GPS Tracking for Static Locations

The Guardian global tracking device is designed as a life-line for static locations: compounds, villas, depots or outstations. It will help to protect personnel based at locations in remote and high risk areas of the globe. This crisis management and communications device uses reliable satellite communications, ensuring there is no reliance on local infrastructure.

It utilises an L-band satellite transponder and integrated panic alarm and hand-held messaging device to provide reliable and robust static monitoring for use in high-risk environments and areas of political unrest.

Because Guardian is independent of local infrastructure, such as mobile or landline phone systems, it can operate anywhere in the world. The system is integrated into the Track24 C4i platform, allowing users access to all command, control, crisis management and GIS functions.

Messaging and monitoring

Guardian sends regular status reports and can also be reconfigured remotely through the Track24 C4i system. A fitted PDA (MNA) allows two-way text messaging, independent of GSM coverage.

Panic alarm

The panic alarm triggers a visual and audible alarm on the system in less than a minute. The Guardian runs from mains electricity but also has its own integral battery capable of transmitting panic alarms for 15 hours. This is essential for high-risk operations where sending a panic alarm should not be dependent on local power.

5 tips for crisis prevention when working remotely

When working abroad or in remote parts of the world, be it through serving for the armed forces or being part of an aid group, it’s unfortunate that a crisis situation might be not far away. In this situations its absolutely essential that procedures are put in place to help prevent crisis, or give the personnel involved a change to evade crisis should it occur.

Here are 5 simple tips to help remote workers in the event of a crisis:

1. Ensure that your team have up to date maps. When working in a country that is foreign to your personnel l an up to date map can help them find their way should they venture from their main routes and get lost.

2. Food and Water supply. Make sure that your team have stocked up on food and water. Dont just look at packing the bare essentials, but consider a scenario where you might be forced to stay away overnight or for a few days.

3. First Aid. Always have a first aid kit at the ready. You never know when it might be needed, even for the smallest accident. A first aid kit will help buy you some time should an unfortunate event occur within your team.

4. Clothing and footwear. When you are in a foreign country you never know when the weather might turn. It could be extremely hot one minute with a downpour of rain (and floods) the next. Be prepared for a sudden change in the weather

5. Communications. Give your team the ability to communicate with a central base within the distance of their travel. GPS Tracking can prove to be a life saving technology be it through simple tracking of personnel or communications over a radio network.

All of the above 5 points should be part of any remote teams planning and preparation when sending personnel out into the field. The welfare and safety of your team should be the absolute paramount of importance and nothing should be taken for granted. Up front planning and a well thought of crisis management plan will not only help save lives, but also give your team the confidence to go out and concentrate on their task at hand.

Track 24 provide global tracking and crisis management technology for remote workers in the field. Their unique communications platform enables tracking over land, sea and air ensuring the safety of troops and aid workers. Track 24 technologies have been used in conflict situations in Iraq and Afghanistan and will continue to prevent and manage crisis situations for years to come.

GPS Tracking for Vehicles - Introducing Roadrunner

Due to the modern expanse of the world wide communications network, even the world’s most hostile environments are often served by high-quality GSM networks. The RoadRunner is an vehicle tracking, crisis management and security device intended for use in GSM service areas. It is a reliable and cost-effective alternative to satellite based tracking technologies.

The RoadRunner is integrated into the Track24 C4i platform, giving monitoring staff and operations centres up-to-the-minute information on the status and location of their organisation’s vehicles and the rapid notification needed to react to an incident.

Tracking
RoadRunner is able to transmit regular position reports at time intervals – from two minutes upwards – or distance intervals, using GPRS and/or SMS protocol. The reporting rate and method can be reconfigured remotely through the Track24 C4i platform. Positions are calculated using the latest generation GPS technology, with the last 900 being stored as a backup record in the internal memory.

