Overview
Live Location Sharing is a feature within the IamResponding (IaR) mobile apps that enable personnel in the field to continuously share their location, independent of being tied to an active response or incident and without being required to submit a response within the mobile apps.
Once enabled, personnel have the ability to control if/when they will be tracked and for how long.
How it Works
Agency Admins:
Once Live Location Sharing has been enabled for an agency, agency administrators will see a new permission within the "Mapping of Individuals" administrative functions page on the IaR website ("Administrative Functions" -> "Settings" -> "Mapping of Individuals") for continuous location sharing.
When Continuous Location Sharing has been activated, members of the agency will be able to share their location without them first having to tap "Respond Now". Users can share for a set duration or continuously in the background.
Within the "Mapping of Individuals" page, agency admins may also choose to enable/disable response based location sharing, which requires the user to first submit a response using the "Respond Now" functionality, and also choose who to share location data with.
Users:
Members of an agency will see a new toggle at the top of their app menu to for "Live Location Sharing". When the user toggles "Live Location Sharing" to on, they will be prompted with the share settings to set the duration of their tracking. The user must then select "Share Location" to begin sharing.
Once a user has shared their location, they will be visible on the map to members of their agency, and members of other agencies as determined by the location sharing settings that have been configured by the agency admin.
Users will also see a notification on their device when tracking is enabled.
Benefits & Use Cases
Live Location Sharing gives agencies visibility into field personnel locations beyond the scope of a single incident. Some applications include:
Wellness/Safety Checks on Solo Field Personnel: For personnel working alone in the field (i.e. detectives, probation, fire investigators, etc.) where they are not actively assigned to an incident response. Supervisors and other stakeholders can confirm the individual's location and movement and check their status at any given time.
Multi-Unit / Team Operations: For coordinated activities involving multiple units working the same operation but not tied to a single dispatched incident (i.e. a planned warrant service, a joint patrol detail, a search operation), supervisors and command staff can see everyone's real-time position throughout the operation.
Event and Venue Coverage: For personnel stationed or moving throughout a large venue during a concert, sporting event, or conference, event control can see where coverage is needed and reposition staff in real time.
Escort or Transport Accompaniment: For personnel accompanying a person, vehicle, or high-value item across a route not tied to a single incident (an escort, a valuables transport, a supervised movement), command staff can watch the route in real time.
Enabling the Feature
Please contact our team if you would like to enable this feature for your agency.
FAQ
How often does location update when tracking is active?
Location updates are triggered and pushed to IaR automatically by your device's operating system as you move. IaR will refresh user locations every few seconds.
Users must allow their location to be shared with IaR within their device settings to utilize IaR location based features.
Does location sharing continue if the app is closed or the device restarts?
Yes. Once location sharing has been enabled within IaR, your location will be shared in the background even if the app has been force closed or your device has been restarted. Location sharing will only be disabled after the set share duration has expired, or when the user manually disables location sharing within the app.
What is the impact on battery and data usage?
This feature leverages existing location sharing technology that is native to your device platform. This technology is designed to be battery friendly, and is likely already being leveraged by other applications on your device.
In most cases, users will likely not see a significant impact on battery or data usage.
How and where is my location shared?
Device location is shared with IamResponding only when a user has enabled location sharing within their IaR mobile app and will only be shared for the set share duration, or until manually disabled.
Once location sharing is enabled, user location will be accessible within IaR to members of their agency. User location may also be visible to individuals belonging to mutual aid agencies and/or members of other agencies who utilize IaR. Please contact your agency administrator to understand how location sharing settings have been configured for your agency.
In some cases, user location may also be visible to ECC staff.
How can I find personnel who are sharing their location?
Users may search for and locate individuals via the IaR resource lookup functionality. Please see our Resource Lookup article for additional information.
Related Articles
Resource Lookup - Article coming soon