--- service: "Publicasta" schema_version: "1.0" article_id: 507 title: "Getting Started" language: "en" default_language: "en" canonical_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/getting_started?lang=en" json_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/getting_started.json?lang=en" api_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/api/public/v1/channels/hosting_livegpstracks/articles/getting_started?lang=en" channel_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/api/public/v1/channels/hosting_livegpstracks" channel_articles: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/api/public/v1/channels/hosting_livegpstracks/articles" search_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/api/public/v1/search" documentation_url: "https://publicasta.com/api-docs#reading-publicasta" openapi_url: "https://publicasta.com/api-docs/openapi.json" published_at: "2026-09-05T17:34:58+00:00" updated_at: "2026-09-05T17:34:58+00:00" translations: - language: "en" html_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/getting_started?lang=en" markdown_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/getting_started.md?lang=en" json_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/getting_started.json?lang=en" - language: "ru" html_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/getting_started?lang=ru" markdown_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/getting_started.md?lang=ru" json_url: "https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/getting_started.json?lang=ru" --- # Getting Started > Build a GPS tracking business around equipment, installation and customer support. Understand your role, the platform's role and how your service fits together before you begin setup. The LiveGPSTracks hosting platform lets you build your own GPS tracking service: use your service name, set customer pricing and support users through your customer-facing website. The platform provides the software foundation; you build the customer offering around it. In this guide, **hosting** means running a tracking service on LiveGPSTracks, not renting space for a general-purpose website. You are the **service operator**, responsible for your own customer offering. ## Your business, not a referral link You do more than send someone to another website. You can help them choose a tracker, sell and configure it, install it in a vehicle, connect their account and support them afterwards. For the customer, that can become one straightforward offer: “We install the device, show you how to use it and remain available to help.” Access to a map becomes part of the service rather than its entire purpose. You do not have to provide everything yourself or launch every service at once. You might start with preconfigured devices and remote support, using a partner for installation. Or you could add tracking to an established vehicle installation business. ## Who the platform is for - **Independent specialists.** Equipment selection, configuration and personal support for a small customer base. - **Auto repair shops and installation centres.** Tracking as a natural extension of equipment installation and vehicle servicing. - **Electronics retailers.** A tracker sold together with service activation and ongoing assistance. - **Online shops.** Preconfigured devices shipped with service access and clear instructions for the buyer. - **Businesses serving vehicle fleets.** Tracking and staff support added to an existing customer relationship. An individual or a company can get started. The more important decision is who you serve and what problem you solve: for example, a private vehicle owner, a small delivery business or a transport operator. ## What customers pay for Customers often want a working solution and someone they can contact, rather than dozens of device models and settings to navigate alone. Your value may come from compatible equipment, careful installation, training, on-site assistance and knowledge of a particular fleet's needs. Connecting directly to a platform may cost less than buying a managed service. You do not have to compete on software access alone: make clear what your offering includes. However, neither website branding nor personal contact guarantees that a customer will never choose another provider. ## Who does what **LiveGPSTracks provides the software foundation:** receiving data from compatible devices, tracking tools and the hosting administration panel. You do not have to begin by developing your own tracking system. **You organise the customer service:** define your offering and prices within the platform's terms, configure the website, add users and devices, provide contact details and deliver the support you have agreed with customers. Equipment sales, SIM cards, connectivity and installation must be arranged separately if they are part of your offer. Check support for the specific tracker model before purchasing equipment. **Customers use your website:** they sign in to their accounts and work with the devices and tracking information available to them. ![The roles of LiveGPSTracks, the tracking service operator and the customer: software, service and use](https://hosting-help.livegpstracks.com/storage/projects/45/pages/507/2026/09/c091152b-ee87-4c18-9135-45ed46898f00.webp) *The platform provides the software foundation; you organise the customer service. An explanatory diagram, not an interface screenshot.* ## How your service fits together There are two different interfaces: - **The hosting administration panel** is your workspace for service providers, pricing plans, websites, users, devices and finances. - **The customer-facing website** is where customers sign in and use tracking. It has its own service name, address and appearance settings. During first-time setup, you create three connected elements: 1. **A service provider:** the company or individual on whose behalf the service operates. These are your provider details, not a future customer's record. 2. **A customer plan:** device service and SMS prices, subject to the available currency and platform limits. 3. **A customer website:** the entry point to your service, linked to the provider and plan. You then add customer accounts and their devices. In this guide, for example, we set up the fictional service Northline GPS, the provider Northline Telematics and the Fleet plan. The examples and screenshots consistently use this demonstration business. ## Understanding income Device service has a **customer price** and a **platform cost to you**. The difference helps you evaluate your plan, but **it is not net profit or an immediately payable amount**. Allow for your own support, equipment, installation, connectivity and other costs associated with your offering. Settlement also depends on the payment method and the platform's applicable terms. Device sales, installation and ongoing service may be separate parts of your business. The hosting panel does not replace accounting for all of them. Check current platform costs and minimum customer prices in your own panel, not in the demonstration figures in this guide. ## Where to begin Before setting up, answer three questions: **who is your first customer, what does the service include and how will they get help?** One clear offering is enough to start. Multiple websites and a complex range of plans can wait. Next, complete the setup wizard, check your customer website and connect a test device. Look at the result from a customer's perspective: is signing in straightforward, is device data arriving and are your contact details easy to find? [Continue to first-time setup](./setup) [Guide contents](./contents)