a DIY solution. This one as it stands, it’s registered and you need control monitoring of them.
Global Telemetrics
Yeah, we do that for your own security as well. Really, it’s just better that you don’t know where the device is, because then that way no one can come at you for example in a theft situation where’s the device? It also helps for insurance purposes that it’s better if the customer doesn’t know where it is.
Simon, Van Bandits
Okay. It’s connected to the main vehicle battery somehow, right? So, if my battery dies, if it goes flat or for whatever reason, or if I have to disconnect it, does it continue to work or not?
Global Telemetrics
Yeah, it’s got battery backup on the device as well. If the battery is actually disconnected from the tracking device in any way, we contact the customer, to check if the vehicle is okay, if the battery is running low, the customer will be notified via our free app.
Simon, Van Bandits
As it’s all remotely monitored, is there any way that that monitoring can be done by myself in real time on my phone?
Global Telemetrics
Yeah via our app, you can set up notifications, so you can have little things like the ignition on alert, all depending on the device type. You can set it up so that every time you switch the ignition on, you’re alerted. So basically, that acts as a bit of a backup protection in case somebody has stolen your van.
When you log into the device it tells you the battery charge and also the main thing is it tells you the location. You can also set a geofence, where you can activate a virtual perimeter around your vehicle which will then notify you if the vehicle enters or exits that area.
Simon, Van Bandits
So, there are a lot of reasons why I should go for a fitted tracking solution for my van, rather than going down the road to a retail store and fitting one myself for like 40 quid and a SIM card, which isn’t registered. I guess it would just be for my own personal tracking, rather than an insurance company.
Global Telemetrics
We would say so, with our 24/7/365 monitoring service as well as dedicated recovery agents if a theft was to happen. You can have peace of mind that your vehicle is in safe hands. Our trackers are also insurance recognised which may help with your premiums.
Simon, Van Bandits
How many partners or fitting teams do you have in the UK?
Global Telemetrics
Over 1,000 installers nationwide. The majority of these are mobile and we have installers that can install devices all over the country, mostly at a location of your choosing.
Simon, Van Bandits
Affordability, I mean, that’s a consideration for all of us here. What monthly cost are we looking at with regard to the surveillance of our vehicles?
Global Telemetrics
The subscriptions on our lowest devices start at £9.49 per month and the top-end devices are £17.99 per month. They have different operations. Basically, the first ones are entry-level at £9.49 and our Thatcham S5 devices have driver recognition and optional immobilisation.
Simon, Van Bandits
Okay. Well, Van Bandits are adventurous. That’s what we do, and as such, we’re not tied to the UK, although, you know, there are lots of great places to go and see here – are there any geographic limitations? I mean, if I want to go to France, Italy, Germany, all the way down to the Greek islands, will my Telemetrics still work?
Global Telemetrics
EU countries are completely covered. However, the devices have responded all around the world. We’ve had customers ship motorhomes to Australia. As soon as it’s off the ship, it starts bringing in data and everything’s fine as soon as it gets connected to a new network.
Simon, Van Bandits
Excellent. Well, bring Global Telemetrics to you. Does it actually depend on whether you’ve got good mobile coverage?
Global Telemetrics
Our devices do use a mobile SIM, but they use what’s called multi-roaming SIM, which isn’t just fixed to one network. So, it does help. If I can’t get on Vodafone in the UK, for instance, it will try others. It all depends on where you are, but it does try its best to capture onto whatever networks it possibly can. For vehicle recovery, we have different methods of getting information from the device as well, but that is behind the scenes.
Simon, Van Bandits
Excellent. Okay, so some of us are nerds and we love information, and we love sort of taking down details of where we’ve been, how far we’ve been, how long it’s taken, all of that kind of thing. You’re tracking information that goes through your system. Is it exportable? Can I put it on a spreadsheet?
