BT offers wide ranging white label LBS — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Tracking people, offering services} BT offers wide ranging white label LBS

16 Oct 2005 at 09:09 GMT Timo Poropudas

BT announced the availability of Location Based Services (LBS) for mobile users last Thursday. The service will help families to track their children or elderly relatives. It will also allow mobile users to receive a wide range of information services from avoiding traffic jams to locating their nearest ATM cash machine.

BT will be offering LBS as a wholesale service to its mobile operator and Internet service provider (ISP) customers.

Following a distribution agreement with LBS technology provider Mapflow, BT will offer the service to mobile operators and ISPs to fully brand as their own product for mobile and broadband customers.

The white label service offering will allow operators and ISPs to provide their customers with a menu of options to pick and choose the location-based information services which will assist them in their everyday lives. For example, commuters who waste valuable time stuck in tailbacks on the M25 could select traffic warning services to avoid congestion and request a map of alternative routes, delivered direct to their mobile device.

Mobile users with a GPS-enabled mobile phone or PDA will also be able to request the location and routing details of their nearest local amenity, such as a supermarket or petrol station.

Emergency calls and tracking

The tracking capabilities of the service can also provide families with peace of mind that their children arrived safely at school, or reassurance that a dependant relative remains safe and well at home. Users are provided with a combined ID card holder and mobile communicator, allowing an individual to instantly call for assistance should they feel threatened.

The device allows the user to discreetly issue an alarm in the form of a text message or phone call should they feel in distress. Family members or teachers are then able to take immediate action, such as calling the emergency services.

In setting up a voice call to a monitoring centre, the service also allows for conversations to be recorded and later used as evidence in court. Alerts can also be automatically triggered if an individual fails to arrive at their expected time and destination, for example a hospital appointment or after-school club.

Andy Tipping, general manager, BT Contact venture, BT Wholesale said: “Location-based information services, combined with the ability to monitor the movements of vulnerable individuals, will prove an attractive proposition for consumers of mobile and broadband services.”

BT’s relationship with LBS technology provider Mapflow combines Mapflow’s proven expertise in tracking, location and mapping solutions with BT’s rich heritage in delivering voice and data communications services.