geo fence

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jimnz
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2014 3:38 am

geo fence

Post by jimnz »

hey,

im interested in geo fences. i cant find any info on this.

heres the map of the area i utilise. the green parts are the spots i wish to fence and be notified via sms.

if i lease 3 geo points, can these be marked in different shapes ( circle. polygon shapes)? different areas?
i will need the same spots on the 4 scooters i run. do i need to lease the geo's for each.

thanks

Image
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3130
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:36 pm

Re: geo fence

Post by admin »

The geo-fence feature is very new and so far quite simple (but very reliable). For your case I see a few problems:
1.) One geo-fence can only track one user.
2.) For one geo-fence you can specify only one shape. The only supported shape is "circle".

So the biggest problem is that you cannot select a region as displayed in your screenshot. But if you want to give it a try I can grant you permission to test one geofence 24 hours for free (without SMS support).

I don't rule out that I will make this feature more powerful (more shapes, maybe more users) in the future, it depends how many users are interested to purchase this feature.
whichone
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2015 4:04 am

Re: geo fence

Post by whichone »

First, I am very happy so far with the feature set!

A few things confuse me, but I will get back on those later.

Geo Fencing:

1) When selecting the GEO Fence circle, sometimes the area changes after I go back into maps and view the fence. This is the fence for notifications that I am talking about.

2) Perhaps it has something to do with the accuracy?

Should I create the fence with the setting "Excellent" and then switch the setting to sufficient?

I just want to make sure that when change the accuracy setting that the fence area stays where it should be.

Thanks
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3130
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:36 pm

Re: geo fence

Post by admin »

Hi,
Thanks, Geo-Fencing is the newest featrue, so I'm happy if people like it.

I'm afraid I don't understand what your problem is. You mean the map in the geo-fence configuration window, right? The circle there only changes when you click the map. If you long-click the map, the circle will be re-centered (moved) to the clicked point. If the behaviour is different on your map, is there any way you can show me (screenshot or small video)?

The accuracy won't have any impact on the circle here, because it is not related to the circle but to the locations sent by your phone. Example: Every time your phone sends a new location it also sends the estimated location accuracy. Sometimes it might happen (especially if GPS reception is poor), that the phone reports a location with poor accuracy, and the location might be wrong. If this wrong location is located within the configured geo-fence, the system will send a notification to you. But it is a wrong alert because the location is wrong. Now, if you configure the required "accuracy" of the sent locations to be "sufficient" or better, it means the system will ignore all locations having poor or very poor accuracy. So it would not send the wrong alert. Nevertheless, I recommend to set accuracy requirements not too high, otherwise you might miss some notifications. The system maybe would ignore all locations (if they all miss your accuracy filter criterias).

I guess I have explained very complicated. Any chance that you understand what I mean? :-)
whichone
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2015 4:04 am

Re: geo fence

Post by whichone »

The circle (fence) seems to have changed size and position after I went back to edit the fence.

Perhaps I accidentally clicked the map and didn't notice. But it seems to have resized and moved the circle from where it was.

I'll try again and see how it goes.
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3130
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:36 pm

Re: geo fence

Post by admin »

This definitely should not happen. If you can reproduce it I will fix it asap.
whichone
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2015 4:04 am

Re: geo fence

Post by whichone »

Not realy related, but I would like to see a lower price for the number of fences (yearly) feature.

While skiing today, my wife and I discovered that it would be really great to create fences on the ski hill for the main lodges and zones (alpine / backcountry / certain lifts). This would keep her/and me notified as to where we are when we want to meet up. Then, also for my biking and some other trips.

But it would mean that we need 10 fences minimum! And the price for Fences (10 per year) plus track loading ($49 Euros) plus texting and email (more).

In all it would be getting quite expensive. I would like to see the Track Loading feature come with 100 fences! I think a lot more fences could be made useful than 5 or 6 for the same price.

And lastly, it would be really nice to make a Fence using a combination of circles or even a free-draw shape. I have a mountain area nearby and a circle does not represent the border of the region very well. A complex shape or free-draw zone would be great to keep my loved ones notified when I am on/off the mountain.

Just a few ideas :)
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3130
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:36 pm

Re: geo fence

Post by admin »

Hi,
geo-fencing was designed as special feature for business users and prices are not as cheap as other features. But luckily we are still in a experimental state so I could imagine to offer additional packages (and also to offer some discounts for larger packages). Personally I think, 100 fences is a bit high, but 10 would be possible.

Concerning shapes: I also thought about implementing free drawing or multiple circles, but decided to skip it for now because development effort is much higher and server load also could increase. But it might be implemented in the future (especially if many users will use geo-fencing in future and would like to see such a new feature).
whichone
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2015 4:04 am

Re: geo fence

Post by whichone »

100 is too high. Lol.

But 10 to 20 makes for very reasonable use. For example, my wife travels to places alone and the I will know when she arrives/leaves by text message or email.

But we also hike around the various back country and like to know when we have set out and come back. As well, nice to know when we have reached certain trail heads.

I have 6 fences, my wife likes that she can track when I reach trails on the mountains nearby. As well as when I leave and come back into our home area.

It's nice to have hot coffee waiting when I get home!

So, I need a max of 20/30 fences. That way if I don't report in, she can know what ski area, or trail area to send search and rescue to.

And a circle works well for a gate or trail head, but it does not work so well for a complex area like a big dog walk park.

Just looking at what other apps cost, I have:

* Endomondo (sports tracking)
* Strava (sports tracking)
* Backcountry Navigator Pro (mapping and tracking)
* Google tacks (track recording only)

But none of them offer fences. None of them offer anything that notifies loved ones what I am doing on a more detailed level (by text or email).

As for fence complex shapes, there has got to be a good free Java API that can translate that against a GPS coordinates.

And that's why I mentioned price too. Because next year, someone will offer the same app feature for less $$$.

To get the full functionality I would need to spend $50 per year in this app. That's too much considering that I already spend on all those other apps listed above.

In other words, for $50 a year. I want no limits accept perhaps a certain number of text messages because they have a per text fee. Then you get my $50 this year, but also next year and the year after.

The only thing that this app does that the other apps do not do: (1) live tracking notifications. (2) auto notifications, fences.

I found this app because Endomondo failed so miserably at posting to my Facebook Wall when I was out on an adventure. But since Fences allows email, and she Facebook provides an email to post to my wall, I can now automatically notify friends when I am entering and leaving a back country area. Now. It would be nice to add a short custom message like what phone number to call if I do not report back in a certain number of hours. Or even a tracking link for anyone who wants to follow me on my adventure ... :)

Just some thoughts for your consideration.
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3130
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:36 pm

Re: geo fence

Post by admin »

Not sure if geo-fencing will be as cheap as you wish, because it is a buisness feature, but I promise to think about adding some attractive packages. But first I will wait a few weeks because I want to understand the user requirements better. So far most of the users do not use more than 3 fences, and I think you could also save many fences if you configured only fences you need for your upcoming activies. I understand that you don't want to delete fences not necessary at the moment and configuring them again three weeks later. But on the other hand, I don't want users to add fences if it is clear that they are not touched because it is an unnessary effort for the server (on every location update the server must check all geofences). So I set the limit quite low. But as I said I will re-evaluate in a few weeks.
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