The Geotab Watchdog Report
As many new Geotab users first start to use the system to manage their fleet, the importance of regularly monitoring the health of your installed devices can sometimes be overlooked. MyGeotab provides powerful and easy-to-use tools to make sure devices are reporting and healthy.
Device Communication and the Watchdog Report The watchdog report is an excellent resource in MyGeotab that gives you a quick health summary overview of all the devices in your fleet. You can easily filter out the devices that may need to be investigated from ones that are reporting healthy.
A live device in a healthy state should be communicating with MyGeotab at least once every 24 hours. From the watchdog report you will be able to see which devices have stopped communicating and need to be followed up on.
Devices can stop communicating for a wide range of reasons. For instance, some devices may drive into an area out of cellular coverage and stay out of coverage for a number of days. It is also common for a device to be unplugged while in the shop for maintenance. A non-communicating device can even indicate a larger issue with the vehicle itself, such as a dead battery. Reviewing the watchdog report regularly will allow you to jump on top of any potential issues early and ensure that your telematics devices are always reporting the data you need.
To access the Watchdog Report:
Navigate to the "vehicles" section on your MyGeotab Menu (on the left hand side of your screen when logged into Mygeotab, see image to the right)
Above your list of vehicles, click "view"
Next, click Watchdog Report from the options that appear after clicking the "View" button.
This report will show you the addresses, dates & times, and the serial numbers of your vehicles, and whether or not they are communicating properly.
Check out this short video for a quick overview of working with the Watchdog Report:
Current Status and Install Info In addition to the summary view provided by the watchdog report, MyGeotab also provides a detailed status page, which you can view for each device in your fleet. Located in the Device Editor page for any device, the “Current Status and Install Info” button provides very useful information when determining if there is an issue with a specific device in the field.
This report allows you to see when a device last communicated with MyGeotab and what data is being received from the device. From this information, it can be easily determined if:
The device is experiencing an issue with the GPS antenna
The device is having trouble communicating with the onboard engine computer in the vehicle
The sim card on the device is activated with the network carrier
You can also see if your device is still under warranty with Geotab. All of this information is invaluable when attempting to diagnose an issue in the field.
Another important aspect of device troubleshooting is the state of the device’s health at the time of installation. All registered Geotab installers are required to register any installation performed at https://install.geotab.com. This website allows the installer to view the status of the device post-installation to verify that it is functioning correctly. The Current Status form on MyGeotab allows you to verify that this important step was performed and that the device was operating correctly at the time it was installed.
If you need further help or would like to add this report to your dashboard and need assistance please contact New England Mobile Systems, your local, Fleet Tracking & Management Experts!
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