By Tony Hallett, 19 April 2004 16:20
NEWS A service that allows businesses and consumers to track mobile phones has reported a surge in users since its launch at the end of last year.
VR Meeting is behind the Locate Mobiles and Trace a Mobile services - aimed respectively at businesses and users such as concerned parents - and now claims more than 10,000 subscriptions. Its technology was at the weekend on display at the London Marathon, during which celebrities such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Nell McAndrew, Lorraine Kelly and Adrian Moorhouse carried phones to be tracked as part of a project involving the BBC.
At a standard rate of £5 per account per month, or £50 annually, the demand to date translates into respectable business. Jonathan Cook, VR Meeting MD, said that the service works with phones from the UK's four main operators, with negotiations ongoing to include handsets on the Virgin Mobile and 3 networks.
"We're signing up hundreds [of new users] per month and our churn rate is low, which is important," he told silicon.com.
Customers get a Web-based account with a log-in that allows them to see a map with individual phones pinpointed. Accuracy depends on how far away phones are from cell base stations, which use triangulation technology to be accurate up to an advertised 100 metres. Each account can cover five to 10 handsets and users of those handsets - including children - must opt-in, giving their permission by text message or in the post.
Among businesses, typical users are small companies with road-warrior sales forces or fleets of vehicles. For consumers, the typical user is a parent worried about a teenager who they suspect isn't at their friend's revising for exams but instead out getting up to no good.
How do you feel about using phones to monitor your employees - or having your movements tracked by your company? Let us know by posting a Reader Comment below.
Comments
There are 23 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
On the business side, if you've nothing to hide, then I can't see why people should object...
On the personal side - I'll be subscribing as soon as my girls have mobiles.
2. Para Noid
They'll never catch me alive!
3. Robert Owen-Wahl
With each new advancement in technology comes a wave of skepticism which in time is followed by a type of general acceptance which is often too much of a "follow the other sheep" kind of acceptance.
Good lord, if you had posed the question some years back "In the near future, it will be possible and eventually commonplace for employers to track the precise location of all employees within the country, do you think this is a wonderful thing?" the answer would have been a resounding no.
As an employer, I welcome new technology, and would respect the right of any and all staff not to be tracked, and given the choice, I would guess that 95 out of a hundred employees would opt not to be tracked. Its probably that the 5% that might wish to be tracked would only be doing so, to look good in the eyes of their employer.
4. anonymous
'Actually much more worried about the implications of having my movements tracked by "the other alf".
5. Ruth M
As a parent, I would welcome this service - but from the viewpoint of keeping my children safe, not checking up on them. And then, only with the child's agreement - without any coercion.
As an adult user, I would not want to be tracked either personally or through my employer - it smacks too much of 1984 & This Perfect Day. For an employer to want to use it shows massive distrust of the employees, in my opinion, and I wouldn't want to work for a company with this mindset
6. David Mountain
The personal security argument doesn't hold water for me. Knowing where a someone's mobile is doesn't tell you where they themselves are or that they are safe. It may give a false sense of security if a child is abducted and their mobile left in a place the parent considers to be safe (school, park etc).
But if these carpet baggers want to fleece protective parents, good luck to them!
7. anonymous
A colleague of mine who ran Sunday's London marathon took 3 mins to cross the start line and completed the course in a respectable time of 3:24:07. According to Orange, who did the tracking, it took him 20 mins to cross the start line and he's still running 2 days later! Not being a doubting Thomas or anything, but he's definitely here with medal in hand!
8. rima shal
that is just out of order. you don't want some one to know that where are you as they can track everysigle where you go.
9. Lee Broxson
I think for employees fair enough but it just too big brother for my liking. When it comes to kids, wives and girlfriends one step to far...
10. Bernie Greene
I have no problem with employers or anyone else using this technology where the people being tracked voluntarily give their permission. When the government wants to use the same or similar technology that is a very different matter as they will not seek the voluntary permission of those being tracked.
11. Non Smoker
Could this be used to monitor how long the guy with whom I share an office spends on his smoking breaks?
12. A Nony Mous
Best advise to employees - turn the blasted phone off, as I am sure teenagers up to no good will.
13. a nanny state
New game. Turn mobile off and move somewhere......
Better still, take someone's tracked mobile somewhere interesting....
14. anonymous
Just another example of the 'control freak' culture developing in this mess of a country.
15. anonymous
If someone is paying for you to do something for them (which is what a job is)it's only reasonable that they check that you are not skiving. If you work in a factory you can be seen on the assembly line doing your job. If you work on a building site you can be seen by your foreman building a wall.
The modern economy has made it easier for many workers particularly in the service sector to work when they want to work. If they are self employed that's their business. If they are employees then it's time they caught up with the rest of the world and realised they have a duty to the people who are paying them for their time. Too many see skiving (oh sorry, flexible working) as a standard perk of the job.
16. Perry Offer
Yet another piece of technology that will be latched onto by government to invade privacy and then generate the usual waste of billions as they screw the implementation several times over. No thanks (and I am a parent)
17. Perry Offer
Yet another piece of technology that will be latched onto by government to invade privacy and then generate the usual waste of billions as they screw the implementation several times over. No thanks (and I am a parent)
18. Richard Atkinson
Mobile phone tracking is nothing new, the government/intelligence/security services have been doing it for years. Making the technology available to worried parents etc has to be a good idea, I think it's got to be a step closer to reducing those headlines that make ua all sick, child abduction. However, I think employees will see it as a step closer towards the ultimate in 'big brother' take over, I certanly would'nt be too chuffed about having my phone tracked. There's enough stress and pressure in the rat race already.
19. Richard Atkinson
Sorry to break the bad news but turning off your phone will not work. It may not be available to the public but the technology to track your device, power on or power off, does exist, and it has done for a while now.....
20. Jo
For a start not all providers use triangulation so the accuracy depends on the cell length and turning off the phone will in most cases stop you being tracked. The network pages the phone to ascsertain which cell/MSC its in. It cant do this if its off.
21. stevie
hey - what if the networks actually worked properly? When travelling, 9 times out of 10, I cannot get a signal (orange).
I wonder if they're trying to tell me something?
There's got to be a joke about suffering from self-doubting paranoia in there somewhere.
22. Dave Laurence
Mobile phone tracking certainly works. Signed up with Trace a mobile.com for my daughter to give me and her peace of mind. The whole process took just minutes to set up - excellent! Thanks for the excellent articles.
23. Clueful Guy
About the "just turn the phone off" comment from a previous poster... that won't work.
While it has a battery inserted, your phone, turned on or not, transmits its identifier signal to the network every few seconds so that the network knows what cell you're in. This is how incoming calls get router to the proper cell and reach your phone.
I'm sure that the GPS trancievers in these tracker phones are no different.