Big brother is always watching
Looking for a needle in a haystack is hardly what crosses Netstar recovery teams’ minds when they’re called out to recover a stolen or hijacked vehicle.
That’s the impression we got after spending a morning with this Midrand-based company who kindly showed us the workings in the recovery of vehicles, albeit in a simulated manner.
Staring from the control room, where victims report their incident, it’s a very fast process.
Your call centre operator needs some pertinent information from you before they muster the troops. In this regard endeavour to keep your vehicle’s registration number handy - you may know it well now but after some hoodlum has slapped you around you’re unlikely to remember it, even though your tracking company has it on their database.
It has been known for syndicates to try their hand in gaining valuable information from call centres and the manner in which your operator quizzes you after an incident is procedure orientated. They make darn sure it is you calling before action is taken.
Netstar will use a combination of GSM (cellular) along with RF (Radio Frequency) technology to find and recover your vehicle. Reason for this is that GSM jamming technology is freely available over the internet and becomes useless if criminals get their hands on such trickery.
On this occasion, their preferred form of technology was RF and once our complainant had confirmed the disappearance of his vehicle, as well as his particulars, and as we boarded the Bell Long Ranger the chase was on.
The unique code of the tracking device is radioed through and punched into the equipment which is not too dissimilar to the technology one sees conservation officials track game on TV.
Incidentally, Netstar will despatch a helicopter for each and every callout to maximise recovery rate while they also have helicopters in strategically placed hot areas to ensure a quicker response time. The World Cup has hardly helped their cause thanks to unfairly placed air restrictions, so ground crews have been beefed up to make up for the aerial support shortfall.
They’re a jacked bunch this lot, and will generally take your call within 20 seconds - get your details and get the ball rolling. It’s called the magical hour, or in these days, 45 minutes, thanks to the technology syndicates are using to steal cars. With the turbine sufficiently heated and clearance obtained, we’re off in the direction of Sunderland Ridge - not far from the Zwartkops Raceway.
At this stage our quarry is reasonably far and the equipment is set to high frequency, which means it will point us in the general direction, but not the needle as it were. Our pilot is in constant contact with the ground team as he juggles between keeping communication with air traffic in the area, monitoring the chopper’s vital bits, checking his instruments and monitoring the various radios at the same time.
Within 10 minutes we’re very close to our culprit as per the tracking unit’s read-outs and it’s now switched to low frequency which gives high accuracy and provides very accurate readings, critical if the vehicle is a densely populated area or has entered a building.
We soon spot the bronze Hilux and the trick now is trying to keep the chopper out of sight of the perpetrators. Netstar’s primary objective is to retrieve the vehicle, but if they can get the baddies, too, it’s a nice cherry to have. If the thieves do notice a helicopter close by, 99 % of the time they’ll jump ship and make a run for it. They know the game is over when the whirlybird appears.
The recovery vehicle follows the pilot’s instructions to a tee and the pilot himself is well-versed with distance calculation even though we’re the better part of 1 500 feet Above Ground Level (AGL).
Just 17 minutes after we’ve lifted off from Grand Central the Hilux comes to a halt with some efficient hardware pointed at the occupants’ heads. It’s game over as we head back to Midrand. Seventeen minutes might sound an age but it’s a dreadfully short period for the thieves to try and locate your tracking device.
Netstar receives on average 16-20 calls per day and claims a recovery rate of around 85%. Of course, this is all dependent on your unit’s health and discoverability of the device by thieves.
The company recommends units are checked every six months, or so, as if it’s not working, it’s highly unlikely you’ll get your vehicle back. Most tracking companies recommend this and it’s generally a free service. Don’t cry wolf either - it’s a massive waste of money and resources.