Geo-fencing
The RoadRunner has advanced geo-fence capabilities designed to improve both security and operational control. Server-based geo-fences are defined and activated on the C4i platform by an organisation’s monitoring centre. Uniquely, this unit also features an immediate geo-fence function. By simply pushing a button, the vehicle crew can activate or deactivate a circular geo-fence of a pre-determined radius. When activated, the vehicle’s current position is recorded. If the vehicle moves out of the geo-fence zone, an alert will be transmitted to the C4i platform.

Panic alarm
Crisis management is a fundamental component of the Track24 solution. If a vehicle crew triggers the panic alarm, a visual and audible alarm appears on the C4i system in less than a minute and automated e-mail and SMS notifications to the relevant people are initiated. The RoadRunner’s integral rechargeable battery ensures that even in the event of a vehicle power failure, the unit is always capable of sending emergency reports if a user pushes the panic alarm.

For more information on Roadrunner or other Global Tracking and Crisis Management solutions visit the Track 24 web site.

Falcon - Aircraft Tracking Solution

Falcon is an automated tracking, crisis management and communications device designed for helicopters and aircraft: helping clients to track and communicate with their high-value assets and respond to any emergency. It offers significant improvements in efficiency and security for companies and organisations operating in hostile conditions and high risk environments.

Interfaced with the Track24 C4i platform, Falcon enables operations staff to monitor the position and status of flights, communicate with them as necessary and respond to incidents or emergencies.

Falcon is independent of the unreliable communications infrastructures of unstable regions or those affected by natural disasters, as it uses the Inmarsat global satellite network. Easy to install and use, the unit is lightweight, compact and requires minimum electrical power, making it suitable for installation even on the smallest aircraft.

Falcon is suitable for commercial, public service and military use. It is ideal for helicopter operators, especially those involved in Search and Rescue (SAR), Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), EMS, police, military and coast guard operations, peace keeping, and fire fighting.

Tracking & monitoring

Routine reports transmitted by Falcon detail the aircraft's GPS position and flight status. Other reporting is fully integrated, such as: engine ignition; undercarriage status; landing and takeoff alerts.

This information is displayed on the Track24 C4i platform, affording users complete visibility over multiple airborne assets and an increased capacity for flight planning, fleet coordination and the generation of accurate flight times and ETAs. This minimises wasted time on the ground, as well as flight times. Data is archived, allowing flight analysis for identifying evidence in case of suspected border incursions or unauthorised low flying.

Communication & Control

The benefits of tracking and monitoring are further augmented by the direct communication functions of the system. Two-way messaging via a PDA device gives operations staff greater control over aircraft and an improved capability to react. Combined with C4i visibility, this enhanced level of control will raise an organisation's operational effectiveness. Users can, for example:

Re-task aircraft in flight or on the ground
Deploy those assets likely to be most effective in a situation
Revise and submit flight plans
Transmit accurate clearances to crew.
Security and crisis management
Incident prevention

As a crisis management tool, Falcon is designed to reduce risk and thereby improve passenger safety and the security of assets. Operations staff can:

Transmit warnings of hostile areas, meteorological warnings, flight clearances and other urgent information to the flight crew

Plan diversions more effectively; plan for necessary ground support ahead of arrival
Gain information from discrete sensors (gear, engine, weight on wheels, winch operation) as a precaution against damage or sabotage.

Emergency response

If an incident does occur, an alert sent from Falcon to the C4i system will contain the information necessary to respond to a distress, urgency or security threat in a timely and effective manner. These alerts can be relayed via email, or by mobile phones via SMS, ensuring that all relevant personnel are informed within seconds that an incident is occurring.

The Global Risk

As economies become more interconnected, global organisations must increasingly travel and do business in unfamiliar parts of the world.

Failed or failing states are a worldwide threat. Governments, NGOs, militaries, and companies are playing their part in stabilisation, but their work is risky, and sometimes life threatening.

As natural resources become scarcer, mining and oil companies must operate in remote and often hazardous regions.

An incident can have an impact that reaches from those on the ground all the way to the boardroom. The immediate consequences of a crisis are serious enough, but the medium and long term impact on reputation, shareholder value and workforce morale can be devastating.

