DEI Viper 210V GPS Satellite Tracking System Discontinued
Updated – March 25th 2010 – At the bottom
After logging into the http://www.vipergps.com web site to access the Viper GPS system, I wanted to see how much purchasing more credits would cost. The link advised me the service is no longer supported and all customers who want to keep their access are being moved over to MobileIQ.
After calling MobileIQ at 1-866-402-4748 and asking for more information on the transition I received the email below. To summarize the email below, all services will continue, except the remote start and the door lock/alarm arm feature. Those are the two features I would use the most often. MobileIQ told me, if the manual request to transition over to their service was not made, the product could lose service. MobileIQ told me, they have no knowledge when VIPER will discontinue service and if it was not transitioned to MobileIQ the product would be left without service.
The authorization to transition service over to MobileIQ can be made by emailing MobileIQ, [email protected] .
To be thorough, I called DEI Viper Tech Support at 1-800-876-0800 and inquired about the transition. They had no information on when the ViperGPS site will be shut down and said they were instructed to refer all customers to AirIQ at 1-877-847-3750 . Turns the phone number Viper gave me for AirIQ is the Viper GPS number with the same representative I reached dialing MobileIQ earlier.
MobileIQ sent a follow up email I’ve put below stating the DEI platform, vipergps.com will stay in service for another 6 months, roughly ending around April 2010, as they are just now going through Phase 1 of the transition from DEI to AirIQ.
Email received on Sept 30th from Patty Clews [email protected] –
Good morning Mr. Doe,
You can remain under the DEI application until your Service Term Expires. When we have a confirmed date from Directed regarding the shut down of the entire application we will let you know. We are still in Phase 1 which is to focus on moving any willing customer’s over to the MobileIQ application.
This Phase will continue for another 6 months at least and then a decision will be made regarding the date of shut down.
I hope you find this information useful.
Thank you,
Patty
Email received on Sept 29th 2009 from From: MobileIQ Customer Care CA <[email protected]>
GENERAL TRANSITION INFORMATION
MobileIQTM
Intelligent Vehicle Protection
Hello John Doe,
We have been advised by D.E.I that they no longer wish to support the vehicle tracking device application that is installed in your vehicle therefore customers are unavailable to purchase service plan activations, renewals or connections.
How does this affect you?
Our MobileIQ® application offers substantially similar features and service plans and you may renew your GPS vehicle tracking service with MobileIQ® without having to remove or replace your onboard vehicle device.
The Action features for MobileIQ® are: Locate, Door Unlock, Disable, Enable and Tracking
The Alert features for MobileIQ® are: Security Alarm, Unauthorized Movement, Vehicle Battery Disconnect, Excessive Speed, Low Battery, Heartbeat and Border Crossing
There are two Action features that were available to you on the D.E.I. application that are NOT available to you on the MobileIQ® application.
The Unavailable Action features are Remote Start and Arm/Lock.
You will be able to perform these features using your key fob if available.
Device history will not be transferred to the MobileIQ® application therefore you should save any history reports prior to the application transfer.
MobileIQ® Service Term costs are as follows:
$99.00 One Year Subscription with MobileIQ® which includes 100 Connections.
We will also transfer any existing connections and term you had remaining in your D.E.I. account.
Please reply to [email protected] and let us know if you would like your device transferred to the MobileIQ® application, understanding that some features are not available and this process can take up to 3 business days to complete.
Customer Name : John Doe
Brand : Viper
Serial Number xxxxxxxxxxx
Connections x
Service Term Renewal Date x/x/xxxx
Sincerely,
Patty Clews
AirIQ Manager
www.airiq.com
1-866-402-4748
Update – March 25th 2010:
Sent another email to [email protected] requesting an update on the transition process from DEI to MobileIQ. The full text is below.
To summarize, the price and features listed have changed. MobileIQ will still not support the remote start or door lock/arm action features, but they do support some additional alert features, 1 Mile Boundary Geofence and 20 Mile Boundary Geofence. The price is now $49.99 for 1 year and 50 connections when it used to be $99.99 for 1 year and 100 connections. If the expire on the contract with DEI expires and then the transition request to MobileIQ is made, there is an additional $50 re-activation fee.
Full text of the emailed reply from March 25th 2010:
Intelligent Vehicle Protection
As you may know, Directed Electronics (DEI) has decided to terminate its vehicle tracking solutions hosted under the brand names Viper, Clifford, Python and Automate. As a result, DEI customers are no longer able to purchase service term plans, renew existing plans or purchase connections on the DEI websites.
Fortunately for you, AirIQ has agreed to offer an alternate solution so that you may continue to access your in-vehicle GPS device.
AirIQ is the manufacturer of the device installed in your vehicle and AirIQ has its own branded application MobileIQ® which offers substantially similar features and service plans as that offered by DEI.
You may renew your GPS vehicle tracking service with MobileIQ without having to remove or replace our onboard vehicle device.
Once you switch to MobileIQ, there are two “Action” features that may have been available to you on the DEI web and phone interface application that are NOT available to you on MobileIQ. These features are “Remote Start” and “Arm/Lock”.
The Action features available on MobileIQ® are:
Locate, Door Unlock, Disable, Enable and Tracking
The Alert features available on MobileIQ® are:
Security Alarm, Unauthorized Movement, Vehicle Battery Disconnect, Excessive Speed, Low Battery, Heartbeat, Border Crossing, 1 Mile Boundary Geofence and 20 Mile Boundary Geofence.
In addition, you should also note Device History will not be transferred from your DEI application to MobileIQ and therefore you should save any history reports prior to transfer.
MobileIQ’s Service Term costs are $49.99 for a One Year Subscription with MobileIQ which includes 50 Connections.
We will also transfer any existing connections and term you had remaining in your DEI account to your MobileIQ account.
Please contact AirIQ’s Client Care at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> and let us know if you would like your device transferred to the MobileIQ application. Please note that the transfer process may take up to 3 business days to process and again we remind you that MobileIQ does not have all the features that were offered by DEI.
According to our records, your Service Term with DEI will expire on January 1, 2011. If you account lapses beyond this date, there will be a charge of $50.00 to re-activate your device under MobileIQ which is in addition to your yearly Service Term Package purchase so don’t delay, email us at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> today!
Customer Name : John Doe
Brand: Viper
Serial Number: XXXXXXX
Connections: 333
Sincerely,
Patty Clews
AirIQ® Manager
www.airiq.com <http://www.airiq.com/>
1-866-402-4748
Well this explains why all of a sudden my text alerts stopped working. I thought it had to do with my changing my courier to AT&T, but see now that this is not the case. Additionally, I personally think it is totally wrong for MobileIQ to expect you to pay a $99 subscription when you already have an active Vipergps subscription. I am totally disappointed with this service whereas previously I was very satisfied.
Wow.. cool that I found this blog.. I have used the Viper GPS for a couple years and loved it.. all but the fact that it seems to kill my car battery if left armed for longer then 15 days with out driving the car… oh well.
Just decided to pay for another year and I can’t even get into the viper website.. called them up and got the same info you did. When were they going to communicate this to users? Wow.. pretty shady way to handle a security business. Atleast the hardware does work rather well.
Oh, one other thing.. looks like it costs an extra $50… “The cost to re-activate your device under the MobileIQ application is a total of US $149.00. That includes a one-time SIM re-activation fee of $50.00 and $99.00 for MobileIQ’s One Year Subscription which includes 100 connections.”