Google Earth could be watching. Real time.
Springfield-based GPS Core Technologies is working to take handheld-tracking technology to a one-size-fits-all level that can provide minute-by-minute information on the location of a business’s workers.
And not just the town or city block.
“It tracks the location within a 15-meter radius (about 42 feet),” said company vice president Andrew Garrett.
Global positioning system, or GPS, satellite technology has long been in use by shippers and other transportation companies to determine the direction, distance and location of company vehicles. The technology also is common to handheld devices such as wireless phones, personal digital assistants and even golf-course range finders.
Garrett explained that what GPS Core Technologies set out to do two years ago — and has now begun to roll out to customers worldwide — is to create a single platform adaptable to a variety of technologies and company brands.
The network, which comes in six languages, is available in 56 countries and is operational in 12, according to the company.
The high-tech wizardry also is a long way from the start of Watts Copy Systems Inc. in the basement of a Springfield home in 1982. Sean Watts, son of the company’s founders, is CEO of GPS Core Technologies, which is housed in the Watts headquarters on the southeast side of Springfield.
“I’m good at telling people where to go,” said a smiling Karen Leseure of Springfield as she complied invoice data at a computer terminal inside the Watts headquarters.
A large projector screen on one wall displays a series of green dots representing field employees as they go about service or sales calls, real time, including details as small as speed of the vehicle, stop and start times, routes taken and idle time.
If a worker leaves the vehicle, the tracking device goes along.
As long as a device is Windows Mobile equipped, it should work with the company’s GPS gateway, Garrett said. The company hired a specialist from Microsoft Corp. to help develop the network, he added.
“We were looking for mobile-tracking equipment that would let us track our vehicles and employees anywhere at anytime, but we couldn’t find one with all the bells and whistles. At that point, we looked at building our own,” Garrett said.
The company hosts the network, and charges clients based on the number of employees and locations. Charges are consistent with the industry range of $14.95 to $50 per month per tracking access, according to Garrett.
A 2008 reported released by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute said ever-more sophisticated technology in the workplace — and away from the workplace — has made privacy vs. productivity an increasingly sensitive issue for both employer and employee.
The report found that two-thirds of 300 large and small employers surveyed nationwide monitor employee Internet use, and about the same percentage use blocking software to keep employees away from sites unrelated to work.
About 43 percent monitor employee e-mails, 45 percent monitor time on the phone and call destinations, about half have video surveillance on the premises and a little more than half use smart-card technology for access to buildings.
However, only about 8 percent of companies used GPS tracking to follow vehicles, while 3 percent used it to monitor cell phones and only 1 percent to monitor individual employees.
Two states, Connecticut and Delaware, require companies to notify workers if their communications are monitored, but the survey also found about 85 percent of companies voluntarily notify employees.
“Most employees receive policies regarding use of office business tools and privacy issues on the first day of employment, but too often they don’t read them. Employers need to do more than hand over a written policy,” the report concluded.
The report also suggested that companies of all size have written policies regarding technology and worker privacy.
Sean Watts, whose parents, Skip and Carol, started Watts Copy Systems in the basement of their Springfield home 27 years ago, provided a GPS-equipped device to his 14-year-old daughter. Punching a few keys on his PDA on a school day last week, he located her where she’s supposed to be, in school, right down to the classroom. When she moves, the small green dot on his PDA screen follows.
“You can imagine the peace of mind it provides,” said Watts, who added that the feeling of safety works both ways.
“You can watch your child ride down the street, and she likes to know we know where she is. What 14-year-old kid is going to stop communicating with their wireless?” Watts said.
Jack Shudrowitz, at age 53, has gone from pencil and paper to PDAs during a career that goes back to the start of Watts Copy Systems.
He is now field service manager for Watts’ 13 branch operations from Belleville to Bloomington. In the early days, it was not uncommon for workers to cross paths.
“You get a piece of paper, you’d go out and do the calls, you call the customer’s telephone. If a dispatcher got mixed up, you sent guys to the same account, or even the same machine. To me, that’s a big waste of time,” Shudrowitz said.
While it took some getting used to at first, Shudrowitz said he considers satellite technology a valuable tool for keeping the workday manageable for employees, improving customer service and making the company more efficient.
He did acknowledge, however, that some workers have a problem with the idea of the boss keeping watch from the sky.
“If the technician does his or her job, they have nothing to worry about. It’s the guys and girls who don’t that have something to worry about. If you’re paid eight to five, you should give an eight to five job,” Shudrowitz said.
Product development manager Andrew Beck said the GPS Core Technologies system is not dramatically different from fleet-tracking systems already used, other than it can be customized to track individual workers.
“It’s basically the same signal you use in your automobile GPS,” Beck said.
Beck and Garrett both said reaction to the tracking technology is somewhat generational.
Employees who grew up with Facebook and 24/7 communications seem to give the technology little thought.
“The days of privacy are over. It’s almost expected, if you work for a company, you’re going to be monitored,” said Garrett, 33.
“The kids don’t care anymore. For them, it’s almost the same as saying, ‘I’m going to wear a pink ribbon around my finger today,’” he added.
Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536 or tim.landis@sj-r.com.
