The Location Powered Enterprise
Part Three: Geographic Transaction Verification

In Part Two of our series on the Location Powered Enterprise we reviewed the uses of GPS to collect location information on assets in the field. In Part Three, we take things a step further to look at "geostamping" or the process of assigning GPS location information to specific activities and transactions.

The value of GPS begins to increase dramatically when it is integrated with business processes in the field to improve efficiency and accountability. Mobile computing has made it possible to automate the management and documentation of activities in the field. Workers routinely use mobile computing systems that manage their activities and allow them to keep records digitally, rather than on paper. GPS allows these transactions and activities to be validated in both time and space. In the location powered enterprise, it is possible to confirm that activities happened both where and when they were supposed to, providing a new level of confidence that work is being conducted properly in the field.

An example of geostamping, or how GPS can be used to record that something happened at a given time and place, involves a telecommunication services provider. As most of us know from personal experience, when the service technician shows up for a scheduled call can often be a bone of contention. But what is less well known is that it is nearly as likely for the customer not to be on site at the time of the call as the technician. The inability to complete an installation or service call costs the service provider in terms of wasted time, fuel and decreased productivity. To address this problem the service provider added GPS to their handheld computer-based mobile work order management system. This allowed a time and location to be attached to every call. This eliminated the “he said – she said” dilemma of technicians and customers each claiming to have been at the customer’s house at the appointed time. This innovation improved overall customer service and reduced customer complaints as the company could now prove when and where technicians were in relation to each call.

Location information can also be attached to transactions such as deliveries or the issuance of an invoice to provide more effective verification of those transactions. This goes beyond the traditional concept of “proof of delivery” by adding a tangible “where” to the transaction.

Another area where geostamping can add considerable value is inspections. GPS-based validation of inspection location adds a new level of accountability for inspectors. Now, it can be known with certainty that an inspection was actually conducted where it was intended to be. While this may seem trivial to some, it is very significant in that it can virtually eliminate falsified inspection reports. This, in turn, greatly increases the confidence in inspection data collected in the field. While less colorful than the telecom example above, geographic validation of inspections offers a powerful tool for increasing inspection quality and, thus, overall efficiency and safety.

Geostamping adds a new level of verification to activities and transactions, but it's only the beginning. New technologies for biometric validation of signatures and fingerprints promise to augment geostamping to allow the location powered enterprise to know both the who and where of all activities in the field.

Attaching a location dimension to transactions provides a means to increase the validity of data interactions in the field, but it is not a stand-alone process in the location powered enterprise. Next month we will continue our examination of how location can be integrated into business processes by looking at vehicle and worker travel history tracking, or “Breadcrumbing.”

In the meantime, I wish you the happiest of holidays and a prosperous New Year.

Mike Forbes
LinksPoint, Vice President
Marketing & Product Development