One of the most wonderful technological advancements in the cell phone world over the past few years has been GPS. GPS allows you to pinpoint your own location on a map, and lets you find nearby locations by address and more. When you take the GPS features of cell phones and combine them with the power of Google Maps, for example, there’s almost no reason why you would ever get lost again.
There are more benefits to this than just knowing where you are, however. Using GPS services on some cell phones, parents can now learn their child’s location at any time. (Whether or not those children, especially teenage children, will think this is a good thing is, obviously, up for discussion.)
So, how do you make this work? How do you track your kids location using cell phones and GPS? First, you need to start with a cell phone that has GPS technology inside it. When you pick out your kids’ phones, make sure you are picking a phone that has this feature. While all phones produced today do have GPS capabilities built in, not all of them can be tracked by family members.
Service-based solutions
Simply having a cell phone with GPS isn’t enough by itself, however. You have to have software on the phone that supports the use of the signal for location purposes, and you need to have access to a system that lets you then view those locations.
Service providers like Sprint and AT&T offer family locator services, typically for around $5 to $10 per month per phone. This, then allows parents to see the real-time location of the phone on a satellite map. In many cases, these service plans make those satellite locations available via the parents’ cell phones, using the web browser that comes with the phone.
Highly customizable
In some cases, you can customize your service. For example, you can set it up so that, when your child reaches a particular destination, the system sends you a text message. You may be able to configure the system to allow this GPS access during certain times, as well.
Some limitations
For the most part, cell phones’ GPS data is fairly accurate. The location results you get will give you a location within a few yards, or as much as a few hundred yards. Things like being inside a building or in an area surrounded by buildings or trees, or being near reflective surfaces like lakes can all affect the accuracy of the signal.
Overall, cell phone GPS systems are a great way for you to insure the safety of your family.
