Sprint Precision Locator keeps track of employees via GPS
posted Aug 24th 2005 4:33AM
Sprint is getting in on the GPS tracking game with its
Precision Locator service. No, this isn't another
kid-tracker. Targeted at
businesses, Precision Locator lets companies track their workers using any Sprint GPS-enabled phone. As with
similar services, bosses in the home office can track employees via a web-based interface, and can also receive
alerts if they've slipped into an unauthorized area (that's right, no more slipping off to the beach in the middle
of the day). Of course, the tracked employees may find this a little invasive, but if your boss hands you a
GPS-enabled phone, you should pretty much know what to expect (and you can always try the old
leaving-the-phone-in-the-car trick if you decide to light out for the territories on company time).
This reminded me that I have a GPS unit in my phone. Why did I have to be reminded? Because my carrier, of course, will not let me use the technology in any useful or interesting way and if they did, they would try to charge me like $.50 every, time, so I never would.
Maybe it's almost better this way, because you know they would only let it give me directions to the nearest Ashlee Simpsion concert, or require me to get an hourly email about the new ways Spring could help me gain a rad on the go lifestyle.
Chrissake. Let me pull up a Google map centered on my location and grab some directions, I'll pay you the data rate for that...or! Stick some of that Navteq traffic data in there! THAT would be totally worth staring at and driving into a pole. Kind of a Heisenberg observer effect there, but totally worth it.
or you can leave the phone at the office and have calls forwarded to your personal mobile while you are gallavanting at the beach.
Is this even legal or ok unless you tell employees?
I have done some LBS testing with that the MM-7400 phone. I wouldn't worry to much about its GPS receiver yet--as to get a signal I have to be outside, under clear skys and sometimes that doesn't even give me a lock.
Sure it's legal... as long as the employee is on company time and not being asked to engage in illegal activity. Trucking companies have been utilizing GPS technology for years for these same purposes. Companies in most states can fire an employee for absolutely any reason as long as it's not discrimination based.
I tried this service for my business and found it lacking. The system runs without a server and that is good but extremely slooow. Also, the system does not refresh automatically, you have to click "locate" every time and wait and wait... and when you do get the location, in my experience, It is usually "within .5 mile" radius location. Are you kidding? Half a mile may as well mean beach or office in many instances. In my case, I could not figure out whether my guy is on the highway where he should be or in the mall. I had to discontinue service because at $30 per phone per month it absolutly underdelivered. I used Nextel Comet Tracker before and it was great. You can see precisely where the phone is, which direction it is traveling and with what speed, for the same $30/phone/mo.
I like sprint reception but will have to wait for them to catch up with the GPS services.