Geotab Support Forum

Dear all,

Geaotab is a new software to me, wishing to have a steed knowledge of how it works.
I want to know how to download data from car key and store it in the system so that i can have report of the tragetory and wested fuel, but unfortunately i am totally in the dark. i dont know how to manange.

Hi Patricia,

To download data from a data key you would need a key downloader and the key downloader service enabled in checkmate. Once these two are set, then all that needs to happen is for you to insert the key into the key downloader and the data will start downloading into your database. If the vehicle/device already exists in your device list then it will store it there, if it does not exist it will create a new entry in your device list.

The quick user guide is located HERE

More support documents can be found HERE

Thanks Mauricio! I'm sure these will help a lot.

We are monitoring vehicles which are in deferent regions and also using diferent servers. What we want is to read vehicle information in that other region and then via e-mail receive a file which will then be uploaded on my computer so that we read their routes. Questions are: 1-What they must do in order to get the file which will then be sent to me? 2-How do I upload it. Note that I want to update the information and not replace it.

I don't know if the Geotab version has an importance. If yes, please give instructions and also the version for it.

From your post I gather that you have something such as the below:


OFFICE A: Checkmate + SERVER1 with DATABASE1


OFFICE B: Checkmate + SERVER2 with DATABASE2


And then you want to transfer information from DATABASE2 in OFFICE B into DATABASE1 in OFFICE A without overwriting.


Is this correct?

Hi Mauricio!

You are right. Note that what is downloaded from OFFICE B, cannot be read from OFFICE A (Central Office) and here is where we have the problem. All reports are generated from Office A, but we also want to monitor those vehicles which belongs to Office B which is far, the reason why we prefer to receive the info via e-mail.

I am now assuming that you only have RF devices, correct?
If so there is one feasible option for this kind of setup:

> You can run OFFICE B's Checkmate in Disconnected Mode, you will have limited access to the data in OFFICE B, but you will be able to create text files with the data that can be e-mailed to OFFICE A and imported there.

However, I would recommend running from a centralized Server as this is the ideal setup and as long as Office B has internet access is very simple to do.

There are a couple of solutions for this:

1. We provide a free hosting solution called: My Geotab. Using this you can connect from anywhere to the database. This also gives you some my.geotab only features.

2. You can host it yourself, all that SERVER in OFFICE A needs is an external IP and ports 80 and 443 open(which they normally are) and SQL with the database (which it should already have). Once this is done you can configure connection in two ways:
>Default: leave as is and users will need to run Checkmate from there pc's and connect to EXTERNALIP\Geotab/Geotab1 (\Geotab/Geotab1 could be different depending how it was initially setup)
> Checkmate Web Server: from the SERVER in OFFICE A enable Checkmate Web Server, a quick how to can be found here. Then all that users would need to do is put in the IP address in an Internet Explorer browser, this will take them to a page with a Start Checkmate button.

Hi Mauricio!

I'm can see I'm now about to close the issues here. Now I can get the file, but when I go to Tools>Import Data from Disconected Site>Next>Add File>Select the File>Next, it shows "Importing Data" which takes long processing. Once I clicked on Next>Finish, but the upload didn't happen. Do you see something wrong on this process?

What version of Checkmate are you running? From the steps you provided(which are correct) it seems that you are using an older version. I would highly recommend upgrading to our latest version (found at http://checkmate.geotab.com) and trying the process again. When you upgrade please backup your databases beforehand.

Hi Mauricio!

The data is being imported but the problem is that it doensn't give details of the vehicle, like for example the registration number and some other details which we did set already. When we download directly (not using disconnected mode), we get the completed info. Do I need to do a specific thing?

Thanks...

Hi Patricia,

These details have to be manually added the first time(under the device properties) and then you should be good to go.
If I misunderstood what you were referring to then please take a screenshot of the two and attach to your next post.

Thanks

Hi Mauricio!

Thanks for all the support you have been giving. One more question:
When I generate the Trips List Report (Report > Trips List), on the GO Keys column, instead of the Driver's name, appers again the registration number. Which steps I should follow in order to change and also changes reflect? Thanks in advance

You must go to Drivers & Activity -> Drivers
You should see the registration numbers listed on the left, select the one you want to change and click on show report.
Once it is showing on the right side, select it again and then click on Edit. Now change the description to the driver's name and then click on OK.