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Right back at you
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Little tracking devices hidden in merchandise have a higher profile after helping police recover a cache of stolen goods in Grand'Mère.
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The Gazette
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Media Article
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Lynn Moore
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9/21/1999
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Not long ago, when Freddy Marcantonio talked about a nifty little invention called Boomerang, people often got the wrong idea.
“They automatically assumed it was the beer (the lemonade-flavoured Boomerang). That's no longer the case," Marcantonio, a spokesman for Boomerang said yesterday.
Certainly not in this province, where the abilities of Boomerang - the made in Quebec tracking device - are being lauded in the media because the device led police this weekend to a Grand-Mere boat repair shop that was full of
stolen boats as a $400,000 vessel named Columbo and was the beloved toy of a private detective added lustre to the tale, as did the fact the private eye probably would never have seen his boat again had it not been stolen by the same thieves who hauled away a $130,000 Boomerang-equipped boat.
"Yeah, the private eye is having a Boomerang-put in his boat as we speak," said Marcantonio, marketing director for Rankin Technologies Inc., the Montreal firm that markets and distributes the device.
"And in his vehicles, too," added André Boulay, one of the inventors of Boomerang and a vice-president of Rankin Technologies.
Since summer 1995,almost 11,000 units have been sold, chiefly in Quebec and Ontario, and hidden vehicles, heavy equipment like-large generators and valuable objets of various sizes, like laptop computers. More than 450 Boomerang-equipped vehicles and pieces of equipment have being-recovered in the last four years, the men said.
When police close in on the stolen merchandise, they often find other hot items, as was the case this weekend when stolen vehicles and boats estimated by police to be worth more than $1 million were seized in Grand’Mère.
Police and insurance companies have endorsed Boomerang. Marcantonio says a growing number of insurers insist the device - the size of a power pack for a cell phone - be concealed in certain luxury cars, and pay the cost.
The Boomerang tracking device operates on Bell Mobility's analog-signal phone system. Other tracking systems used the satellite-dependent Global Positioning System (GPS).
The hidden device -even the vehicle-owner doesn't know where it is -emits a signal every 15 seconds that can be picked up by Bell's monitoring centre on I'Acadie Blvd. Once an owner reports the vehicle as stolen, Bell Mobility technicians punch in the car's code and track the signal.
After the area-usually within a few hundred meters-has been determined, Boomerang's tracking team closes in for "visuals" before contacting Police.
The device costs $350 to $400, plus installation and monitoring fees, Marcantonio said. Some insurance companies provide rebates.
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| Boomerang
Tracking Inc. assembles, markets and distributes
the Boomerang Tracking System, a proprietary product
using technology patented by the Company. The
Boomerang Tracking System is the central device
in a cellular-based asset tracking system utilizing
the wireless systems of major regional telecommunications
companies. The Boomerang Tracking System is capable
of locating stolen automobiles, heavy equipment
and valuable objects. The Company's proven recovery
record has received endorsement by members of
the insurance industry. The Boomerang Tracking
System is installed through a network of authorized
dealers located throughout the provinces of Quebec,
Ontario and British Columbia. The Company's head
office, research and development, production and
corporate installation facilities are located
in Montreal, Quebec. Boomerang is a registered
trademark of Boomerang Tracking Inc. The shares
of Boomerang Tracking Inc. trade on The Toronto
Stock Exchange under the symbol BMG. |
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