Lone working - current approaches are?
- Thread starter jcampbellsmith
- Start date
John i use Spot Gen 4. There's Four communication methods with spot Gen 4:
1. SOS: only be used for critical, life-threatening situations.
2. HELP/SPOT S.O.V: For non-life threatening situations, ask for help from friends and family or gain a direct line to professional
assistance providers using SPOT S.O.V. I have my Friend who is in the Local Mountain Rescue Group linked to this.
3. CHECK IN OR CUSTOM MESSAGE FUNCTION: Check In and Custom Message functions. This gives you the flexibility to send different
messages to different contacts, or tailor messages for a specific purpose. Let your contacts know you are doing fine. or going to be late. With the push of a button, your contacts receive your pre-programmed message by text or email complete with your GPS location. I have my messages geared up Two ways. If shot a Deer I'm going to be late, and I'm on the ground now.
4. TRACKING: Your friends and family can track your progress in near real-time using Shared Views within SPOT Mapping, giving them a virtual plot of where you are.
For me the messaging service works every time. Never had an issue
1. SOS: only be used for critical, life-threatening situations.
2. HELP/SPOT S.O.V: For non-life threatening situations, ask for help from friends and family or gain a direct line to professional
assistance providers using SPOT S.O.V. I have my Friend who is in the Local Mountain Rescue Group linked to this.
3. CHECK IN OR CUSTOM MESSAGE FUNCTION: Check In and Custom Message functions. This gives you the flexibility to send different
messages to different contacts, or tailor messages for a specific purpose. Let your contacts know you are doing fine. or going to be late. With the push of a button, your contacts receive your pre-programmed message by text or email complete with your GPS location. I have my messages geared up Two ways. If shot a Deer I'm going to be late, and I'm on the ground now.
4. TRACKING: Your friends and family can track your progress in near real-time using Shared Views within SPOT Mapping, giving them a virtual plot of where you are.
For me the messaging service works every time. Never had an issue
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
I'll assume that you carry a whistle? And one of the small lithium battery micro torches? Also, perhaps, one of those break and bend light sticks? Last but not least one, or even two. of the compact and light gold colour "blankets"? All don't take up room and weight less than a Mars Bar (yes..take some of those too) and alert by sound and sight helpers when they do come. The gold blanket will not only keep your from losing body heat it also will shine if light is cast on it from lamps used by searchers. All the high tech communication gizmos I can't advise as I don't have the knowledge.
I have a whistle, torch and survival blanket. It's really all about prompting someone to come and look for me and to give them a pretty good idea where I am.
Thanks
JCS
Internet of Things (IOT) SIM cards are potentially capable of operating on more than one mobile network, depending on the the subscription model and/or roaming agreements that the provider has negotiated with various networks. E.g. see Everything you need to know about IoT SIMs
Nevertheless they will not work if there is actually no mobile coverage at your location, on any network. In the UK we have four. O2, Vodafone, EE and Three. Each of which have different frequency spectrum allocations, and coverage areas. And black spots where no coverage on any network is available.
The best way to check coverage is to use the Ofcom checker, View mobile availability - Ofcom Checker Far more precise and detailed than the simplistic maps that the networks give.
As they say:
Your map is different to the operators’ maps. Why?
Ofcom's independently-produced map uses mobile network operators’ coverage predictions indicating signal levels at every location in the UK. However, each mobile network operator has a slightly different approach to displaying coverage on their own map, including assumptions on the handsets used, levels of prediction reliability and the expected signal loss when indoors or in a car. Because Ofcom's map brings all of their predictions together in a single place and holds it to a single, independent standard, our map may display different levels of availability of coverage than those seen on the operators' websites. Links to the operators' maps can be found here:
Put in your location, or somewhere nearby, select your network, outdoor coverage, no 4G, data, click on "view map of available services" then zoom in and out, scroll around etc, and observe just how many dead spots there actually are. That's for data coverage. E.g. where a text might get through, even if a voice call won't. Select voice coverage instead and it will show far less.
Erik Hamburger
Well-Known Member
Carry a Homing Pigeon in your Roe sack?
But seriously, my understanding is that a Text Message is more likely to get through even if you have a bad or no signal showing on your phone. You can register your number with 999, so in the future you can send a Text to 999.
Text 'register' to 999. You will get a reply with further instructions. (Do this NOW, don't wait until you're hanging upside down with a broken leg in your high-seat...)
The USA Emergency Number 911, and the European Emergency number 112 will also work in the UK - but you need a signal.
