Colorado-based PassTime GPS, a provider of automotive and IoT GPS products, is incorporating Polte’s cloud location over cellular (C-LoC) technology into its Encore range of asset trackers.

PassTime and Texas firm Polte will enable buy-here-pay-here dealers, franchise dealers, power sports dealers, auto finance companies and others to locate vehicles and assets securely and virtually anywhere that GPS becomes unavailable.

Polte’s multi-patented C-LoC technology produces accurate cellular location, leveraging 4G and 5G cellular network signals and the Polte IoT Cloud (PIC) to deliver real-time insights as devices move indoors and outdoors. The approach eliminates the bulk and expense of additional hardware or infrastructure needed for positioning with traditional technologies, while saving battery use by offloading computational complexity from the device to the cloud.

“Selecting Polte’s Mobile IoT location technology as an augmentation to our Encore product line was simple,” said PassTime CTO Todd Goodnight. “Taking advantage of Polte not only allows us to unlock precise location and indoor visibility where GPS falls short, but reinforces our value promise: providing long battery life trackers that are compact, easy to use and require no installation. Our customers will now have everything they need to safeguard vehicles and precious assets against loss or theft.”

With completed commercial integration of Polte’s location technology, the Encore line of asset trackers, expected to incorporate Polte’s location technology in early 2021, should fill in the gaps in intelligence left by those using solely GPS for positioning.

This will allow, for example, cars to be more quickly recovered or located if parked indoors or in parking garages. This streamlines operations and cost of capital, cutting down on the time required to search for missing assets.

Instead of hybridising with options such as wifi or Bluetooth LE, Polte’s integration eliminates the need for the overhead and hassle of access points or beacon deployments.

“We are excited to work with PassTime to offer unprecedented location intelligence to the automotive industry,” said Polte CEO Ed Chao. “Due to Polte’s use of cellular networks for positioning, the evolution of Encore will only become more powerful with the expansion of 5G. Together, we are setting the new standard for vehicle asset tracking.”

Powered by Polte PassTime Encore trackers incorporate WNC’s 5G compatible LTE-M module containing a Sony Semiconductor chipset, using both mobile IoT hardware partners to deliver scale, security and power savings for those looking to connect their vehicles and protect their assets.

PassTime has been in business for more than 25 years. Its GPS products help connect vehicles and protect assets for multiple sectors of the automotive and power sports industries including auto dealers, auto finance companies, fleet transportation providers and consumers.