Location Based Services
Today’s new technologies, more than ever before, are providing us with the tools to be much more aware of and interact with the world around us. Laptop computers, PDA’s, mobile phones, GPS and Car Navigation systems and the Mobile Internet mean that we have much greater access to location-based information that is delivered to us through mobile platforms.
GeoSmart has developed a wide range of Location-Based solutions that make it possible to find out about places, activities and events before you go out and even while you are out in the field. Rather than just thinking one dimensionally about going somewhere and then returning, we have the ability to find out about other things that we may wish to do while we are out.
This enriching our experience and maximises opportunities for accessing our environment and acting upon that information.
Here are some examples based on GeoSmart SmartFIND technology that are available to you today:
If you want to go out to a movie, you can go to websites using SmartFIND that will tell you where you can find a park, where you can buy your favourite type of food, get a coffee, find an ATM machine for some extra cash, a public toilet and maybe enjoy some live music before you drive home.- You are at the beach and feel like a coffee. You use your mobile phone and look up SmartFIND on Vodafone 'VLive' to find the nearest café and get turn by turn directions on how to get there as well as the distance.
- You want to plan a weekend away that includes accommodation, food, a game of golf and a jet boat ride. A website using SmartFIND will show you where to find all those things as well as giving you turn-by-turn instructions from one location to the next that you can print out and take with you in the car instead of struggling with a map book.
- You are looking for a rental property and go onto a Real Estate website using SmartFIND, select the criteria such as price, number of bedrooms and area and can then see all properties that fit your criteria displayed on a map. You zoom in on a property and can see the nearest bus stops, scools, shopping and medical facilities.
- Perhaps you are attending a new university or going to work at a hospital. You can use the same website to easily see which rental properties are within walking distance of your education institution or place of work.
- You drive a delivery van and want to know the most economic route to do your deliveries and what order to load the van. A quick trip to the GeoSmart Route²GO website allows you to work out the sequence, even taking into consideration that one of the jobs can only be done between 12 and 1 p.m.
- It’s Friday night and you and your friends decide to have a drink after work. You have opted for the Happy Hour Club and you text in to find out where the nearest 2 for 1 deal is on your favourite beer. You text a message through to your community website so your friends will know where you are.
- You are meeting a new client for the first time, in a café. You send them an Invite²GO email that includes your photo so they will know what you look like and they can print out turn by turn instructions on how to get there from their unique starting point.
- You pick up a rental car at the airport of a strange town, attach your portable car navigation to the windscreen of the car with the suction cup and confidently drive to your first meeting, having also found the location of the nearest car park. The directions spoken to you use SmartNAV information that make sure you take the correct turns and even if you miss them, still get you straight back on track, arriving at your meeting calm and relaxed, ready for business.
- Your call centre can see exactly where all your service vehicles are on a map and allocate the closest person to an urgent job. You send the job to their Fleet Management console in the car and when the driver accepts the job, it transfers it to the integrated in car navigation system which directs her to the job via the shortest route.
- It’s orientation week at university and they have set up a text (SMS) based treasure hunt to help the new students find their way around the university and have lots of fun at the same time.
These are all examples of applications of Location Based Awareness technology that is available today. No vapourware or smoke and mirrors. We are developing solutions that allow you to make the most of your time and environment anywhere, any time.