CIG Academy is where API Signal teaches the trade. Constant, Ignition, Ground are the three wires every telematics device needs, and it is also the way we think about the whole job: get the basics right, then build a living on top of them. Every course here is written by working installers for working installers, and every one is open to read at no charge.
Most installers learn the work the hard way, one truck at a time, and most of what they learn never gets written down. We have been installing GPS trackers, dash cams and telematics hardware for 35 years, on more than 11,000 vehicles. The Academy is where we write down the part that goes beyond wiring: how to run the install day, talk to the customer, price the work and build repeat business.
That line is the whole rulebook. The Academy is written from the point of view of someone who has spent the day under a steering column and still had to answer the customer's questions at the end of it.
Every tracker, camera and telematics device needs power that never goes away, a signal that tells it the engine is running, and a solid return path. Get those three right and the rest of the install is detail. We use the same idea for the business side: get the three basics right every time, which are doing clean work, talking to the customer honestly and following up, and the rest follows. The short version is Constant. Ignition. Ground.
Installers fix it, but they rarely sell it. This five-lesson course shows how to use the trust you already have on install day without sounding like a salesperson. Take the lessons in order, or jump to the one you need today:
Independent installers and small shops who do good work and want to earn more from the jobs they are already on. New technicians can use it to learn what the customer expects. Owners can hand it to the people who work for them. You do not need to carry hardware or become a salesperson to get something out of it. Your edge is the install, and the Academy is built around that.
Nothing. The courses are open to read, with no sign-up and no payment, in the same way the rest of our installer pages are. If you would like steady install work in your area to practice on, you can also join the installer network.
We add courses as we write them, one at a time, and we would rather publish a few good ones than a lot of thin ones. If there is a skill you wish someone had taught you, tell us at info@apisignalcorp.com. The next course is probably the one a working installer asks for.
While you are here, the Install Help guides cover the wiring basics every install depends on, and the Vehicle Wiring Database lists constant, ignition, ground and lighting wires by make, model and year. Everything on this site follows the same rule: Built by Installers, for Installers.
Start with Course 1, then join the API Signal installer network to find install work near you. We install GPS, dash cams and telematics across GA, SC, NC, TN, VA, AL, FL and MS.