Generate a Heatmap of Assets Over Time

Overview

A heatmap of assets over time helps you visualise where assets have been concentrated during a selected historical period. In Perspio, this is typically used within the Explorer module when analysing historical location data from devices connected to assets.

Instead of reviewing one asset path at a time, a heatmap shows location density across a timeframe. Areas with more asset activity appear more intense, making it easier to identify patterns such as:

Frequent operating zones
Repeated site visits
High-traffic service areas
Hotspots for asset dwell or movement
Unusual clustering during an incident window

This article explains how to generate and use a heatmap in Explorer, why it is useful, and which controls are most important when building this type of analysis.

Why generating a heatmap is important

Identify high-activity areas quickly

A heatmap makes it easy to see where assets spend the most time or where they appear most often, without manually reviewing every individual movement.

Support operational planning

Heatmaps can help teams understand:

Which sites or regions see the most asset activity
Where demand is concentrated
Whether asset distribution matches operational expectations

Improve investigations

For incident reviews, a heatmap helps answer questions such as:

Where were assets concentrated during a selected period?
Did assets repeatedly return to a particular area?
Was activity spread evenly or concentrated in one location?

Validate utilisation and coverage

Heatmaps are useful when reviewing:

Customer service coverage
Branch or depot reach
Route concentration
Regional asset usage patterns

Support decision-making with location evidence

A visual density map is often easier to interpret than raw lists of coordinates or timestamps, especially when presenting findings to operations, managers, or customers.

Where to find it

Heatmaps are generally created from the Explorer module using a historical, map-based search.

In most cases, the flow is:

Open Explorer
Open the location-based search area, typically Proximity Search or another historical map view
Select Historical
Define the time range, assets, or groups
Switch the map visualisation to Heatmap if available

Exact labels may vary by tenant configuration, but the process is generally based on selecting historical location data and changing the map display to a heatmap view.

Live vs Historical for heatmaps

Live

Live mode is designed for current or last-known positions.
It is useful for real-time location awareness, but it is not ideal for density analysis over time.

Historical

Historical mode uses asset location records across a selected period.
This is the correct mode for generating a heatmap because it allows Perspio to visualise location concentration over time.

For heatmap analysis, use Historical mode.

How to generate a heatmap of assets over time

Step 1 – Open Explorer

Go to Explorer from the left navigation.

Step 2 – Open the historical map-based search

Open the location search area used for spatial analysis, usually Proximity Search or the historical map view in your tenant.

Step 3 – Switch to Historical

Select Historical mode.

This ensures the visualisation uses asset location records over a selected time period rather than only current positions.

Step 4 – Set the time range

Choose the period you want to analyse.

Examples:

A few hours for an incident review
One day for daily operations analysis
Several days or weeks for trend and density review

Choose the smallest timeframe that still answers the question clearly.

Step 5 – Select the assets or groups

Choose the assets that should be included in the heatmap.

Best practice:

Compare similar assets together
Avoid mixing unrelated asset sets unless you want a broad network view
Use groups for operational overviews and individual assets for focused investigations

Step 6 – Choose Heatmap view

If the map supports multiple display types, select Heatmap.

This changes the output from individual positions or tracks into a location density overlay.

Step 7 – Run the search

Select Search or Run Query to generate the heatmap.

Perspio will then use the selected historical records to plot activity density on the map.

Step 8 – Review the hotspots

Once the heatmap appears, review:

Where assets were most concentrated
Whether those areas align with expected operating zones
Whether any unexpected hotspots appear
Whether there are clear differences between regions or customer sites

Step 9 – Refine if needed

If the heatmap is too broad or hard to interpret:

Shorten the timeframe
Reduce the number of assets
Narrow the geographic area
Zoom in to inspect a smaller region
Rerun the search with a more focused scope

How to interpret the heatmap

Expected behaviour

A useful heatmap usually shows concentration in places such as:

Depots
Branches
Customer sites
Loading zones
Common routes or service areas

These hotspots often reflect normal operating patterns.

Signs that may require further review

A hotspot may need investigation if:

Assets are clustering in an unexpected area
There is very little activity where you expected a strong presence
Activity is concentrated outside normal operating locations
One area appears heavily used while others remain underutilised

Operational interpretation examples

A heatmap may reveal:

Uneven distribution of field assets
Repeated returns to one site
Under-served regions
Opportunities to rebalance assets across locations

Best practices

Use Historical mode for all heatmap analysis.
Start with a focused time range and broaden only if needed.
Use groups when looking for operational patterns, and individual assets when investigating specific behaviour.
Zoom into hotspots before drawing conclusions.
Use a heatmap for density analysis, and switch to point or path views when you need exact locations or routes.
Compare findings with known operational patterns before treating a hotspot as abnormal.

Troubleshooting

The heatmap is too dense to interpret

Shorten the time range
Reduce the number of selected assets
Zoom into a smaller area
Split the analysis into multiple searches by group or region

The heatmap shows no meaningful hotspots

Confirm the selected assets were reporting location data in the selected period
Expand the timeframe slightly
Confirm you selected the right assets or group
Check whether the heatmap view is enabled rather than a point-based map view

The wrong region is highlighted

Confirm the map is centred on the correct area
Validate the selected time range
Confirm the included assets belong to the correct operational group

Results seem incomplete

Verify that the devices connected to the assets were reporting location history during the selected period
Increase the timeframe if the search window is too narrow
Confirm there are no gaps in the underlying telemetry