SatTrackers

How Does SatTrackers Work?

2009-04-25T10:03:56+01:00

When you purchase a tracker from SatTrackers you get access to your very own FREE on line tracking account.

Once logged into your Account Manager you can view your trackers last known position on interactive maps, review a complete history of events, live watch and with the Mambo2 personal trackers you can configure how your tracker works.

You can have an unlimited number of vehicle or personal trackers assigned to your account, all for free!

The diagram below gives an overview of the SatTrackers system...

Once a mobile phone networks SIM card (contract or 'pay as you go will work') has been installed inside a tracker the tracker can then send it's GPS position and any alert events via SMS text message to the SatTrackers servers and for instant alert notifications direct to a Master Users mobile phone!

The Master User can also send SMS texts direct to the tracker for remote control operations.

From a PC you can use our Free iTool software for configuring your Mambo2 personal Trackers.
Simply connect your Mambo2 Tracker to your computers USB port and the the iTool will retrieve your individual settings from the SatTrackers servers and download them to the Mambo2. - more on this in a future article.

You can also use our new fast tracking iMap software for monitoring and tracking all your trackers (plus a whole lot more) without being logged into your SatTrackers account via your web browser.

Not shown in the above diagram but there is also another service we offer for our commercial customers with their own monitoring station - we offer our Sitecom Assets Management Suite which is a complete control room software system which runs on a Linux server.

Hope this helps explain a little more about our services.

Mambo2 - Call of Duty

2009-04-21T12:31:22+01:00

Did you know that all Employers have what's called a Duty of Care and they are responsible for the Health & Safety of each employee?

As I write this article the BBC News is once again reporting that an employee of a major company has just died several hours after receiving head injury's during a confrontation with a man who was suspected of stealing.

It is very worrying times that we live in, we hear that statistics report that our society is getting more violent and people are getting more victimised and afraid.

I find myself sometimes worrying about my children's safety when they are away from home. I also find myself worrying about my wife when she is out shopping and is a few hours later than I thought she said she would be. And then there is our parents and even the elderly grand parents, have they fallen? or has their car broken down?

And now thanks to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and their document called 'Working Alone in Safety' I now find myself like many other employers having something else to worry about - the staff!
I know this for a fact as our sales hotline is constantly receiving calls from company managers and directors making inquiry's about what technology we can offer to them as they have had a lone worker collapse last week or due to the current economics it is not cost effect if to send two members of staff to a remote incident any more.

So what does the HSE have to say on the matter of Lone Workers?

Employers have responsibilities for the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees and the health and safety of those affected by the work, eg visitors, such as contractors and self-employed people who employers may engage. These responsibilities cannot be transferred to people who work alone. It is the employer’s duty to assess risks to lone workers and take steps to avoid or control risk where necessary. Employees have responsibilities to take reasonable care of themselves and other people affected by their work and to co-operate with their employers in meeting their legal obligations.

I have recently spent a little time searching the internet looking at what technical safety solutions are being offered by some other companies out there, here is what I found...

There are systems available where the lone worker sends a text or makes a voice call every half hour or hour to a remote computer. If after an hour or so the worker hasn't made another call to the computer then the computer will notify someone that the lone worker is in trouble.

So the system sounds good but here are just a few flaws that I can see in this technology...

The BIG problem is that the lone worker may already be dead because they needed help over half an hour ago - it has taken well over an hour for the alarm to be raised!
We know they are in trouble but we don't know where they are.
You are relying on a member of staff to do something – people are lazy and they will forget!

Other companies offer concealed James Bond style ID badges which are actually a tiny mobile phone...

'In an emergency please take your time while you find a hidden button and press it discreetly' - the bullets cannot hurt you, after all you are the hero of the story!

The good news is that it will make a silent voice call to a 247 control room where the control room operator can record your conversation, your intense struggle for life as you are being strangled by the very 'secret agent ID badge' which is attached to the lanyard around your neck, originally designed to protect you!

Ok some holywood story telling but my point still stands where are you and why are you calling for help?

Other monitoring companies offer even more sophisticated approaches like GSM cell tracking using your existing mobile phone - a lone workers approximate position is located by identifying the nearest GSM cell tower that the lone workers mobile phone is using at the time.

The problem is two fold, you think you are saving money - because you don't have to invest in buying new technology and the accuracy of where you are is... well actually not very accurate!

Employees keep their old phone and your companies finance director has a smug grin on his face because he has saved a few quid in the short term. But that million dollar smile quickly fades away when the monthly charges start to add up or worse still an incident occurs and a member of staff who needs urgent help cannot be found quickly enough because you were being too careful with the spreadsheet figures and cutting corners with the staffs safety.
This technology is just not that good in an emergency situation, its better than nothing but as a lone worker may be a few km from the nearest cell tower, there is just know way you can find him without a massive man hunt and a pack of sniffer dogs - you know they are in this town somewhere, but what direction are they in? And in cities what street are they in?

