Standard GPS makes errors; Skymeter's FGPS
makes accurate bills.
The Problem with Using GPS for Billing
Even the best GPS chips make occasional positioning errors. While we accept errors in GPS navigation, few consumers tolerate any mistakes in their bills.
Billing errors (specifically overcharges) can be very expensive. They drive up your customer support costs. They drive down your customer loyalty. Even worse, having unidentified overcharges buried in your millions of transactions means that all charges can be called into question. If all charges can be questioned, then you can’t enforce payment.
How bad is the problem? The map with the red dots shows second-by-second GPS readings, as tested by the California Department of Transport in downtown San Francisco. Imagine trying to determine the roads driven on, let alone proving your bill when challenged!
Skymeter Verifies Every Financial Transaction
Skymeter’s Financial Grade GPS generates significantly improved GPS positions, without requiring any on-board maps. That is only the start. Skymeter then verifies every transaction using its patented processes.
What does the verification do? The graph to the right, from a Cisco Korea test in Seoul, shows the results of 40 repeated identical drives, in different cars on different days. We expect identical charges for every drive. The competing GPS system, in red, overcharged drivers by up to 14% - after sophisticated map-matching. Skymeter’s improved positions, in blue, overcharged by up to 3% - with no map-matching. Skymeter's verification service gave the results shown in green. Skymeter made sure that GPS errors did not cause overcharges: only amounts that could be collected were invoiced.
Do Verified Transactions Really Matter?
The importance of verified transactions depends on your application. In GPS tolling, European experience has already shown that repeated overcharges make operators unable to collect. GPS parking payment, a new field, is likely to have similar requirements. Usage-based insurance has managed with odometers (accurate to +/- 4%) and inaccurate GPS to now. That may change, especially since some firms may not wish to run the risk of class-action lawsuits for overcharging.