If your network provider is the issue (no coverage in the area where you stalk) other providers may have a signal.
Dialling 999 or 911 will automatically switch you to the best signal an any network.
If the Text to 999 will work on any network? I hope so, but I am not sure of that.
Maybe others can add to this or correct me- thank you.
fake news im afraid they go through exacly the same chanels
The text message emergency system is operated by Relay UK. It is a subset of the Relay UK service for hearing and speech impaired people, and is I think managed by BT. It is not a direct link to the emergency services, their operators will pass on your message to them. So construct it carefully, including your best guess as to where to find you. E.g. "Help, I've broken my leg, please rescue me" might be insufficient information.Carry a Homing Pigeon in your Roe sack?
But seriously, my understanding is that a Text Message is more likely to get through even if you have a bad or no signal showing on your phone. You can register your number with 999, so in the future you can send a Text to 999.
Text 'register' to 999. You will get a reply with further instructions. (Do this NOW, don't wait until you're hanging upside down with a broken leg in your high-seat...)
The USA Emergency Number 911, and the European Emergency number 112 will also work in the UK - but you need a signal.
If your network provider is the issue (no coverage in the area where you stalk) other providers may have a signal.
Dialling 999 or 911 will automatically switch you to the best signal an any network.
If the Text to 999 will work on any network? I hope so, but I am not sure of that.
Maybe others can add to this or correct me- thank you.
Text messages can sometimes punch through where a voice call is not possible. And, depending on how your 'phone, and your network provider, have arranged things, may be re-tried a number of times, at increasing intervals, until they get through. Or fail. A good 'phone will show you whether the text actually got through, either immediately, or some time later.
In the UK, and many other European countries, direct calls to emergency services also convey the best position information available at the 'phone when making the call, to 999, 112.. Ideally using the GPS coordinates, or coarser location from nearby known WiFi networks (this is only of much use in populated areas). Even if you have location services disabled at the time, they are turned on and the information conveyed by a text message, alongside the voice call. Failing that (i.e. no GPS coverage nor WiFi location) the emergency services may still be able to request cellsite interpolations from the network, which are less precise.
It is called Advanced Mobile Location Advanced Mobile Location - Wikipedia and is supposed to have come in last year. You need a modern smartphone, Android or Apple, for it to work. In many countries, only Androids work with it. It is supposed to become mandatory for all smartphones sold in the EU, from 2022.
Nevertheless, if you are in an area with no mobile coverage, none of this can work.
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If you simply use your' phone as normal, calls to 999 or 112 (same thing) will be routed by your network provider, using their network, if it has coverage.
If instead your 'phone is locked, you may be able to enter the emergency calls only option, which may or may not enable it to use all four networks, for calls to 112/999 only. Even if it doesn't have a SIM card in it, or say a pre-pay with no credit left (decent pre-pay ones will still allow emergency calls even when credit has expired). I have tested a few 'phones, and they don't all do this reliably, or even at all. A simple message such as "emergency calls only", particularly on a dumb phone, may give you false hope. A dumb phone is also usually incapable of locating itself.
Deutsch - Drahthaar
Well-Known Member
If you really need urgent emergency assistance in a lone working situation you need a FastFind 220 - Had one for many years but never had to trigger it thankfully.
Absolutely agree. Other PLBs are also available. Hopefully never to have to be used.
But the OP was wanting some sort of domestic lone worker setup, to check in and out to allay anxieties. Maybe even providing tracking. In a more professional arrangement there are more serious setups that can tick many boxes. I can't comment about those, their subscription models, nor the the technologies that they use to to do what they do.
Businesses are required to consider and implement such arrangements, correctly so. One size does not fit all.
Nothing can substitute for preparedness, common sense, and some knowledge of how to look after yourself, if the worst comes to the worst. If simply wanting to say e.g. that "I'll be late home for my tea" that's another matter.
I use a Garmin inreach I send the Mrs a text as I go out and one when I get back its included in the subs and if I get into trouble I hit the emergency button and it send a message with a location to the emergency services, so they can come get me. If I don't send a message when I get back she can locate me over GPS on the internet.
Whatever app you opt for don’t shy from testing the responsiveness or otherwise of it to an emergency scenario, and in the arena of operation you seek to cover. Any reputable service provider will welcome this and the resulting feedback.K
Colonel Rimfire
Well-Known Member
Carry a Homing Pigeon in your Roe sack?
But seriously, my understanding is that a Text Message is more likely to get through even if you have a bad or no signal showing on your phone. You can register your number with 999, so in the future you can send a Text to 999.
