Last week we mentioned the Milwaukee TICK which is a small black tracking device that can stick on to anything you want to track from ladders, generators, thread machine, press tools, gang boxes, pull behind compressor, dirt bikes, luggage, farm equipment or whatever, the possibilities are endless. To support the new TICK devices the ONE-KEY app is getting an upgrade, which is LIVE NOW! Some exciting new features have become available not just to support the new TICKs but for all your other ONE-KEY tools as well!
What’s New for Milwaukee ONE-KEY 3.0 Version
Additional Theft Deterrent features are huge for the 3.0 update. For all your existing ONE-KEY tools you can now Remotely Shutdown any ONE-KEY tool that goes missing rendering it useless. Did someone else on the job “borrow” it, just for a minute, wasting your time, shut it off. When it’s found simply restart it, a very effective prevention tool for thefts as well as all ONE-KEY tools (existing & new) will soon become hammers once they go missing not very valuable at the pawn shop. There is also a Lock Trigger Mode which simply means the tool can’t be used when you don’t want it to be without reporting it missing.
For managing large inventories there are a lot of improvements in how that works as well, faster more robust Inventory Management, Programmable Service Schedule, Guest Access to share inventory, you can hide inventory from being seen by others as well as assigning “Owners Pin” which both help keep your tools straight on a crowded jobsite that may have other companies using ONE-KEY tools. This system is increasing getting more sophisticated with each update and the great news is there is no additional cost for any of this additional functionality once you own the ONE-KEY tools!
Does ONE-KEY Work to Recover Tools?
ONE-KEY now has over 100,000 app downloads which is increasing everyday and looking for a big boost once the TICKS are released. In terms of tracking tools it is by far the largest network out there. Over 4,000 tools have been reported lost and found in just the last few months since this new feature became live.
“My friend bought into ONE-KEY™ about two months ago. He is a small contractor who has a truck with all of his tools. He was tidying up his truck at a gas station when two men jumped into the driver’s seat and stole his car. After the police couldn’t find his truck, he turned on the ONE-KEY™ App to locate his tools. It showed one tool at a pawn shop about a mile away from his house, where he was able to recover it, and three more tools.
The other tool showed up in a garage a few miles away. He gave the information to the police, who found the thieves disassembling his truck to resell for parts. Turns out this had been going on for six months, the guys were part of a car theft ring and had parts from 45+ at the location. ONE-KEY™ didn’t just recover the lost tools, it took down a car theft ring that had evaded police for half a year!”
Nick D. Castle Rock, CO
We expect to hear more and more of these cases as the ONE-KEY network continues to grow. We also would not be surprised in the least to hear of law enforcement and just generally concerned citizens downloading the app simply to help identify and target criminals.
How does it Compare to the Competition?
There are a handful of competitors out there which will help track your tools and equipment but as additional features come online with Milwaukee ONE-KEY and as they continue to add more functionality (again all for free) it’s looking better and better for the Milwaukee guys.
TOOL WATCH – About $10,000 annually, $2500/scanner, about 4,000 total users, older bar code scanning system, licensing and expensive upgrades.
TRIMBLE ALLTRAK CLOUD – About $2,500 annually, $2500/scanner, bar codes and/or RFID, annual licensing, backwards compatibility issues.
HILTI ON!TRACK – About $8,000 annually, $2500/scanner, RFID technology, 3 year contract required on the system
ONE-KEY – $0 annual, BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology for superior range over RFID, rapidly growing network, works on any mobile device, free improvements and upgrades.
Will You Switch to ONE-KEY on Version 3.0 or Wait for Version 4.0?
Each time we see an update on the ONE-KEY technology we have the same reaction, this is the future, this tech is going to get cheaper, better and more common place. We are all going to be mad at ourselves next year or two years from now at the tools we didn’t get ONE-KEY with. Milwaukee isn’t done improving, version 4.0, 5.0 & 6.0 of ONE-KEY are only going to see these improve more which will then make all your existing tool that much better.
Milwaukee Tool also needs to step up their game here and go all in on ONE-KEY, they know what they got and where this is headed! While we probably don’t need to change many settings as seen above on certain tools like a M18 SDS-Max Hammer, M18 Bandsaw or M18 SuperHawg they need to make ONE-KEY Tracking and Remotely Shutdown standard on any new tool $500+ to protect the investment.
We would be shocked if there are not a 10 times the user base for the ONE-KEY tech by this time next year with the launch of the TICK, it really opens up this platform to everyone and anyone to track just about anything. Why not put it on all your vehicles (car, truck, RV, Boat, ATV), under your bike seat, in your laptop bag, personally I am attaching my first one to our dog’s collar, there really are not limits to what might be worth $20 to track and locate.
While certainly not a full proof GPS solution it seems to be easily worth $20! We really think law enforcement might get behind this as well in a big way, they frequently interact with people suspected of having stole merchandise with trouble proving it, this would be a great tool to locate and help support their case. As the user base grows so will the effectiveness of the ONE-KEY platform. We think this is very cool technology, nice job red team!
