Using device tracking

Device tracking gives administrators and supervisors the ability to track the location of a technician's mobile device when they are out on a job, Using device tracking provides quicker response times to requests, increases safety precautions, reduces liability, boosts day-to-day efficiency, and helps plan for future work.

Before you begin

The availability, accuracy, and frequency of device tracking data depends entirely on the configuration and usage of Maximo® Mobile applications. The capture interval for GPS location points is controlled by the location refresh configuration that is defined in the application.

Location points are captured only while the Maximo Mobile application is running in the foreground of the technician’s device and while the device is operating in online mode.

If the user sends the Maximo Mobile application in the background, or if work is conducted in offline mode, then GPS location points are not collected. As a result, device tracking data can be incomplete or inaccurate.

Procedure

  1. Configure device tracking on the server.
    1. Open the System Properties application from the server.
    2. Search for the maximo.mobile.locationsharing.enabled property.
    3. Set the maximo.mobile.locationsharing.enabled property to 1 to enable location sharing on mobile devices.
    4. Open the Labor application from the server.
    5. From the Labor tab, set the Location Refresh (in seconds) field to the number of seconds to wait to refresh the GPS location on a mobile device.
  2. Use device tracking on the server to track a technician.
    1. Open the Device Tracking application that is located under the Planning and Scheduling application group.
    2. Select Breadcrumbs to view the location data as it relates to resolving a work order.
      Optionally, selecting Latest known location provides the latest location that is recorded for the technician's device selected.
    3. Select filter values to determine what is displayed on the map.
      Date and time
      Filter on a single date or date range for a specified time interval or all day.
      Work Order & location
      Search for a specific work order, asset, or location. If you specify a work order, assets and locations can be automatically populated. Click a work order map pin to locate technicians that are assigned to it.
      Technicians
      Filter on individual technician devices.
    4. The map displays the work order, the starting point of the technician's device, the path taken to the work order, and the end point.
      Location record data is displayed in the timeline window for each GPS point.