When Care4all launched its first personal tracking device in 2002, the market was not yet ready to embrace the benefits – the feeling of big brother watching was too strong. Now that most people have a 3G mobile phone, the idea of carrying a personal security device feels less sinister.
“Many of our personal tracking devices are used to provide reassurance for people working alone or for people with health problems,” says sales Manager Lars Bentsen. “This year we launched a new product together with a partner company, ICTAL Care, which is a device developed for epilepsy patients that can register when they are having a seizure and call for help. Devices such as these give people the confidence to get out and about and reduce their isolation.”
Care4all’s product range is marketed under the Lommy brand name. Its Lommy Pro device is one of the most popular tracking and monitoring devices in the market. It combines GSM and GPS/GPRS technologies to enable tracking of equipment and people with nothing more than a PC with internet connection.
The device can be connected to a range of sensors so that parameters such as temperature or fuel level can be monitored remotely. Lommy Tag is the name given to a range of key-fob-size radio transmitters that communicate with Lommy Pro or Lommy Personal.
They can be used to identify where in a building someone is located or who is driving a particular vehicle. They can also transmit an alarm signal to the base station, which then transmits a message to a predetermined destination.
The applications extend far beyond the obvious tracking and tracing of mobile vehicles and equipment. “We have developed a solution together with Telespor As in Norway for the agricultural sector and sheep farming in particular,” describes Mr. Bentsen. “Sheep farmers no longer spend all their time out with the herd but allow the sheep to roam freely in the summer. By fitting them with our trackers, it is much easier to round them up at the end of the season. The females are fitted with a GPs tracker ,and the lambs in the flock are fitted with smaller tags.”
The latest new product launch is Lommy eye, a tracking unit with an internal battery that will power the unit for up to 15 years. Lommy eye can be used in a variety of situations where long-term tracking and surveillance is required. After ten years spent perfecting its product range, Care4all and sister company FlexTrack, which carries out R&D, are ready for expansion.
Exports currently account for around 15% of sales, but this figure is expected to rise. This year, an agreement to supply 100,000 units for a Norwegian company was signed, and other big orders for the company’s innovative solutions are expected in the future. “We are about three years ahead of the competition in this sector,” says Mr. Bentsen. “We are developing completely new tracking technology that is not based on GPs.”