Nearly half of fleets (47%) who use dashcams in which footage is only stored on an SD card have admitted to having problems retrieving data and imagery.
Raj Singh, managing director of tracking and dashcam specialist Crystal Ball, said it was a problem regularly encountered by fleets because they have often installed cheaper dashcam systems without cloud-based back-up.
And with the majority of vehicles not visiting the site where a fleet manager is based, this makes checking SD cards for data virtually impossible.
“I’m not surprised that the percentage of fleets having problems with SD card-only dashcams is so high. It’s a false economy to use card-based dashcams because while they are cheaper, unless you check them individually on a regular basis, you have no way of knowing if they are working or not,” he said.
Crystal Ball’s integrated 4G cloud-based SmartCam system monitors SD card health status, allowing a fleet manager to remotely format the card if required and ensure it is replaced when necessary.
Singh added: “What often happens is the constant rewriting over previous footage eventually corrupts the SD card, and then, when an incident has occurred and you try to retrieve this vital evidence, it has not recorded. If you invest in an integrated dashcam system with cloud-based back-up then you have the reassurance of knowing that footage will be saved in two different formats, so will always be accessible.”
The consequence of not having all the available footage is being unable to ascertain fault following an incident, which can prove far more costly than the initial outlay of more advanced cloud-based systems.
And SD card-only dashcams are also at risk of being tampered with, Singh added.
“It’s not unheard of for a driver to have made a mistake or done something silly on the road and, fearful that they are going to get in trouble, to quite simply eject the card and throw it away or try and damage it,” he outlined.
“Or, if they’re asked to send in the card to the fleet manager following an incident, it mysteriously gets lost in the post. Again, that’s where SmartCam comes in. Irrespective of the card, fleet managers can access the footage they need on demand remotely through a portal such as ours, which ensures all the evidence is available easily and quickly.”
Instead, Crystal Ball recommends that companies use 4G devices with cloud-based back-up in order to secure viability of data.
“The benefit of a 4G-enabled cloud-based system is the ability to create a telematics ecosystem featuring cameras integrated with tracking, digital checklists, defect reporting and driver behaviour monitoring, giving fleet managers control and security,” emphasised Singh.
“Our award-winning SmartCam fleet dashcam solution, with cloud-based video recording and tracking, has already been in operation for five years, is installed in many thousands of vehicles, and is proven to already deliver all of these advantages. With 4G capability, it will protect and future-proof your fleet for years to come.”
