Being a victim of theft is not only costly but also highly distressing. It’s an experience you would rather avoid repeating, so it makes sense to look for ways to help prevent its recurrence. One solution that you can turn to is an anti-theft GPS device.

This tracker can provide reliable theft protection whilst granting you complete control over your property, whether it’s a car or any type of vehicle, machinery, or other assets.

The Importance of Protecting Valuable Assets

Did you know that in 2021, a passenger or light commercial vehicle was stolen every 11 minutes in Australia? Just a year later, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded an 11% increase in motor vehicle theft. These numbers are worrisome for any business owner or fleet manager. The chances of becoming a statistic keep increasing the more vehicles you add to your fleet.

Thankfully, some methods, such as installing and using GPS trackers, can help boost your asset protection strategy. Valuable assets, including expensive equipment, machinery, and vehicles, are a significant financial investment. Safeguarding them, in turn, protects your financial security and prevents losses, particularly those associated with theft.

Additionally, the loss of essential assets can cause a disruption in your operations, which can then lead to downtime and decreased productivity. To ensure business continuity, asset protection through GPS trackers is a must.

How Effective is Anti-Theft Car GPS?

GPS trackers are used to protect a wide range of assets, especially valuable ones, including:

But how does a GPS tracking device contribute to reducing theft? Here are reasons why it is highly effective in numerous scenarios:

1. Acts as a Deterrent

An anti-theft device is typically hidden in plain sight, but its visibility can be a huge advantage over potential thieves, deterring them. When thieves are aware that a particular asset is being tracked, it discourages unauthorised access or theft.

2. Tracks in Real Time

With real-time tracking, owners, including individuals and businesses, can quickly respond to incidents such as theft. Immediate detection of unauthorised movement or activity can trigger alerts, enabling quick responses.

It is worth noting that not all GPS trackers offer real-time location information. While minor delays generally do not hurt and may be acceptable, real-time tracking is invaluable, particularly for businesses looking for an effective anti-theft device.

3. Offers Geofencing

Geofencing is a feature that allows you to create geographical zones around specific areas or assets. These boundaries act like a virtual fence and will generate an alert when the asset enters or exits the zones you have defined. Because you receive instant alerts, either through email, SMS, app notifications, or a combination of these, you are promptly informed about any movements. That means you can take appropriate actions in response to the current situation.

4. Can Be Monitored Remotely

Remote monitoring is a must-have feature when looking for a GPS tracker to protect your assets from potential theft. It serves as a reactive security measure, providing notifications only in case of an incident caught by the device.

With remote monitoring, you get the advantage of preventing certain incidents from escalating. For example, if an employee drives a vehicle to a different location, you can track its movement in real time and notify them that monitoring is in place. This helps deter potential crimes whilst also ensuring that situations do not take a turn for the worse.

Some GPS trackers offer real-time tracking capabilities, while others may provide periodic location updates.

5. Helps in Asset Recovery

GPS trackers provide accurate location data, facilitating the retrieval of lost or stolen assets. When equipped with real-time information, you can quickly track the precise whereabouts of the item in question at any given time, all from your smartphone, eliminating the need to find a desktop to log in to the tracker’s platform. This helps reduce search time and resources needed to locate the asset.

GPS tracking also simplifies collaboration with law enforcement. When you have essential information, authorities can immediately dispatch officers for asset recovery. Additionally, you can use the location data as evidence for any legal action you may wish to pursue about the incident.

6. Provides Insurance Benefits

The effectiveness of GPS in theft prevention and asset recovery opens up the possibility of saving on insurance costs. With premiums rising nonstop, installing a dependable anti-theft car GPS can translate to a lot of savings.

Insurance is indeed a complex world to navigate, but the less you deal with it, the better. If you have a GPS tracker, your insurer may be inclined to expand your coverage and provide more attractive insurance rates.

7. Requires Little to No Maintenance

GPS trackers have minimal maintenance requirements, ensuring their reliability, especially when a critical incident takes place. This reliability is essential to maintain consistent performance when tracking assets and vehicles. Also, it helps reduce repair or replacement costs since these anti-theft GPS devices can last several years.

Types of Anti-Theft GPS Trackers

GPS trackers can offer real-time location information, but others may have a few minutes of delay. The latter is efficient for data collection and evaluation but may not be suitable as an anti-theft measure. When it comes to design, an anti-theft device can take various forms, such as:

  • Portable Placement Trackers: These anti-theft car GPS devices are installed in or on a vehicle to operate. They are small, often pocket-sized, allowing you to place them in tight spaces without taking much room in the car’s interior. These trackers are versatile, as they can be used to track any type of vehicle. However, they generally have a limited life because of their battery and may need frequent charging or battery replacement.
  • Plug-in Trackers: These anti-theft devices are commonly plugged into the vehicle’s OBD-II port. That means they do not require recharging, as they are powered by your car. The downside, however, is that they typically stop monitoring locations when the vehicle is idling or turned off.
  • Hardwired Trackers: This type of tracker is connected to the internal circuit of the car. It can be used in almost any vehicle, including those that do not come with an OBD-II port, such as a motorcycle.

GPS trackers can be anti-theft car GPS or asset trackers. Some are designed for people or pets to check the whereabouts of animals, children, and the elderly. These devices provide geofencing, real-time tracking, tamper detection, and remote monitoring.

Some GPS trackers offer more than just tracking for a fee. Subscribing to a set of functions, such as monitoring driver habits, can make the device even more useful.
The effectiveness of an anti-theft GPS tracker is highly dependent on the quality of the device itself.

Complementary Anti-Theft Measures

GPS trackers are valuable, but they may not always suffice to prevent theft on their own. To bolster your defence against theft, consider incorporating the following measures in conjunction with your anti-theft GPS device to enhance asset security:

  • Install audible alarms, which will be triggered when unauthorised movement or tampering is detected.
  • Many vehicles with anti-theft systems come with remote engine immobilisation. This feature allows the owner to remotely turn off the vehicle’s engine, preventing it from moving or even starting.
  • Certain GPS trackers can be linked to a locking device, clamping down a bike’s wheels or immobilising a car’s steering wheel to stop it from moving.
  • Integrate GPS trackers with video cameras to get hard-to-refute video evidence of unauthorised access or theft.
  • An anti-theft system with two-way communication lets you speak to potential thieves, alerting them that authorities have been notified.

Whether a single asset or a fleet of vehicles, they represent a significant investment. When one goes missing, it results in financial losses and wasting valuable time while waiting for recovery. With an anti-theft GPS device from Simply Unified, you can shorten the wait and enhance your protection against potential theft. Let us know the asset you want to protect, and we will help you find the best solution.