All the above technologies have their place and have some good uses but if you were the lone worker risking your life for the good of the company wouldn't you want the best technology looking after your welfare? knowing that your company management actually value their staff can be a massive moral booster.

So what makes SatTrackers.com solution different to the above technologies you ask?

The quick answer...

One mobile phone & emergency device for all situations
No costly monitoring stations or dedicated receiving centre computers. Alert calls are sent direct to a Master mobile phone user such as an on duty manager or care worker.
Free on line tracking, event monitoring, history viewing and Pin point GPS map accuracy within just a few Metres.

And the long answer...

Well the first point I would like to make is that most companies charge you large monthly fees for the privilege of using their fine solutions, it may appear a low monthly expense but in reality when you have more than a few employees then the costs soon escalates out of control.

SatTrackers service is completely FREE, you only buy or rent the equipment you actually need as each tracking device works independently and can use your own current mobile phone SIM card.
Also our unique on line web tracking & monitoring is completely free for all customers to use!

With many solutions you cannot help but notice that many of those solutions only offer half a solution, a system that only works in some situations but not others.
In reality inferior systems give a false sense of security to both the employer and the user of the particular technology.

Wouldn't it be good if there was a device on the market that offers all the above safety solutions and a whole lot more?

The good news is that SatTrackers has a range of devices that will work in just about all situations...

The Mambo2 the worlds most advanced personal safety quad band mobile phone and GPS Satellite Tracker...

Here are just some of the configurable features that makes the Mambo2 Standard combined with our software so outstanding...

Each customer has their own free account on the SatTrackers web server where they can monitor, configure and review events & position history for an unlimited number of mobile phone and vehicle trackers.
The Mambo2 is a compact and tough mobile phone with 40 memory phone book. You can replace your staffs existing separate pieces of technology such as company phone, separate emergency panic button, vehicle trackers etc. with just one easy to use device.
20 channel GPS receiver with exact global position accuracy to within a few Metres
Built-in emergency panic button to send an alert SMS text direct to a supervisors mobile phone and the SatTrackers web server.
Built-in emergency voice call button to make an easy voice call to a phone book contact
Built-in 3-Axis motion sensor which can detect a user moving and call for help within 5 minutes of no movement or response from the user
Automatic arming and disarming of the motion sensor when the phone is used with an in car charger or desktop charging docking station.
Security & safety modes include the ability to configure seven different status messages that can be easily selected and sent to a supervisors mobile and logged on the SatTrackers server – tag your status and GPS coordinates with an ON SITE or OFF SITE message etc. - Great for security patrols and workers who do site visits.
Security modes include the ability to set a Geofence so if the user wanders outside of the current protected area (e.g. 200 Metre radius) then the tracker can alert the user and call for help.
Anti-theft motion sensor alarm - If the phone is placed into alarm mode then the phone powers down but continues to monitor for movement. If movement is detected then the motion sensor will switch the phone on and a text for help will be automatically sent.
Trace a phone, - A master Mambo2 can easily and covertly track another Mambo2's location with the built-in auto-update compass tracking feature – great for finding lost children or animals such as guard dogs and even lost pets.
Spy phone feature automatically answers incoming authorised calls without the phone ringing - enabling the authorised caller to eavesdrop or check the welfare of the caller.
Automatic Tracking - position reporting to SatTrackers server and history logging every few minutes – great for reviewing the history of where a user has been.
Athletes and outdoor sports users can also benefit from Statistics recording, waypoint finding and marker tracking etc.

The Mambo2 Premier model has all of the above features plus...

Bluetooth for hands free audio devices.
IEEE wireless for use with a remote 3-button two-way SOS keyfob.
The optional SOS Keyfob has three buttons, each button can be pressed in three different ways - Quick, Long or Double press and each button press can have an individual SMS messages associated with that user action. Plus the Mambo2 confirms the action by making the wireless keyfob beep or vibrate.
Indoor Tracking – For continuous location tracing, even inside a building with no satellite coverage a users whereabouts can still be determined thanks to our optional indoor wireless tracking beacons. Each beacon has a unique identifier which is passed to Mambo2's as they pass by, then if an alert is raised the nearest beacon is identified when the Mambo2 calls for help.

The Mambo2 Deluxe model has all of the above features plus..

Hands free speaker phone - have a conversation with a caller without holding the handset to your ear. - Great for lone worker situations - the worker doesn't have to stop what they are doing to take the call.

The Mambo2 ANT - a special model that can communicate with heart monitors and pedometers or step meters etc. its a fantastic model and is great for athletes who want to record their progress whilst still remaining safe and contactable.

