JA: March 2009 Archives

That's the headline of an article in The Sun  alongside a photograph of a satellite navigation system unit almost too big to hold in one hand showing a full Ordnance Survey map.

20 patients from the Thames Valley and Somerset areas have been provided with the devices in order to track their location as part of a 2 year study.

The Alzheimer's Society does approve of GPS technology, but our view is that a much simpler device is what's required.

Our Kooltrax™ Ranger is smaller than the device pictured in the Sun article, and has just two buttons .. on/off (which can be disabled), and 'alarm'.

With that in their pocket, someone with Alzheimers who wanders may be easily found using an on-screen map or software downloaded to a suitable mobile phone which allows a carer to take to the streets and quickly find the missing person.

A geofence may also easily be set up so that alerts may be raised quickly if someone leaves the building, street or town.

The software may be installed on multiple computers (eg. family, friends, and home) and multiple people may receive alerts by email or text message.

A small investment in GPS technology provides additional peace of mind that the wanderer may be found quickly before coming to any harm. Additionally, police forces appreciate being able to find wanderers without having to use scores of officers and resources .. police helicopters are expensive to use and money spent there is not available to be spent elsewhere.

"Have you ever lost your mobile phone?" the interviewer asked. "I've lost every phone I've ever owned" came the answer. Thousands of people lose their mobile phones every year, but what happens if it's a super expensive PDA that you really, really want back?

Of course, you'd ring it and see if sounds come from the sofa, or if anyone answers.

After that .. your phone's really gone. Phone triangulation isn't accurate enough to find it if it's lost. It might tell you what town it's in.

But now there's help. If your mobile has GPS, you can turn it into a GPS tracker and find out where it is to within a few metres, in real time.

Blue Tree Services has developed KoolTrax™ for Windows Mobile 5+ (Nokia/Symbian, Java, Blackberry and others are in the final stages of development). It's downloadable software you can install on your phone and it will report its location in real time for display on your PC.

More than one person can track your phone, and the software can be used to locate more than one phone, so a whole family can track each other (or maybe a business such as a taxi company can locate its vehicles).

An additional software download, KoolTrax™ Handset, allows a Windows Mobile 5+ PDA to track another phone, showing its own position and that of other phones on an onscreen map.

Both software packages work worldwide (assuming the phone has roaming enabled), however currently only European maps are available on KoolTrax™ Handset although the relative locations are still displayed.

"I had my phone stolen by a courier driver. Luckily we were able to chase after the van and get my phone back" said Blue Tree Services' Managing Director Mike Smuts. "The driver was amazed we knew".

Download Kooltrax™ Mobile phone tracking software here.