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      GPS Tracking Using the Beacon Mobile App

      AngelTrack has a small mobile app called Beacon that you can install on your company-owned devices to get constant position updates.

      What is Beacon?

      The AngelTrack Beacon app is a mobile app for Android and iOS devices that provides 24/7 GPS location updates to your cloud server. It runs continuously in the background, providing constant location information.

      Unlike normal AngelTrack, the Beacon app reports its position even when the web browser is closed, and even when the device is locked.

      Once installed in any company-owned or personal device, the app reports its GPS position every few minutes. The position appears on various dispatch maps and grids, giving your dispatchers some assistance in locating the nearest available crews.

      To learn more about the general topic of GPS tracking of employees and vehicles, please visit the GPS Tracking Guide.  To see a list of frequently asked questions about the Beacon app, please refer to the Beacon FAQ.

      This Feature is Deprecated, but Don't Worry

      Warning.mediumIn 2025 we faced the cost and hassle of rewriting the AngelTrack Beacon app to bring it up to to the current mobile operating system versions. We decided instead to apply that cost to building AVL integrations, which provide better, richer, more accurate vehicle data than the Beacon app does.

      You may continue using Beacon as long as your mobile devices are willing to run it. The APIs for it (in your AngelTrack server) will continue to work as long as anyone is using them, and we wish you success, but we no longer provide technical support for Beacon.

      In lieu of Beacon, we invite you to consider the low-cost, quick-install AVL solutions. Some AVL services have OBDII-dongle devices that take less than one minute to install per vehicle, using a little dongle that plugs in to the vehicle's diagnostic connector below the steering wheel.

      Dongle.260x210

      These services include detailed tracking for less than $15 per vehicle per month. You can check the AngelTrack knowledgebase to see which AVLs AngelTrack has already integrated with, or plans to.

      If you choose an AVL that has an AngelTrack integration, then AngelTrack can pull vehicle data straight from the AVL service, including geolocation, fuel level, odometer readings, and perhaps additional telematics data in the future.

      Installing the Beacon App

      The Android version of the Beacon app is available in the Google Play store, as a free download.

      The Apple iOS version of the Beacon app is available in the iTunes Store, as a free download.

      There is no charge to download and use the Beacon app on as many devices as you wish. It is provided as part of your AngelTrack license.

      Issuing Tokens

      The Beacon app must be configured with a token, which it then uploads to your cloud server in order to identify itself as a particular vehicle or employee.

      You can issue a token to a vehicle or to an employee, depending on which one the device is assigned to. Some EMS companies assign their tablets to specific vehicles, regardless of who is onboard; these companies will use vehicle tokens. Other EMS companies issue tablets to specific employees, or allow their employees to use their personal devices; these companies will use employee tokens.

      The Employee Edit and Vehicle Edit pages both offer to generate the respective tokens. Employees can also use their Employee Self-Edit page to issue or update their own tokens.

      Tokens are simply ID numbers, which look like this: Vxxxxxxxx for a vehicle (for example V12345678), Exxxxxxxx for an employee (for example E01234567).

      Vehicle Tokens Versus Employee Tokens

      In AngelTrack, only employees have GPS positions. When a location ping is received from a vehicle token, it is used to plot the positions of all employees assigned to (i.e. on shift in) that vehicle.

      You can mix employee tokens and vehicle tokens as you see fit. Perhaps you issue tablets to vehicles, but also have employees who use a personal device in the line of duty. All of them can run the Beacon app at the same time, using both vehicle tokens and employee tokens. AngelTrack will do its best to make sense of all the arriving position reports.

      Testing a Token

      Once you've issued a token for a device, and input the token into the Beacon app on that device, switch on the Beacon app. Then visit your AngelTrack server from any web browser, go to Supervisor Home and select Crew GPS Beacon Status. The report will show all of your issued tokens and indicate how recently each one has pinged.

      After verifying that Beacon is configured and working correctly, leave the app running in the background. It offers no other user interaction and will not display any popups or other disturbances.

      Checking the Status of All Your Beacons

      Under Supervisor Home you can access the GPS Beacon Status report, which displays status information for all Beacon tokens -- both employees and vehicles. The report can help you identify which mobile devices have misconfigured or malfunctioning Beacon apps.

