The mobile phone is ubiquitous in today's business world. Aside from a passport, they are now the most important device a business traveller has and as such, they are taken to the most remote, and sometimes the most dangerous, places on earth. GPS-based Mobile phone tracking systems can help a business to keep its employees safe as they travel but can they be relied on to work everywhere?
To answer this question we need to look a little deeper at the technology
1. GPS
GPS will work pretty much anywhere with one big proviso - the device has to have a view of the sky. So if the device is indoors, GPS is not going to work. Therefore any tracking application should have a fallback
mode that uses cell-tower locations when GPS isn't available.
2. Mobile Comms
All mobile tracking applications have to send their tracking data back to a central point for it to be viewed. They will do this using a mixture of SMS or data (GPRS). Both transports need the phone to be in a coverage area, close enough to a cell-tower. If the phone can't make a call, it can't send the information. Therefore, in the areas of the world that are most remote, it's not going to be possible to get a regular feed of information from a mobile tracking phone. However, you should look for an application that continues to take location readings, storing them so that when it does return to coverage, it patches the missing information. The other alternative is to use a satellite device but SMS and data costs can quickly become prohibitive which leads onto the next point...
3. Mobile data costs
Mobile phone tracking is most useful when people travel the world - particularly to areas of high risk. However, many products are aimed at a single domestic country without much thought for use abroad. If your tracking phone is sending regular SMS and lots of data on a domestic SIM as you roam into other countries, this can become very, very expensive resulting in massive bill shock. Check that the tracking app you choose has the option to work on a global roaming SIM or at least a local SIM in the country where you spend most of your time.
4. Time-zones
Sounds a simple thing but if you're travelling the world you need a system that is aware of time-zones and local times. GPS tracking apps that have been developed for use in a single country are often restricted to showing all details in a single timezone which makes interpretation difficult.
So, in summary, there are mobile phone tracking applications that can be used anywhere in the world but they will all have unavoidable limitations. When making a choice, follow these guidelines to make sure you choose an option which is genuinely designed for global travel.
To answer this question we need to look a little deeper at the technology
1. GPS
GPS will work pretty much anywhere with one big proviso - the device has to have a view of the sky. So if the device is indoors, GPS is not going to work. Therefore any tracking application should have a fallback
mode that uses cell-tower locations when GPS isn't available.
2. Mobile Comms
All mobile tracking applications have to send their tracking data back to a central point for it to be viewed. They will do this using a mixture of SMS or data (GPRS). Both transports need the phone to be in a coverage area, close enough to a cell-tower. If the phone can't make a call, it can't send the information. Therefore, in the areas of the world that are most remote, it's not going to be possible to get a regular feed of information from a mobile tracking phone. However, you should look for an application that continues to take location readings, storing them so that when it does return to coverage, it patches the missing information. The other alternative is to use a satellite device but SMS and data costs can quickly become prohibitive which leads onto the next point...
3. Mobile data costs
Mobile phone tracking is most useful when people travel the world - particularly to areas of high risk. However, many products are aimed at a single domestic country without much thought for use abroad. If your tracking phone is sending regular SMS and lots of data on a domestic SIM as you roam into other countries, this can become very, very expensive resulting in massive bill shock. Check that the tracking app you choose has the option to work on a global roaming SIM or at least a local SIM in the country where you spend most of your time.
4. Time-zones
Sounds a simple thing but if you're travelling the world you need a system that is aware of time-zones and local times. GPS tracking apps that have been developed for use in a single country are often restricted to showing all details in a single timezone which makes interpretation difficult.
So, in summary, there are mobile phone tracking applications that can be used anywhere in the world but they will all have unavoidable limitations. When making a choice, follow these guidelines to make sure you choose an option which is genuinely designed for global travel.
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