| ontractors face a myriad of challenges every day. From dealing with
clients who insist upon major changes to a project just before its completed
to late nights in front of the computer viewing endless spreadsheets and
other data vital to keeping a business running. There is, however, no greater
threat to a contractor's business than the loss of his or her tools and
equipment. Without their tools and equipment, contractors, in an instant,
become sidelined and unable to engage in their livelihoods. Many contractors
maintain equipment theft coverage in their insurance policies. The problem
with this coverage is that many policies often have a list of exclusions
that will turn your claim into another ensuing nightmare that you shouldn't
need to deal with. Contractors often don't keep highly detailed tool and
equipment inventory records (which is what the insurance company will seek
from you after you file a claim), the reason being that inventories are
often never static as tools wear out, are replaced, discarded, traded,
etc. It is however, good practice to keep all of your receipts, service
records and any other data related to your equipment inventory in a place
where it can be quickly accessed and forwarded to your insurance company
in the event of a loss-assuming you have theft coverage in the first place.
What has really been needed for the longest time, is a jobsite security
system that can help pre-empt a loss and even help locate it should
thieves make off with your equipment. Enter the DeWalt MOBILELOCK DS500
GPS Locator with Anti-Theft Alarm.
It simply makes more sense to do everything you can to prevent equipment
theft. Conventional anti-theft countermeasures, like padlocks and triple-locked
tool cabinets are being rendered all but ineffective as thieves have become
increasingly more brazen. One New York contractor made a daily, end-of-day
habit of hoisting an expensive trailered generator with the company's crane
to keep it from being wheeled away at night. One morning, he arrived at
the jobsite to find that the generator-and the crane it was suspended
from-gone. Theft has always been rather rampant at construction sites,
but data does suggest that theft in this venue is trending ever upward.
This is what makes the DS500 GPS Locator so welcome among theft-weary contractors.
What the DS500 offers is peace of mind knowing that your equipment is being
monitored when you aren't on site.
How It Works
The DS500 is a compact unit, dimensionally about the size of an '80s
Walkman cassette player, which, in addition to its GPS locator ability
employs four built-in sensors. These sensors can monitor vibration, a door
opening, temperature and tampering. You can enable one or more sensors
to operate concurrently. The DS500 does not have any graphical interface
or any buttons to press. In fact, the only features inherent on the unit
itself are magnets for mounting to a skid steer or other metallic piece
of equipment and a flush mounted siren that can wake the dead. Theres also
a pop-up tamper switch, similar to the door buzzer switch on a car's door
jamb, on the back of the unit. Nothing else-except a port to plug in the
charger. Well then, exactly how does the DS500 get programmed? There are
two methods for setting up the unit-via phone and via your computer. We
opted to use a computer to set up the unit, which we'll detail shortly.
First, its important to understand how GPS itself functions. |
