Using YourLo.ca/tion for SAR

A quick tutorial on how to use YourLo.ca/tion to assist a SAR team (or any first responder) to help you locate a missing person.

Features

Free:

• Multiple messaging platforms: Email, SMS, online
• Request and response logging
• push technology for instant alerting
• Location tracking via KML (Google Earth), GPX (GIS import) and others
• Social Media tracking

Paid:

YourLo.ca/tion is happy to offer our new E911-like service. These features offer dispatch centres, SAR teams and other first responders the ability to receive and respond to requests for assistance via SMS.

• send and receive SMS messages online from desktop
• central, agency-owned number as primary contact and communication channel
• logging of all SMS interactions

Terms:

• Request: a request for a location.
• Subject: the missing or lost person you wish to locate.
• Requester: the person or agency making the request.

Primary SAR Process:

1. Requester: Go to YourLo.ca/tion and hit Request

2. 

   Requester: fill in the form:

   • Agency/User Name: this is the name the Subject will see
   • Your Email Address: a log of the request and the responses from the Subject will be emailed to you.
     Make sure this is correct!
   • Unique ID for  request: this is for Requesters that track tasks by an identifier. Optional.
   • Recipient phone #: This is the Subject’s phone number.
   • Message to recipient: This is the message that will be sent to the Subject.
3. Requester: hit the Submit button
   • Preview of message to be sent to the Subject, and methods for delivery are shown.
   • Requester receives an email with a tracking URL.
4. Requester: send message to Subject
   • Android: should be able activate SMS message capability on your phone
   • iPhone: some phones you can click the link, most phones will need to copy and paste the me
   • Desktop/iPad/Tablet: use the Email option, or check the paid service option below.
5. Requester: click on tracking link
6. Subject: receives SMS message & clicks on link
7. Subject: loads tracking page
8. Requester:
   • sees Subject’s location on tracking page
   • hears audible alert on tracking page (desktop only)
   • receives email with Subject’s location

Possible issues:

• Subject out of range, cannot receive SMS
• Subject has no data connection, cannot load tracking link
• Subject’s phone has security settings that prevent use of GPS
• Requester does not enter email address properly.

Dispatch Workflow

The workflow for dispatchers is similar to that for SAR users except it requires the paid service. This gives the agency a dedicated number, and they can send and receive SMS messages through the YourLo.ca/tion tracking console.

At step 4 above, the workflow becomes

1. Requester: Send message to Subject via console
2. Requester: Track Subject
3. Requester: Interact with subject via console
   • SMS sent & received via web

Feedback:

As always, I want to hear feedback on the service and how it is working for you. To activate the paid service and for pricing, contact me directly.