We currently use the FMC920 in our production installations and recently received an FTC927 unit for testing. During our evaluation, we found a significant difference in Towing Detection behavior between the two models.
We use Towing Detection because there is no simple movement or impact detection feature with configurable thresholds such as acceleration magnitude, movement duration, and angle. Towing Detection provides these parameters, so we use it to detect impacts or unexpected vehicle movement while the ignition is off.
For this test, we configured the FTC927 in TCT with settings logically equivalent to those used by our FMC920 in the legacy Configurator (also double checked that priority for towing events is set to “High”). Both devices were placed side by side on the same test bench and tested repeatedly under the same conditions.
Our results were:
- FMC920 in Deep Sleep: The device wakes up after the configured movement is detected and immediately sends the high-priority Towing event to the server.
- FTC927 in Deep Sleep: No Towing event is sent to the server.
- FTC927 in Online Sleep: No Towing event is sent to the server either.
- FTC927 outside sleep mode: Towing Detection works correctly and the event is sent to the server.
We used very sensitive Towing Detection values during testing to eliminate the possibility of insufficient movement. The same physical movement consistently triggers the FMC920 and also triggers the FTC927 when sleep is disabled.
This suggests that Towing Detection itself is configured correctly on the FTC927, but it either becomes inactive or cannot wake the device while a sleep mode is active.
Could you please clarify:
- Is this the expected behavior for the FTC927?
- Should Towing Detection be able to wake the FTC927 from Deep Sleep or Online Sleep?
- Is there an additional system, accelerometer, or sleep-related setting required for this behavior?
- Is this a known firmware limitation or issue?
- Is there another recommended feature for detecting impacts or movement with configurable thresholds while the device is sleeping?
The FMC920 behavior is exactly what we need: while the vehicle is parked, the device can remain in Deep Sleep to reduce power consumption, but still wake up and immediately report a Towing event when significant movement is detected.
Thank you for your help.
Ok so today we had a technical session with Teltonika’s support team in Mexico to investigate the different Towing Detection behavior we observed between the FMC920 and FTC927.
We tested both devices side by side with logically equivalent configurations. Both had Towing Detection set to High priority, and we used sensitive detection parameters, including a short towing movement duration of 200 ms.
The main finding is that the FTC927 behaves differently from the FMC920 when sleep mode is enabled.
On the FTC927, Towing Detection does not independently wake the device from sleep. For the device to wake up and send the towing event, the detected movement must first exceed the configured Movement Start Delay value. The minimum allowed value for Movement Start Delay on the FTC927 is 1 second.
This creates a problem for our use case. We need to detect short impacts or unexpected movements that may last only slightly more than 200 ms. Even if those movements meet the Towing Detection thresholds, they do not wake the FTC927 while it is sleeping unless the movement continues for at least the Movement Start Delay duration. As a result, no towing event is sent to the server.
The FMC920 behaves differently:
- The FMC920 can remain in Deep Sleep.
- Its Towing Detection event can still wake the device and immediately report the event.
- Movement Start Delay remains independent from Towing Detection.
- In our tests, we set Movement Start Delay to 5 seconds on the FMC920, yet a short movement still triggered and reported the Towing event correctly while the device was in Deep Sleep.
This matches the documented purpose of Movement Start Delay on the FMC920: it affects movement state detection through the configured Movement Source and Ignition Source, but it does not block Towing Detection from waking the device.
For the FTC927, however, Movement Start Delay appears to be an additional prerequisite for any movement-based wake-up while sleeping, including Towing Detection.
Our conclusion from the technical session is that the FTC927 is not suitable for our current use case. We need the device to remain in Deep Sleep while parked to reduce battery consumption, while still being able to wake and report very short impact or movement events immediately.
Could you please clarify the following?
- Is this behavior expected for the FTC927?
- Is Movement Start Delay intentionally required before Towing Detection can wake the FTC927 from sleep?
- Is there a configuration that allows Towing Detection to wake the FTC927 independently, as it does on the FMC920?
- Does this same behavior apply to all devices in the newer FT product line, or only to the FTC927?
- Is there another recommended feature or configuration for detecting short impacts or movement events while an FT-series device is sleeping?
Thank you.