Text 'register' to 999. You will get a reply with further instructions. (Do this NOW, don't wait until you're hanging upside down with a broken leg in your high-seat...)
The USA Emergency Number 911, and the European Emergency number 112 will also work in the UK - but you need a signal.
If your network provider is the issue (no coverage in the area where you stalk) other providers may have a signal.
Dialling 999 or 911 will automatically switch you to the best signal an any network.
If the Text to 999 will work on any network? I hope so, but I am not sure of that.
Maybe others can add to this or correct me- thank you.
Added to that, if you dial 112 it will use a tracker to find your location
I was told this by an ex policeman who used to train us in breakaway techniques when I worked in frontline mental health with forensic service users.
Incorrect. This seems to be some sort of urban myth, that continues to do the rounds. However if it spreads the simple message that 112 is the standard EU emergency number, that's something I suppose.
999 and 112 are exactly the same service, in the UK. No difference. The 112 number was introduced in the UK for commonality with EU (and other countries) use.
Call either number and you will get through to exactly the same place. Where they will already have geographic location information, more or less detailed, provided by e.g. the mobile operator's network, or the landline provider. They use this to route your call to the most appropriate emergency services centre for your geographic area.
In fact, calling 999, or 112, or even 911, from a mobile 'phone, does not actually call that number. It triggers the 'phone to place a call to the emergency call centre, as routed by the network provider. The numbers that can trigger this, and if necessary invoke emergency roaming onto another network, are pre-programmed into the 'phone from new, or updated over the air, or embedded in e.g. a foreign network SIM card, or when a phone roams onto a foreign network and the SIM registers there. In principle this means that you don't need to know a particular country's emergency number when using a mobile.
Explained here:
999 and 112: the UK's national emergency numbers
And more detail here: 999, 112, 111 or 101: Which Number Should I Call?
And Emergency telephone number - Wikipedia
112 (emergency telephone number) - Wikipedia
As I have already explained, in post #31, an Advanced Mobile Location service is also being introduced, which will be capable of giving precise location information, if available, sourced from a modern smartphone's own internal location service.
Otherwise position information may be available to the emergency services, from the network operator's cell site location methods (think of it as triangulation, though it doesn't actually work that way). For what it's worth, this sort of "triangulation" needs the 'phone to be visible to several cell stations. In a remote area there may only be one. If there is only one cell site connected to the 'phone, all that the network can know is the approximate radius that the 'phone is from that site. which might be say a circle of 40 km diameter.
E.g. Running a diagnostic app on my 'phone just now, I see that one of my SIMs, operating on LTE (3G and 4G, my network hereabouts does not support Voice over LTE (VOLTE) so uses 3G for voice calls and the 4G for data only), is connected to a cell at 25 ASU strength, and there are nine neighbouring cells, all with usable strength, from 24 down to 10 ASU. I expect they could fix my location fairly well.
Another SIM, operating on UMTS (that's 2G) has an 11 ASU connection, with three neighbouring cells, however none of the others have enough strength to support a voice call. Or data/SMS. I wouldn't expect any accurate location information from that.
Advanced Mobile Location - Wikipedia
As with many such things, emergency services and coordination, phone numbers, advancements using mobile technology, etc. are often invented and pioneered in the UK, then spread more widely.
Ranger22
Well-Known Member
At work we use two systems. Peoplesafe, you phone up give the details of where you are going and a logging off time. This is only as good as the information you give. Our spot trackers are linked to the peoplesafe system, together they make a very good system. The downside of the spot tracker is it works on the American satellites, they have been known to switch them off! A two way radio isn’t a very safe system, lying unconscious, a radio is of no use.
Actually the Spots that I think you might be using, use the Globalstar sats.
And have a somewhat rocky reputation for reliability. Serious users have found them to have no better than 75% effectiveness in e.g. tracking applications, or getting a message out. In perfect conditions. They are one way (transmit only) devices and the devices appear to have low power transmission, predicated on long battery life, low price point for the devices, rather than adequate link budget. Great when they first came out, nothing else like them, but times have moved on.
Whereas those that use the Iridium system (InReach etc) report much greater reliability, and of course the obvious benefits of having two way communication capability, which is massively more useful. And of course Iridium provides total global coverage, unlike Globalstar, which may or may not matter to you.
FWIW, Spot now also have terminals that use Iridium and have two way capability, but they have not been well received, an attempt to catch up with InReach and others but not better, nor even equal, it seems.
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