AMI’s monitoring station received a phone call in the morning from a customer reporting the theft of the JCB 2CX machine which was fitted with the AT5 - a wireless, covertly installed battery operated tracking device from AMI Group. AMI immediately placed the AT5 tracking unit into ‘finder mode’ so that the exact location of the stolen machine could be determined. The AT5 utilises state-of-the-art GPS (Global Positioning System), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and RF (Radio Frequency) technology, with highly sensitive assisted GPS positioning accurate to within 1 metre.
Once the AT5 is fitted to a piece of plant machinery, both AMI’s monitoring station and the customer concerned can also log on to the AMI Nexis web-based portal or AMI Nexis app to establish the exact GPS destination of the asset. Carrying out minute-by-minute monitoring, AMI’s monitoring station could see that the stolen JCB machine had been taken to a location in Bentley, Hampshire near the A31.
One of AMI’s finders set off in pursuit of the stolen machine and the AT5’s GPS signal led the finder to a locked compound in Bentley. To aid the recovery efforts, an AMI drone was deployed to pinpoint the exact location on the site before the police gained access. AMI’s drones work from remote or secure locations up to 7km away whilst streaming HD video footage to the AMI finder team. They can fly at an altitude of 400ft and are virtually silent whilst searching the area.
From the AT5’s GPS signal and footage from the drone, AMI Group gained a positive sighting of the stolen JCB 2CX machine and the police were able to enter the site and recover the machine. AMI’s finder completed a witness statement for the police and AMI’s customer was able to recover the stolen Backhoe Loader on the same afternoon, just hours after first being reported as stolen.
The AT5 actively monitors over £475 million worth of assets and has helped customers across the length and breadth of the UK track down and recover stolen equipment. Offering the industry’s longest lasting battery life of up to 20 years without need for replacement or recharging, it is virtually impossible to trace in the event of a theft as it has no external wires, antennas or connections to trace. It is scanner-proof, remaining undetectable via a wake-sleep cycle mode, and because it is palm-sized at just 54 x 65 x 37mm, it is much smaller than comparable tracking devices yet still offers an IP68 waterproof rating.
In 2016 and again in 2017 AMI Group was named ‘Best for After-Theft Recovery Technology and Recognised Leaders in Plant Security Systems - UK’ as part of the Technology Innovator Awards held in conjunction with CV magazine.