OnStar Vehicle Tracking Systems

The OnStar Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors, provide a subscription based system for their range of vehicles, with special emphasis is on in-vehicle security, while stiff offering Garmin driven navigation, as well as real time diagnostic system updates. The OnStar tracking system application is currently restricted to within the United States and Canada and for vehicles manufactured only by the General Motors group with factory standard and installed OnStar vehicle tracking systems software. Currently more than five million cars and trucks are actively using the OnStar vehicle tracking systems technology.

To many car owners, the principal core of interest is security. Finding their way around is not without significance, yet the majority car owners who opt for OnStar vehicle tracking systems their personal security takes precedence.

In cars with OnStar vehicle tracking systems installed the driver knows that their movements are being monitored at all times, and if for any reason they need to press one of the many "panic switches" scattered around their vehicle, they can be assured that their "cry for help" is being transmitted through a chain of nationwide cellular receiving stations to a centrally operated center. Not only are their panic buttons concealed in the car at strategic points, but also a one way microphone is in place, so that drivers in distress can broadcast their situation. Also in the event that the driver presses a panic button by mistake, they can also contact the operations center, but only through the "emergency" microphone announcing that there has been a false alarm.

However if there is a genuine emergency, and with police approval the center can emit a signal which will kill the vehicle's engine and not allow it be restarted until the center sends out a cancel message. This idea really meets with the approval of the police department as well as insurance companies as their statistics show that cars fitted with this device when reported missing can immediately be traced through the central operation center's trackers and immobilized.

Another long distance feature that is especially appealing to car owners who have fitted an OnStar vehicle tracking system to their car is its ability to be locked or unlocked from the OnStar's central operations. There are many instances where this comes especially useful.

The majority or private cars fitted with OnStar vehicle tracking systems are privately owned and one of the major attractions are that it is possible to monitor a vehicle's position even through a personal computer at home through the power of the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)