Global Telemetrics
Yeah, we could do CSV. You can do Excel. You can do PDF downloads. We have customers that have multiple vehicles that input the data directly into a CRM from a CSV file.
Simon, Van Bandits
Moving onto vehicle security. I know that’s the heart of what you guys do. I mean, you’re all about keeping vehicles where they should be. Do you have any tips on keeping vehicles like campervans safe? Is there anything that generally we can do to help ourselves?
Global Telemetrics
I think the one thing we always say is just remember your basics. It’s very easy to just leave your things unlocked and stuff like that. Remember if you leave your van, don’t leave your vehicles unattended running.
One thing we’ve seen as an example, is not so much with campervans, caravans and motorhomes, but a lot with cars. In the winter, we find that people will go out to defrost their car, leave it running, and a thief will just come past, jump right in it and drive off. I think you’ve just got to remember, just park it in a safe place. Put it where you know it’s safe. Make sure you lock everything.
Then, obviously, from our side, we’ve got the aftermarket security, immobilisers and trackers, but we can also wire an aftermarket alarm through the tracking device, so that if your alarm sounds, then our contact centre will ring you as well. People are trying to steal motorhomes and vehicles, so you’ve gotta protect them as best as you can, but remember the basics.
Simon, Van Bandits
So, I bought and installed one of your machines from my handy installer down the road, maybe Sunny Side Up, and if I’ve got any issues or I’ve forgotten how to run the damn thing, or maybe it’s confusing me, can I give you guys a call?
Global Telemetrics
Yeah, we’re a 24-hour operation anyway, and our highly tech-trained team works 24 hours. So, they can always step in and help just at the end of the phone or an email.
Simon, Van Bandits
Okay, well, what kind of guarantee do I get with your tracker once it’s in?
Global Telemetrics
It comes with a standard 3-year warranty and it’s extendable up to 12 years. We only do it extendable for 12 years because of, obviously, new technologies and changes within phone systems and so on.
Simon, Van Bandits
What’s next? What can we expect in the coming years from Global Telemetrics?
Global Telemetrics
I think, to be honest, we’re always looking to improve our services. We’ve just introduced ‘theft logic’ as well, which automatically identifies instances where a vehicle may be stolen, which our team then looks into further. We’ve also got a free app that comes with every device which we’re currently in the process of upgrading and rolling out to make the user experience better for the customer as well. So, we’re always trying to improve the service for both our customers and engineers.
Simon, Van Bandits
Excellent. Well, thank you very much. Is there anything else that you’d like to share with our community and Van Bandits?
Global Telemetrics
Do you know about our recovery repatriations team if your vehicle is stolen? Our team of recovery agents will locate and stand guard around the vehicle, until the police can attend, keeping an eye on the vehicle as best as they possibly can. They’ll follow it as best as they can as well, obviously, talking to us constantly until they can get the police to the location.
Simon, Van Bandits
So, you do like a track, trace and protect service?
Global Telemetrics
Yeah, they observe the vehicle and assist the police by providing locations and liaising with them throughout the process. They’ve not got the police powers. They’ll keep an eye on the vehicle as long as they possibly can. They’re exclusive to us as well, the team that we’ve got, and they’ve got agents all across the country and connections across the world. They liaise with the police directly, and it really helps speed up how we get vehicles back.
Simon, Van Bandits
Okay, so my van gets taken off my driveway tomorrow, gets taken away, I’m confident that you guys will have somebody on its tail pretty quickly.
Global Telemetrics
Yes, we’ve had vehicles back in as quick as five minutes.
Simon, Van Bandits
Wow, very satisfying when something like that happens. Well, thank you very much for your time, guys.
Simon has plenty of experience with converting campers and vanlife. In a former life he used to be ‘on the tools’ as a carpenter in the UK and has a strong interest in woodwork, interior designing and cabinet making. He loves the methodology of DIY campervan conversion, the setup and getting the ship on the road. Read more on Simon’s van bandits profile.
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