Responsibility for preventing this chain of events lies with those with a corporate duty of care – and Track24 is the partner to turn to.

Track 24 specialise in the provision of Global Tracking and Crisis Management solutions. Visit their web site for more information.

How Do GPS Systems Work?

A Global Positioning System or GPS is a technological innovation that uses a number of satellites in the earth’s orbit, to transmit signals back to earth enabling GPS receivers to calculate and identify the exact location, time information and speed to the user. The GPS receivers can be able to pinpoint the person’s location at anytime using signals from either three or more satellites. Originally, the GPS was created by the US Department of Defense to be used for military purposes. Though the system started being used in the 1980’s it became available to public use in the 1990’s. The main advantage of the GPS is that it can be able to function even in all weather condition any time, day or night.

GPS is actually very simple. The Global Positioning System is made up of 27satellites that are orbiting the Earth. Out of the 27 satellites, only 24 are in use while the rest are used in case any satellite malfunctions. All the satellites are able to circles the earth at speeds of 12,000 miles and make two complete rotations daily. The satellites have been arranged in such a way to enable at least four satellites to be visible in any location on the planet. The receiver’s task is to locate any four or more of the satellites, calculate the distance to each satellite and then use the information acquired to calculate its own location. The GPS receiver uses a mathematical principle referred to as trilateration to be able to pinpoint the exact location of the object.

A simple explanation of how the GPS is able to effectively locate the position of a person is as follows. Assume that the exact positions of the satellites to the earth can be computed accurately, and that the GPS receiver is able to calculate the distance, between at least three satellites simultaneously and the receiver. By making use of the longitude, latitude and height to define the location of the receiver, one can come up with and solve three equations relating to the known coordinates of the three satellites and that of the receiver. The distance between the receiver and the satellites is calculated by time signals that are transmitted by the three satellites. Since the signal normally travels at the speed of light, the time the signal from the satellites reaches the GPS receiver is accurately registered to be able to calculate the distance as well as the accurate position of the receiver.

GPS receivers operate using clocks that are less accurate while the satellites use accurate atomic clocks. Because of this, there is a timing error when the GPS receiver gets the satellite signals. Since the signals arriving to the receiver from the three satellites are measured simultaneously, the distance measurements are falsified by the receiver’s clock error. Therefore, to accurately measure the position of the receiver, four unknowns are required namely; the three satellite coordinates and the receivers clock error. To solve the four unknowns at least four satellites are required. The use of four satellites allows the GPS to determine the location with a pinpoint accuracy. With the four satellites, the receiver can now be able to calculate accurate estimates of the receiver’s clock and its location. The functioning of the Global Positioning System may sound quite complicated but it is simple if followed keenly.

GPS can be used across many different applications including getting directions to a destination, crisis management and tracking people in high risk situations.

Middle East Energy Security Forum Round up

Track24 exhibited at the Middle East Energy Security Forum (MEESEC) 23rd – 25th March 2009. MEESEC focused on security and dependability for energy operators in the Middle East.

The forum hosted speakers and an advisory panel of prominent companies and individuals within the field of natural resources. This provided an invaluable insight into the security issues the energy sector faces in the era of globalisation and how security situations can be effectively managed.

MEESEC highlighted effective security solutions for energy infrastructure, intellectual property and personnel and showcased international best practice from the natural resource sector. This included technological innovation in remote and offshore asset security, counter terrorism and crisis communications.

A leading provider of global tracking and crisis management solutions within the energy sector, Track24 provides a range of solutions for vehicle, maritime and personnel security. Through technology such as the recently launched Nomad System, Track24 enables energy companies to protect their most important assets in both remote and hostile environments.

The Nomad System integrates a Motorola MOTOTRBO™ radio network with the Track24 C4i Platform. This solution enables clients to monitor the status and position of their radio users in virtually real time with position reporting from 30 second intervals upwards. As a radio based solution Nomad provides fast, flexible communications and low cost position reporting. Nomad will greatly change the way energy operators manage their infrastructure, perimeter and area protection.

To find out more about MEESEC events, contact Track24.