Geotab is a Blackout Fleet partner. It uses a server-to-server integration to block drivers during trips to reduce distractions from their smartphones. Drivers and Vehicles are syncronised across platforms. Geotab's driver associations are used to determine who is driving and block them in near-real-time.
Visit GeotabBlackout connects to your MyGeotab database and imports your vehicles, drivers and admins. It then reads each vehicle’s GPS and ignition data from Geotab every 30 seconds to work out when a trip starts and ends, and who is driving. While a trip is in progress, the driver’s phone is limited to all but the most basic features by the Blackout app, helping to create a distraction-free environment. A Blackout add-in lets you monitor your fleet from inside MyGeotab.
Blackout will first set up an organisation for you. An administrator then connects Geotab from the Blackout dashboard by entering your MyGeotab server, database name, and the username and password of the account Blackout should use. We recommend creating a dedicated MyGeotab account for Blackout that can see the vehicles and drivers you want covered.
Blackout needs a MyGeotab account that can read your vehicles, drivers and groups, along with the vehicles’ GPS, ignition and driver log-in data. We recommend a dedicated account rather than a personal admin login. Its credentials are encrypted and held in AWS’s managed secrets storage. Blackout only reads from your database: it doesn’t create rules, notifications or webhooks.
Nothing, apart from the Blackout add-in itself if you choose to install it. When the add-in is first set up, it saves one small setting in your database recording which region your fleet’s Blackout data is hosted in.
No. Blackout only reads from Geotab. The only thing it stores in your database is the add-in’s hosting-region setting.
Vehicles, drivers and admins are synchronised every night at 03:00 UTC, and an administrator can run a sync from the dashboard at any time. Trip detection runs separately, checking each vehicle’s latest Geotab data every 30 seconds.
Vehicles (with their Geotab device ID, and number plate where set), drivers, and Geotab admins, who become Blackout administrators.
By default no — accounts are created silently. Invitations are opt-in via the manual import UI.
Yes. Use the re-sync button on the Geotab integration page in the Blackout dashboard. It re-imports vehicles, drivers and admins.
Blackout uses the driver Geotab has logged in to the vehicle, for example through a driver ID key or tag, or the Geotab Drive app, and matches them to the Blackout account created when drivers were imported. Only that driver’s phone is blocked. If a driver logs in after the trip has started, the trip passes to them; if a different driver logs in mid-trip, a new trip starts for the new driver.
New drivers and vehicles are picked up by the overnight synchronisation, so they will appear in Blackout the following day. A new driver will also need the Blackout app installed and set up on their phone before blocking can take effect — if automatic invites are enabled for your organisation, they’ll receive an invite email once the sync has run. If you need someone up and running sooner, an administrator can trigger a manual sync.
Blackout checks each vehicle’s Geotab data every 30 seconds. A trip starts once the vehicle has been moving above walking pace for a short time, so the block usually arrives within a minute of setting off. A trip ends as soon as Geotab reports the ignition off, or after the vehicle has been stationary for 3 minutes. Longer delays usually come down to mobile signal: the Geotab device has to reach Geotab’s servers, and the driver’s phone needs a data connection to receive the change.
Some vehicles switch the Geotab device’s modem off soon after the ignition goes off, before it has sent its final data. If Blackout hears nothing from a vehicle for 5 minutes during a trip, it releases the driver’s block automatically, so a driver shouldn’t stay blocked for longer than that. You can make this less likely by extending how long the Geotab device stays awake before sleeping, in the device’s settings in MyGeotab.
The block is delivered to the phone over the internet, so the phone needs a data connection to receive it. If the phone has no signal when the trip starts, it will remain unblocked until it reconnects, at which point it checks in with Blackout’s servers and applies the correct state. The same applies in reverse — if a trip ends while the phone is offline, it will unblock once it reconnects.
No. Only the phone of the person Geotab identifies as the driver of the vehicle is put into restricted mode. Passengers’ phones are unaffected, including other Blackout users travelling as passengers — their phones are only blocked when they are the identified driver of a vehicle on a trip.
Yes. On both Android and iOS, phone calls are allowed.
The Blackout add-in gives you a summary of your fleet without leaving MyGeotab: headline figures (registered devices, devices currently blocked, devices with Blackout disabled, vehicles and trips this month), charts of device statuses and flagged events, and tables of recent trips, devices, vehicles and users. Each row links through to the full Blackout dashboard, which is where actions such as inviting drivers and managing settings take place — the add-in itself is a read-only view.
There are three common reasons. First, the add-in only shows the vehicles and drivers your own MyGeotab user has permission to see. If your permissions have recently changed, use the Refresh permissions button. Second, newly added vehicles and drivers appear after the overnight sync, or after a manual sync. Third, a driver’s Geotab login must match the email address on their Blackout account.
No. The add-in uses your existing MyGeotab session — there’s no separate password or API key. Blackout verifies the session with Geotab and matches your MyGeotab username to a Blackout administrator account. If you see a message saying you don’t have permission, it means your MyGeotab username doesn’t match an administrator email on your organisation’s Blackout account — contact us and we’ll get it matched up.
When the add-in is first set up you choose where your fleet’s data is hosted: UK/Europe or US/Canada. All of your organisation’s Blackout data is then held in that region. The choice applies to your whole fleet and is permanent — it can’t be changed later, so if you’re unsure which region is right for you, contact support before completing setup.
Vehicles are matched by their Geotab device ID, so a vehicle without one is skipped. Only enrolled vehicles are imported, so check the vehicle is enrolled for Blackout in MyGeotab. New vehicles appear after the overnight sync, or after a manual sync.
Only Geotab users marked as drivers are imported, and if your integration is limited to certain Geotab groups, only drivers in those groups. A driver’s Geotab login is used as their Blackout email address, so it needs to be a valid email address.
A permission (403) message means your MyGeotab username doesn’t match an administrator email on your organisation’s Blackout account. Contact us and we’ll match it up. An authentication message usually means your MyGeotab session has expired: log out of MyGeotab and back in.
Check that the vehicle exists in Blackout (it appears after a sync), and that a driver is logged in to the vehicle in Geotab and has been imported into Blackout, because trips without an identified driver aren’t kept. Also check that the MyGeotab account Blackout uses still works. If its password has been changed or the account disabled, Blackout can no longer read your fleet’s data.
Check the driver’s device status in the dashboard. The app may not be set up, or the phone may have Blackout disabled, be missing a permission, or have had no signal. If no driver was logged in to the vehicle in Geotab, or the driver hasn’t been imported into Blackout yet, no phone is blocked and the trip isn’t kept.
If you change the password of the MyGeotab account Blackout uses, Blackout can no longer read your fleet’s data and trips stop being detected. Disconnect the integration in the Blackout dashboard and Connect again with the new password. If you are still having difficulties, please contact us.
Yes. An administrator can disconnect Geotab from the integration page in the Blackout dashboard, and choose whether to also remove the imported vehicles and drivers. Nothing in MyGeotab needs tidying up beyond uninstalling the Blackout add-in and, if you created one, deleting the account you set up for Blackout.
No. Blackout moves existing fleets to the current integration for you. As part of the move, the trip rules, distribution list and web request the older integration created in your MyGeotab database are removed. The service account it created is kept, because Blackout uses it to read your fleet’s data.
