Quote:Out of bounds: Pinpointing workers by their mobile phones
August 14, 2002 Posted: 8:17 AM EDT (1217 GMT)



Companies are paying on average $20 dollars per month to keep tabs on each of their employees


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From Andrew Brown
CNN Correspondent

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- The movie "Enemy of the State" featured high tech bugs, small enough to fit into the sole of a shoe.

But in the real world you may not need such sophisticated devices to pin down a target -- at least not if they're carrying a mobile phone.

If Watson's Water want to know where employee Thomas Chui is, they contact his mobile phone. It is no problem if he doesn't pick up, as Chui's phone is linked to a computer that tracks his movements.

As he roams around Hong Kong, dispatchers from his company can see his position on a map. The information is delivered in real time and while not as accurate as the GPS tracking technology, it is accurate within 200 meters.

That's not a precise fix -- but it can be delivered without the use of expensive satellite technology.

"Previous technologies have tried to address these issues but unfortunately have tended to rely on hardware driven solutions. And that has proven to be an expensive proposition," says Michael Tang from the Pinpoint Company.

The Pinpoint Company has developed a tracking service for the Hong Kong market.

Regular GSM mobile phones are used and subscribers are also able to receive text messages from their employer.

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CNN's Andrew Brown looks at a software company that has created a tracking service linked to mobile phones that show users' movements.


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The service has been adopted by -- among others -- Watson's Water which has hundreds of workers out in the field delivering supplies and fixing water coolers -- that's what Thomas Chui does.

Companies are paying on average $20 dollars per month to keep tabs on each of their employees. Firms use the tracking system to improve efficiency.

"It typically ranges anywhere between 10 to 15 per cent increase in productivity. That is a tangible saving which you can measure by how many additional jobs the field workers are doing each month," says Tang.

Intrusive
Some analysts point out these systems can be intrusive since employees are always carrying a mobile.

"As an employee there's frankly not much you can do about it if your boss wants to know where you are," comments Duncan Clark, managing director at BDA China, a technology consulting and research firm.

"You could in the past say you were at the office when in fact you were at the bar -- in fact there are some bars called the office where you could actually tell your boss or your spouse truthfully that you're still in the office."

"All of our services are very developed in that we must protect the privacy of the user," says Tang.

It's too early to say where this technology is heading.

But in Hong Kong the impact could be far reaching.