Creating Routes

To create a route, follow the steps below.

1. Specify the addresses of the mandatory route points, adding as many as necessary. 

2. Specify the routing settings, if necessary.

3. Click Create route.

After that, the map displays the route built in accordance with the added points and the specified settings. To change the points or settings and build the route again, click on the icon  in the upper-left part of the window, make the necessary changes and click Create route.

Route creation results

As a result of creating a route, you can see:

• route option indicating the distance from the departure point to the destination point and the time required to travel this distance;
• markers and addresses of all waypoints.

Also, you can see icons for saving the route as a geofence or route.

Alternative routes

If the Alternative routes option is enabled (only available when the ‘Optimized Point Order option is unchecked), then the Route options section can contain several available options with different distances and time. You can select a suitable option both in the section itself and on the map. On the map, the selected route is highlighted in dark blue, and the available alternatives are light blue.

Actions with the route

You can perform the following actions with the created route:

• save it as a geofence or a route;
• export it to a KML or KMZ file;
• create a link to it in Google Maps.

Saving the route

You can save the created route as a geofence or as a route to work with it on the Geofences or Routes tabs, respectively, and use it when monitoring units, running reports, configuring notifications, etc.

Two options are available:

• Save as geofence;
• Save as route.

Save as geofence

To save the route using this option, follow the steps below.

1. Click on the icon .
   
   
2. Enter the geofence name (1–1024 characters). See character restrictions.
   
   
3. Select the resource in which the geofence should be stored. This is your account’s resource repository. Most IoTplot accounts will have one resource.
4. Select the group to which the geofence should belong (optional).
5. If necessary, enable the Save key points only option: 
   • if enabled, the saved geofence has the shape of a line which passes along the shortest way through the route check points without taking the roads into account;
   • if disabled, the saved geofence has the shape of a line which passes through the check points, taking into account all the roads.
6. Click Save.

Saving may take some time. A geofence is created in the shape of a line corresponding to the planned route.

Save as route

To save the route using this option, follow the steps below.

1. Click on the icon .
   
   
2. Enter the route name (4–1024 characters). See character restrictions.
   
3. Click Save.

Exporting the route to KML or KMZ

To save the route as a KML file, click on the icon  in the window of the created route and specify the name of the new file. If the Compress file option is enabled, the file is archived and saved in KMZ format.

As a result, the route is saved as a geofence in the file. You can then import it into other applications that support this format.

Creating a link to the route in Google Maps

To generate a link, click on the icon  in the window of the created route. You can copy and share the generated link or open it directly in Google Maps.