Telematics appears to be something of a Marmite area. Those that use it love it, but those that don't subscribe tend to struggle to see the point.

A recent survey by Digicore found that just over a quarter of fleets currently use vehicle tracking technology, though that's as high as 86% in the utilities sector.

The survey respondents claimed increased productivity (54%), better vehicle and staff performance (46%) and reduced cost (44%) as the three biggest benefits of telematics.

But for that majority of fleets that are currently not embracing this techno-riddled age of vehicle management, what's actually on offer from companies in the telematics and tracking arena?

We've asked the industry's biggest names a series of questions to see what they offer. From the basics of vehicle navigation and real-time tracking through to ring-fencing specific areas or roads, text and online management, stolen vehicle immobilisation and a basic cost per day across a either large or small fleet, we've set out to give fleet managers a comprehensive guide to what's available. But it's also worth bearing in mind that most firms already using telematics or tracking technology treasure customer service, supplier responsiveness and back-office support higher than the entry price or basic product functionality.

So, as always, the key advice is to shop around and find a firm you're happier with, rather than the one with the lowest upfront price. However, this guide should act as a start point to fleets heading down the telematics route.

CMS SupaTrak

Website: www.supatrak.com

Customer phone number: 08444 774870

Customer email address: sales@supatrak.com

Year established: 1992

Describe your business in 30 words:

CMS SupaTrak is a leader in low cost, flexible tracking solutions and workforce mobility. We deliver individual components and fully managed end-to-end solutions to optimise business processes.

Product range:

The primary product is Supatrak but the company also sells complementary services including: fuel and vehicle management; carbon emissions monitoring; PDA tracking; cold chain monitoring (the ability to monitor the exact temperatures of chilled goods); asset tracking; trailer tracking and mobile workforce management.

DigiCore

Website: www.digicore.co.uk

Customer phone number: 020 8515 2900

Customer email address: info@digicore.co.uk

Year established: 1985

Describe your business in 30 words:

Over 22 years' experience developing and implementing vehicle tracking and fleet management solutions. Its advanced C-track technology is fitted to almost 300,000 vehicles in 32 countries across five continents.

Product range:

The core solution, C-track, is a sophisticated fleet management system that adopts the latest technology to provide a comprehensive real-time vehicle management tool. It provides vital information about mobile assets and workforce, and offers a scaleable mobile solution that meets the complex needs of fleet operators.

Lombard Vehicle Management

Website: www.lombard.co.uk/fleetmanagement

Customer phone number: 0870 850 0057

Customer email address: contact through website

Year established: 1998

Describe your business in 30 words:

Lombard is one of the largest vehicle leasing and management companies and, following the acquisition of Tracker Network by parent RBS, the only lessor offering an in-house tracking product.

Product range:

The Lombard Fleet Tracker product includes stolen vehicle recovery systems and vehicle asset management systems.

Orangeade

Website: www.orangeade.net

Customer phone number: 0870 3214555

Customer email address: mark@orangeade.net