To Admin:
I started this thread over a year ago because our company was migrating towards GPS units and I wanted to get some feedback on what people around the world thought about the subject. WOW! This is definitely a hot topic indeed. I do think it is time to clean up some unrelated posts (there are many) and possibly add something to it that people could think about again.

I will add my final update about my company (PON NA) going to GPS. The switch is final, all service vans in North America (over 600) have been equipped with GPS. Not a single tech (in my division, Northeast) has been reprimanded or fired over "big brother" watching and keeping tabs. My opinion is that if management installs GPS to "watch" it's techs the system will absolutely not work. However, I have come to believe that our management team is extremely talented and they don't come to decisions lightly. There is an underlying reason for the GPS, not only insurance reasons, response time, etc. We all know that.

PON is a European company first, and in Europe the large service companies normally have a centralized dispatch center. 3 or 4 dispatchers for several hundred techs, where in America we have dispatchers at every single location. I believe this is PON's reason for installing GPS on every van, to eventually change to a European style centralized dispatch center and truly become national. Calls from any state we service will come to a centralized location and the closest tech would be dispatched. The only downside is the personal relationship but that has gone by the wayside over the years anyway and that should be left up to the sales force, not the dispatcher.

I want to thank everyone for their feedback and comments on this subject. It educated me which is really the purpose of forums in the first place.