Google introduced the Coordinate service for managing mobile workers
Geolocation-based applications and services, such as Foursquare, have gained considerable popularity over the past few years, but most recent developments in geolocation applications have ignored the business area. Although now there are several services that allow employers to track the movements of their employees, they are usually proprietary and very expensive. Today, Google is trying to enter the business market using Google Maps Coordinate , which combines Google maps and a geolocation service with an API and dispatching system to coordinate employees. This service is available in both the web version and the version for Android phones and tablets. According to Google, the system will allow organizations to more effectively issue work tasks and geographically distribute their staff.
In essence, Coordinate allows companies to remotely manage their mobile employees and track their movements, whether they are truckers or taxi drivers, plumbers or couriers delivering pizza. Google has tested this service inside their own shipping service.
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Dan Chu, a Google manager responsible for the Coordinate product who was interviewed last week from his office in Sydney, said that the idea of ​​creating this system came to them from Google’s corporate clients who already used the company's map services but were looking for an easy, ready-made way. organizations of their mobile workers. During development, the team focused on making the service as flexible as possible. Large companies will be able to bind Coordinate to their existing systems using an API that gives full access to reading and writing data, and small businesses will be able to use the system without the need for any major investments.
Clients will also be able to upload large amounts of data with their points to the service. Communal enterprises, for example, can enter information about the location of all electric poles in the area they serve.
As Chu noted, Google has invested a lot in its maps and geolocation services, but now for the first time the company really applies all this experience in working on a business-oriented application.
On the dispatch page, the administrator can see where his employees are and send them to the next destination. Employees on the map are indicated by blue dots. In order to create an account for a new employee, you need to make just a few mouse clicks. Creating new jobs is also done in a few simple steps.
On the other hand, employees who are out of the office, using their phones, receive new tasks for work and send reports to the dispatcher on the tasks already completed. There is also the possibility of marking, with which the employee can confirm that he arrived at the designated place. For example, it allows the employer to take away the time spent on the road to the place from the time it took to complete the work itself. The system also allows administrators to specify certain data that employees must collect while they are working outside the office (for example, customer contact information). All these functions, according to Chu, will allow administrators to establish a full-fledged workflow for their employees working outside the office.
Considering the consequences of the leakage of private data from a service like this, Google has built the “invisibility” option for users, as well as a system that automatically, at the end of the work shift, logs off employees. Also, the first time before using the application, users must give their consent to track their movements.
Google provides a service priced at $ 15 for 1 user per month, it will be valid until September 1, 2012. After September 1, the price may rise, but officially Google has not yet reported anything about it. Now the service is available worldwide and, unlike the usual practice of Google, it will not be tested in the beta version.
In essence, Coordinate allows companies to remotely manage their mobile employees and track their movements, whether they are truckers or taxi drivers, plumbers or couriers delivering pizza. Google has tested this service inside their own shipping service.
')
Dan Chu, a Google manager responsible for the Coordinate product who was interviewed last week from his office in Sydney, said that the idea of ​​creating this system came to them from Google’s corporate clients who already used the company's map services but were looking for an easy, ready-made way. organizations of their mobile workers. During development, the team focused on making the service as flexible as possible. Large companies will be able to bind Coordinate to their existing systems using an API that gives full access to reading and writing data, and small businesses will be able to use the system without the need for any major investments.
Clients will also be able to upload large amounts of data with their points to the service. Communal enterprises, for example, can enter information about the location of all electric poles in the area they serve.
As Chu noted, Google has invested a lot in its maps and geolocation services, but now for the first time the company really applies all this experience in working on a business-oriented application.
On the dispatch page, the administrator can see where his employees are and send them to the next destination. Employees on the map are indicated by blue dots. In order to create an account for a new employee, you need to make just a few mouse clicks. Creating new jobs is also done in a few simple steps.
On the other hand, employees who are out of the office, using their phones, receive new tasks for work and send reports to the dispatcher on the tasks already completed. There is also the possibility of marking, with which the employee can confirm that he arrived at the designated place. For example, it allows the employer to take away the time spent on the road to the place from the time it took to complete the work itself. The system also allows administrators to specify certain data that employees must collect while they are working outside the office (for example, customer contact information). All these functions, according to Chu, will allow administrators to establish a full-fledged workflow for their employees working outside the office.
Considering the consequences of the leakage of private data from a service like this, Google has built the “invisibility” option for users, as well as a system that automatically, at the end of the work shift, logs off employees. Also, the first time before using the application, users must give their consent to track their movements.
Google provides a service priced at $ 15 for 1 user per month, it will be valid until September 1, 2012. After September 1, the price may rise, but officially Google has not yet reported anything about it. Now the service is available worldwide and, unlike the usual practice of Google, it will not be tested in the beta version.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/146348/
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