Looking past in the 1960s, the geofencing concept was initially originated from the applications linked with the US Navy's usage of global positioning system (GPS). Whereas, in today's scenario geofencing has come afar with unique concepts that are used to drive several features. One such example is proximity marketing. It is being used by many businesses, especially beverages, to sell products in unique ways. It enables push notifications or sends SMS alerts based on the device’s location. This promotes incentivized business sales and retains your customers for a longer period.
What is Geofencing?
It is an internet-based application that creates virtual geographic boundaries, enabling the software to trigger instant responses as soon as the mobile device enters or exits the geofenced premises. The geofencing apps can work with multiple networks like RFID, Wi-Fi, GPS, or cellular. It renders much easier location-based services due to software functionalities, where no hardware is involved other than GPS microchips.
Moreover, the geofence for a particular area can be symmetrical or asymmetrical, defining the desired boundaries for the managers. It enables a different approach to target people. For instance, in proximity marketing, geofencing apps are used to filter the people according to specific buildings and not just by pin code, city, or neighborhood.
What Popularizes Geofencing in Industries?
Any asset that enters or exits the created geofence has a certain assignment according to a particular region. It has a beneficial purpose of alerting the users with instant notifications on their connected smart gadgets. IoT-powered geofencing enables a customizable creation of virtual boundaries manually and displays all the assets assigned in particular geofenced regions. It allows you to single-handedly manage multiple assets through one dashboard along with monitoring all the alerts associated with the assets.
The user can set virtual perimeters in real-world scenarios with the help of geofencing that allows proper supervision of the assets within the fenced area. Therefore, it becomes easier to
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Define a particular radius area on the map
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Gain real-time alerts region-wise
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Ensure the safety and security of the asset
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Discourage any unwanted activities remotely
Hence, geofencing has become the most popular application among the industries. Let’s find out the best 5 applications of geofencing that are booming the industrial growth.
1. Fleet Management
The fleet industry deals with a massive number of vehicles to process deliveries. Also, large fleet businesses have different sets of vehicles that can utilize geofencing for better asset management and monitoring. It is an effective way to keep a track record of all those vehicles over a single platform and in an organized manner. You can easily set the threshold values for a pre-described route and automatic alerts will generate if the specified route is not followed. With the help of remote management, you can take necessary actions in such situations and prevent any unwanted activities or extra expenses.
2. Supply Chain
Geofences are static perimeters around a specific area where monitoring needs to be done. During supply chain operations, you can introduce event-triggered actions with the help of geofencing. Furthermore, these actions can be effectively utilized to keep a real-time track of the incoming carrier and shipments. It thus helps save a lot of time required for carriers while at the dock, resulting in quicker dispatch and reduced detention time. Geofencing for supply chain operations offers accurate location-based reporting that allows the shipment availability and location coordinates for the in-transit products. It thus helps save the product waiting time on the receiving end and reduces the number of failed delivery cases at a significant cost.
3. Taxi Services
The taxi business models rely wholly on GPS tracking and location-based services . Geofencing thus plays a significant role in showing the number of taxis available around a user along with the estimated waiting time for when the driver can arrive. Also, many service providers like Uber are using the geofencing concept at a whole different level. Even when you are not using the app but have the location services turned on your mobile phone, Uber can detect your location at all times. Therefore, whenever you enter their pre-described geofenced areas, they will automatically send push notifications to drive more sales.
4. Hospitality
The hospitality industry is utilizing the geofencing concept as an effective way to track their customer's requirements at every step. Also, it provides location-based services that are mainly used by businesses to engage their users by triggering notifications and SMS alerts as soon as a smart gadget enters a geofenced area. Moreover, for the hotel industry customer data is a form of currency that is used to provide a seamless experience. Geofencing and location services are tailored with onsite services that use all the available contextual and guest data to improve business growth at significant levels. Also, incorporating geofencing helps promote mobile and personalization strategies of hotel businesses to create a dynamic experience for each guest.
5. Employee Tracking
Geofencing is a unique application that can be purposefully used to track employee on-field activities. You can assign a specific region to an employee and ensure that he/she fulfills the designated number of work hours in the specified area. This enables a real-time track of the workers, ascertaining their positions where they’re supposed to be and resulting in higher sales and increasing profits. Also, geofencing allows you to gain complete details of the employees assigned in every region through a single dashboard, making the management easier and secure. It thus reduces the idle time and boosts the productivity of the business exponentially.