We also have a new Mambo2 model coming soon which has been especially designed for the elderly or people with some disabilities and technophobes who struggle with mobiles designed for teenagers! - More on that in another blog in the near future ;)

So how much does it cost to buy a Mambo2?

Well the prices start from as little as £199.00 with lots of free features and software tools available and No monthly rentals – just stick in your own contract or pay as you go SIM card..

There is also a large range of optional accessories available.

To find out more contact SatTrackers directly on 0845 094 8061 or visit our website – www.sattrackers.com

Bolero-LT - Dude, where's my car?

2009-04-20T14:41:22+01:00

At the time of writing this article it would appear that just about every new smartphone on the market has some sort of mobile mapping App pre-installed, and if its not already pre-installed then its only a few clicks away form being download and installed direct on to your mobile phone.

So if you haven't got any mobile map App on your phone already then I highly recommend you get Googles version...

Getting Mobile Maps
To get started you will need a mobile phone which has GPRS or 3G internet access.
With your phones built-in web browser you can visit this web address to download the maps App - m.google.com/maps.
Alternativly if you want to download to your desktop and upload to your phone later you can visit this link.. www.google.com/mobile/default/maps.html

Finding your car
So lets assume you cannot, remember where you left your car. Thankfully your car is already fitted with our SatTrackers Bolero-LT tracker.

So this is what you do... Send the tracker in your car a text message, the text message you send is ultra simple - you just send a question mark - yes just a ? and nothing else (Note: new trackers will also except just a hash (#) so you can send either a ? or a #).
When your tracker receives the text message containing the ? it will automatically text you back with its current GPS location.
It may take a minute or so for the tracker to respond to your text because the tracker is probably in sleep mode (a special power saving mode when the vehicles ignition switch is OFF and the engine is not running) and will therefore need some time to power-up before sending you the position text message. Once it has sent the SMS it will go back to sleep.

Receiving a Text from the Tracker

When you receive an SMS text back from your tracker, the text will contain a latitude and longitude, we will use this information to find the location of our lost vehicle.

My smartphone is a T-Mobile MDA running windows mobile 5 and has T-Mobiles web n walk enabled, if you are using a different smartphone then the following steps will probably be different for you. (why not enter a comment below and tell us how you do it on your phone!)

The text message you receive will look like this...

POSITION TAG, My Trackers Name,
POSITION:=, 53.0767889, 2.0453237 ,
SAT FIX:=, 0, www.sattrackers.com

With the windows smartphone it is actually really easy and very quick...

From the above received text message you would use your phones stylus to highlight only the following part of the text message - this can be tricky with the stylus if you are not use to using the stylus this way, just make sure you only highlight only the two numbers separated by a comma (,) eg...

53.0767889, 2.0453237

Once you have highlighted the coordinates you hold your stylus down and wait for the pop up menu to appear, then click copy from the menu.

Then using your phones start menu button you would switch to or run the Google Maps App.

Now Google Maps is running just hit the button that says 'Search' and then paste the coordinates into the Search Box.

When you have done the search the Google Maps App will show you a green arrow of where your vehicle is.

If the App complains that it cannot find the coordinates then check that you entered coordinates correctly and the there is only one comma (,) between the numbers and no other commas or characters before or after the numbers.

So within a couple of minutes you know exactly where you left your car - sweet!

Bolero-LT now has remote control by SMS

2009-04-20T09:36:49+01:00

The Bolero-LT-Standard Vehicle Trackers are now shipping as of the 1st of April 2009 with new firmware and software features...

The user of the tracker is allowed to have one Master mobile phone which is authorised to receive alert SMS text messages or current position SMS texts from the tracker.

The same Master user can also send SMS texts direct to the tracker to turn ON or OFF features and request information.

The following table lists those features.

FUNCTION	SMS TO SEND	ALTERNATIVE SMS TO SEND	MASTER USER ONLY
Position Request	?	#	Any mobile phone can request the positon of the vehicle
Activate Output Switch with your unique code (1234 is for example)	1234		Master Only
Engine Start Alerts	StartOn	StartOff	Master Only
Engine Stop Alerts	StopOn	StopOff	Master Only
Position Updates Every 15 Minutes	TimerOn	TimerOff	Master Only
High speed Alerts	SpeedOn	SpeedOff	Master Only
To Find out what Alerts are Active	List		Master Only

You can see that the command text messages wihich are sent to the tracker consist of upper case and lower case short phrases, note that there are no spaces and no other charcters in the text message which is sent..

Customers who have purchased Bolero-LT trackers prior to 1st of April 2009 can return their trackers to us and we will upgrade their trackers with the new software for FREE!

Visit www.sattrackers.com for more information on the Bolero-LT vehicle Tracker.