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Google Maps Coordinate

What Google Says: Google Maps Coordinate is a workforce management tool that improves the efficiency of your mobile teams. People are shown on a Google Map, making it easy to assign jobs to the nearest available team member. By getting real-time visibility into where teams are and what jobs they are doing, work can be scheduled in a smarter, more efficient way. Source: Google Maps Coordinate

Why You Should Use It: Wow – Google Maps Coordinate is a workforce management software that was only accessible to large corporations, but now a small fleet can afford it. Currently priced at $20 per month per user with a 12 month contract, or $24 per user per month on a monthly subscription. See competing software: Tableau Software

Google’s Video Introduction to Google Maps Coordinate:

See how the Travis County Sheriff’s Office keeps officers safe using Google Maps Coordinate:

And finally… Check out the Google Maps Coordinate Hangout On Air where they give a live demo of the product:

Google introduced Google Maps Coordinate earlier this year at Google I/O.  This online service encompasses coordinating a mobile Android based workforce using smartphones and tablets.  The manager of a business works through a web interface using a Google Map to get real-time info on mobile assets.

  He or she can send work orders, view time-tracking for that order, and send/receive information on demand through a mobile app installed on the asset’s mobile device.  Workers can see a list of their jobs, and check in to show that they have started. This reduces miscommunication between the worker and dispatcher. Workers are able to minimize down time between tasks and complete a higher number of jobs per day. 

Using Google Maps Navigation, workers can easily find their way to each job.

Using their mobile device, workers can view detailed information about the job, as well as add their own notes which are immediately stored in the cloud. This eliminates paper-based workflows, duplication of work and saves teams from losing information.

The location history of each worker can be shown, which helps to make more informed decisions about how teams operate and improve the efficiency of the mobile workforce. Administrators can see all details regarding a specific job. Over time, this builds a rich database of job details, which you can reference for continual improvement.

 A custom point of interest (POI) enables you to add information to a map such as customer sites, the location of facilities, or areas to avoid. This means that workers can be accurately directed to the right place, saving time and increasing efficiencies. As more POIs are added, the learning curve is reduced for workers new to a particular area.

 When combined with Google Apps for Business, management can initiate mobile video or voice conferences and manage device security if it’s lost or stolen to protect company information.  Coordinate API's allow for customization to focus on what's most important for your business process.  

We are working with a local Verizon Wireless Sales Professional to bring you all inclusive packages.  See below for some pricing estimates.  Here is a quick introductory video to illustrate how the system works. 

Pricing Estimates: Maps Coordinate - $18/month per user Google Apps for Business - $5/month per user Verizon Mobile Smartphone - $50/month for voice & 4G Data(1GB per device) Verizon Mobile Tablet* - $20/month for 4G Data(1GB per device)

How NGO's could use Google Maps Coordinate to coordinate their crisis response

Google have recently released Google Maps Coordinate, a team location service for mobile workers by tracking the location of their mobile phones. As can be seen by the video above, the service can be used for organisations to locate the nearest team member to a new request for help, let them report when they arrive on the scene, allow other team members to go to their assistance and inform their base when a particular job is complete.The idea is that if you can visualise where your various employees are at any given time, you can better deploy them.That got me thinking how NGO's could make use of this service. The service can also work inside of buildings.

On a day to day basis where many carers are often located 'on the road', using this system they could be directed to a call for assistance from a vulnerable person who perhaps has fallen by their Care Manager or by their control centre. A knowledge of which carer is nearest to the person who has fallen and is able to help could save a life in a situation where time is of the essence. The travel costs of the NGO could also be potentially be reduced if their workforce were to be deployed more efficiently.

During the early stages of a crisis situation occurring such as a flood or a power outage, an NGO sending first responders to help with the crisis response would be able track the location of their response team and where team members with particular skills are located. This will help to ensure the first responders own personal safety during what could be very chaotic first few hours dealing with the incident. It would also enable the 'best person' for a particular job to be sent to it, rather than those managing the situation responding without knowing the true 'real time' location of their team at any particular time.

Following the incidents conclusion the location history of each worker can be mapped during the incident. This would help during an 'incident debrief' to see how those managing the incident responded, 'what worked' and 'what could have been done better' which helps to make more informed planning decisions about how teams operate and improve the efficiency of the mobile workforce during similar incidents in the future.

Users of course have the ability to go invisible  when they go off duty and employees have to consent to being tracked.