Mobile Tracking, What are the Types, Benefits, and How it Works?

Mobile Tracking, also known as cell phone tracking, is a technology that identifies the location of a cell phone, whether it is stationary or moving. The signal emitted by the cell phone is used to communicate with nearby towers to find its location.

Due to privacy concerns, consent is usually a major issue for cell phone owners. Service providers often require customers to know about the system before they give their personal consent to be tracked.   

For businesses that operate through delivery or use multiple types of vehicles such as construction or landscaping services, Fleet Management System is ideal. Fleet management tools include mobile components to support on-the-go updates and communication around changes, allowing fleet managers and employees to work together for maximum efficiency in delivery operations.   

Types of Mobile Tracking

When it comes to tracking employee cell phones, there are three different technologies to consider: GPS tracking, WiFi tracking technology, and GeoIP tracking. Here’s a quick overview of how each works.

GPS Tracking

According to  GPS.gov, GPS satellites broadcast their signals in space with some accuracy. What we receive on our devices depends on additional factors, including satellite geometry, signal blockage, atmospheric conditions, and receiver design features/quality.

For example, GPS-enabled smartphones are usually accurate within a 4.9 m (16 ft) radius under open skies. However, the accuracy deteriorates near buildings, bridges and trees.

GPS tracking is excellent for companies that have employees who are actually in the field. Insurance or disaster recovery workers and their devices can be found with confidence as they work out in the open.

Wi-Fi Tracking

GPS devices constantly receive information from satellites, as described above. Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as phones, tablets or laptops, receive signals from other Wi-Fi devices. This could be a WiFi access point or router, which is also where we get WiFi signals at work, at home, or in public spaces. WiFi tracking uses the location of these access points and all other WiFi-enabled devices to determine location.  

Even when a particular device is not connected to a WiFi network, if WiFi settings are enabled, it still sends out requests to find nearby networks and access points. With these signals, WiFi location tracking, also referred to as WiFi Positioning System (WPS), can determine the location of a device when GPS cannot.

GeoIP Tracking

GeoIP tracking uses an IP address database to track the IP the device is connected to (or last connected to), which can then be tracked in the phone’s location tracking software. The IP address location is quite accurate and allows companies to track the phone based on the last used location.

How to Use All Three Tracking Technologies Together

Using combined tracking methods and technologies will give us the most accurate and reliable results from GPS, WiFi triangulation and GeoIP to accurately locate our employee’s phone. Without all three technologies, our tracking accuracy and location may be problematic.  

Neither GPS nor Wifi is available everywhere, therefore it is good to support each other and check each other. GeoIP is a reliable backup because an IP address is not always an exact location but a general area that may be outside of WiFI or GPS-only networks. Imagine a Venn diagram with three intersecting circles. It’s great to be in the middle where all three types of tracking technologies are available in one place. However, this is often not the case, and having all three gives us greater reach in distant physical environments.

How Phone Mobile Tracking Works

Most cell phone tracking apps work by accessing global positioning software (GPS) and providing location information in the app or software. Simply put, GPS is a US satellite navigation system that provides three-dimensional location data to a receiver via a network of satellites. Although originally used for military purposes, GPS technology is now available for everyone to use.  

The strength of the cell phone signal is the main element used to determine the location of the cell phone. A strong signal indicates that the phone is close to a cell tower, while a weaker signal indicates that the phone is further away. In GPS tracking applications, the user’s location is communicated to the remote software application via Wi-Fi, SMS text, or traditional wireless connections.

Mobile Tracking works best in urban areas filled with antenna towers. In fact, phones can usually be placed within an area of about 50 meters in urban areas. In contrast, rural areas or locations with few people tend to offer less precise mobile tracking because they have fewer towers.

Benefits of Mobile Tracking

Although cell phone owners question the privacy and ethics of Mobile Tracking, the benefits generally outweigh the disadvantages. Some of the benefits of Mobile Tracking include:

• Emergencies: Police or firefighters may be able to locate a person using information gathered from the phone’s GPS receiver or by contacting the cell phone service provider to determine the device’s position relative to the nearest cell tower.
• Location tracking: Some phones offer apps with tracking features that allow people to track each other’s locations (such as the iPhone’s “Find Friends” app). These types of apps are useful for finding people in crowded places, such as concerts and exhibitions.
• Child safety: Cell phone tracking software allows parents to track the location of their children. This type of software sends periodic updates about the phone’s current location to a central server via the phone’s network.
• Business management: For employees issued company phones, cell phone tracking data allows businesses to track where employees spend time while working. In addition to location, some software allows companies to track how fast an employee is driving, a feature useful for delivery services.   

TransTRACK Mobile Phone Tracker

Now through TransTRACK, you can also enjoy this mobile tracking feature with the name Mobile Phone Tracker. This Mobile Phone Tracker from TransTRACK can find the location of vehicles and drivers on one platform, perfect for checking the location of your family or staff on every trip. The features provided are many, you can communicate between users and do delivery management.

Mobile Tracking has many benefits as described above. For that, you can start using mobile tracking also from  TransTRACK  for a better tracking experience!