Just some questions about how to implement tracking for a taxi company, do i need separate software or could this be implemented in a plugin, whats the best route to go and how much are we talking. Cheers Guys Sean

>how to implement tracking for a taxi company Provided we speak about GPS based solution, there would be three major parts: GPS tracking device: The GPS device here could a specialized piece of hardware or it could -- most likely in this context -- a mobile device, i.e. a phone with GPS turned on. The device must connect regularly to the GPS tracking server and relay data such as fuel amount, engine temperature, altitude, reverse geocoding, door open/close, tire pressure, cut off fuel, turn off ignition, turn on headlight, turn on taillight, battery status, GSM area code/cell code decoded, number of GPS satellites in view, glass open/close, fuel amount, emergency button status, cumulative idling, computed odometer, engine RPM, throttle position,GPRS status and a lot more. That list of features is taken from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_tracking_system GPS tracking server: It must receive the data, store it securely, and transmit it back to the user, on demand. User interface: Here, it would be an app for a mobile device, obviously, both for iOS and Android. >do i need separate software For the tracking server you would need separate software, most likely in PHP. It could start as a normal Internet server, say under VMS, but if the system serves well, it could easily grow up to a dedicated server, which start at about 150-200 USD per month. The software for the server could be some free fleet management software, or it could be a paid solution. Many such systems already exist and the taxi company may already have one such system in place. >or could this be implemented in a plugin, No way an entire such system could be implemented as a BT plugin. Only the third part, UI on the device could be a candidate for a BT plugin, and it would really depend on what devices do the taxi drivers already have in place. There is a place for plugins here, but only as a minor part of the system. >whats the best route to go "The best route that I get this job with the taxi company". Talk to them extensively in order to get the full picture and try writing a project in a written form. The company must have goals and their current situation certainly leaves a lot to be desired, so find what is their problem and solve it for them, on an idea level. If you can project the picture that your solution is cheaper than the profits they could make with your system, you would be a good candidate to get the job. Position yourself as a manager from the start. Thinking in terms of apps, plugins, BT events and the like, is counter productive here. Each car is worth a lot of money, and the company surely makes some money already, so they are used to prices that would be incredible for a physical person, and yet, are usual in B2B communication. >and how much are we talking. As a manager, you would need to have your own salary for a month or two (or more), and you would have expenses for an occasional piece of needed hardware, but mostly for the programming part. There are at least 20 or more features for this system (see the second paragraph of my post) and let's say that a programmer would like to be paid $100 per one such report. 20 times 100 is $2000 so the programmer would have to be paid at least $2000 for the whole job. But wait, if you want the same report for the management, that would be coding in PHP, but if for the mobile device, that is Java of Objective C. In essence, that is each report times twice, so a report is now $200, times 20, so $4000... See how that goes? In reality, if written from scratch, nobody would implement 20 features only because they could be written, so let's put it down to 8 features -- times $200, you have $1600 for the programmer or programmer's team. That is why you need to have a firm and concrete agreement on what is to be done, and when, and on which device. Which in turn brings us back to writing a project... The key to pull this off is to have the client pay you in advance an amount of money that you can transfer to the programmers. Then you press the programmers to write it in time, so that you can get paid for your own money... Being a manager is a very stressful job, but the payment may get much higher that all your AdMob income for a year. For reality check, ask Smug. I believe he already is doing something similar on his island, with beacons and what not.

Cheers Dusko, Thanks for all the great advice, I know Smug is currently working on beacons and such like and im sure he will throws his pennys worth in (please), as the taxi firms im thinking of approaching are only small 6-10 taxis Plus,I presumed it was gonna be out of there cost Limits and i was thinking around the cost you mentioned, The only thing i will add is the only function there gonna want is a tracking for the cabs, ie the customer and the taxi company can see where there cab is. that seams to be the most important function they want within the app. Thanks Sean

> tracking for the cabs Of course! >the customer and the taxi company can see where there cab is. That looks like two different requests, so either two different parts of one app or two separate apps, one for the customers, the other for the management. The taxi drivers might also have special desires of their own, so take that into account as well. You would still need a server. For 10 vehicles, any VPS will do for sure, however, even a shared hosting could be sufficient. That means you could host the PHP part on any server you already have (or the cab company already has). Everything else still applies: the need to have a project, the need for design for the screens both in the apps and for the management (who will most likely watch it on the laptops) and so on. As for the costs of programming for this system - for me, that would be in the range from $900 to $1200 (its dollars, not pounds). Such price could cover all the bases, both for the PHP server and on the devices, provided your specifications are clear enough to start with.

ok cool thanks dusko, I have an around price now, which is doable for small companies. cheers Sean