We notice that there is an increasing demand within organizations for location data (location determination). The most well-known and used method of location determination is, of course, GPS (Global Positioning System). In addition to GPS, there is also another possibility to determine a location: Location Based Services (LBS).
GPS has a number of disadvantages for IoT business cases: for a GPS device to function properly, it must be connected to satellites so that an accurate location is determined. It is also a relatively expensive solution and a battery-powered device does not last long due to the GPS functionality (short battery life).
Location Based Services new in our portfolio!
We recently added LBS as another option for location determination in our portfolio. When you purchase a secured IoT simcard from us, you can now also choose to add the LBS service to that IoT simcard. The costs of LBS are settled monthly. We use a sim management system for the monitoring and management of the IoT simcards. This system provides visual insight into the location(s). In addition, the latitude and longitude information is released.
LBS therefore offers the possibility to determine the location data of an IoT device. The location is determined by means of the distance from the IoT device to the transmission towers in the vicinity. When a secured IoT simcard sees three cell towers, a triangulation can be initiated to retrieve the location data. For LBS, no special hardware or software is required to determine the location data. The more cell towers there are in the vicinity, the more accurately the location data is calculated. LBS is less accurate than GPS, but in many cases can give a very good indication (location determiner).
When an IoT device changes location, we offer the option of an automatic warning email, so you can, for example, gain insight into unforeseen movements. The location data of an IoT device can be viewed every hour and stored in a log (historical data). In addition, it is possible to integrate the information into other systems by means of an API link.
Thanks to Location Based Services, locating an IoT device is cheaper and more energy-efficient than locating by means of GPS.
For more information, you can contact us via telephone number 085-0443500 or by mail to info@thingsdata.com.