      Troubleshooting on iOS

      For the iOS version of Beacon, verify each of the following items:

      1. Is the token typed correctly?
      2. If the token is a vehicle token, is the relevant vehicle on shift? Vehicle tokens do not appear on AngelTrack's live maps if the vehicles are not on shift... though you can still see their pings in the Crew GPS Beacon Status report.
      3. Is there another device accidentally configured with the same token?
      4. Is the device a very old iOS device? Beacon requires at least iOS version 9.
      5. Do you have the latest version of the Beacon app installed? Check the App Store to see if an update is available.
      6. Under the Settings | General | Background App Refresh menu, is Background App Refresh set to "On" systemwide?
      7. Under the Settings | General | Background App Refresh menu, is Background App Refresh enabled specifically for Beacon?
      8. Under the Settings | Privacy | Location Services menu, is Location Services set to "On" systemwide?
      9. Under the Settings | Privacy | Location Services menu, is Beacon set to "Always"?
      10. Under the Settings | Cellular menu, is Cellular Data enabled systemwide?
      11. Under the Settings | Cellular menu, in the App list, is Cellular Data enabled specifically for the Beacon app?
      12. Is the employee intentionally turning the Beacon off from time to time? Are you sure?

      If you verify all of those items but still have problems, then please send in a diagnostic log from the affected device. Simply follow these steps:

      1. Retrieve the affected device, and bring the Beacon app to the foreground.
      2. Double-tap somewhere on the Beacon's app screen. The "Send Email" dialog will open.
      3. The email will already be addressed to AngelTrack Support. Compose a SUBJECT line with your contact information and a few words about the problem.
      4. Send the email, and verify it was transmitted. The diagnostic log may be large, so it may take a few minutes for the transmission to complete.

      Troubleshooting on Android

      For the Android version of Beacon, verify each of the following items:

      1. Is the token typed correctly?
      2. If the token is a vehicle token, is the relevant vehicle on shift? Vehicle tokens do not appear on AngelTrack's live maps if the vehicles are not on shift... though you can still see their pings in the Crew GPS Beacon Status report.
      3. Is there another device accidentally configured with the same token?
      4. Is the device a very old Android device? Beacon may not work right on Android versions prior to 10.
      5. Do you have the latest version of the Beacon app installed? Check the Play Store to see if an update is available.
      6. Under the Settings | Privacy | Location menu, is Location set to "On" systemwide?
      7. Under the Settings | Privacy | Location | App Permissions menu, is the "AT GPS" app set to "ALLOWED ALL THE TIME"?
      8. Under the Settings | Connections | Data usage menu, is Mobile Data enabled systemwide?
      9. Under the Settings | Connections | Data usage | Mobile data usage | AT GPS menu, is "Allow background data usage" enabled?
      10. Is the employee intentionally turning the Beacon off from time to time? Are you sure?

      Beacon is Not Needed for Other AngelTrack Functionality

      Beacon will report constant GPS positions for the device, but it doesn't do anything else. The use of Beacon is entirely optional.

      All other AngelTrack features and functions are accessed through the web browser in the usual way.

      Beacon Pings Versus Progress-Button Pushes

      The Beacon app cannot mark a crew "enroute", "on-scene", or "at destination", as such marks must have exact times. Such exact times cannot be gleaned from the Beacon app for these reasons:

      • The crew could accidentally leave their Beacon-equipped device at the station.
      • The crew could accidentally take the wrong Beacon-equipped device (i.e. a device assigned to a different vehicle or crew) with them.
      • A crew member can be logged-in on multiple devices in addition to a Beacon-equipped device, and thus be sending conflicting positions to AngelTrack.
      • GPS positions can be wildly inaccurate, if a device has a poor view of the sky, or if a device lacks a true GPS receiver and so is approximating its position using cellular triangulation. (It is not possible for AngelTrack to ask a device whether it has a real GPS receiver.)

      It is so difficult to untangle that data that there is no practical way for AngelTrack to use the data to say, "this crew definitely just arrived on-scene". Therefore AngelTrack requires an affirmative button-push from a crew member in order to mark them enroute, on-scene, or at-destination.

      Frequently Asked Questions

      To see a list of frequently asked questions about the Beacon app, please refer to the Beacon FAQ.

      Security Implications

      The Beacon app does not require a username or password; only the token is required.

      A hostile party cannot guess your vehicles' and employees' tokens because your AngelTrack cloud server does not provide a way to check whether a token is valid. Anyone can upload a position report using any token they wish... but only valid tokens will appear on your dispatchers' maps. Position reports sent in from invalid tokens are simply ignored.

      If an employee resigns or if a token is otherwise compromised, simply issue a new one for that vehicle or employee. The old token becomes invalid, and therefore your AngelTrack cloud server will ignore any position reports made using the old token.

      In this manner you are spared the hassle of configuring usernames and passwords when installing the Beacon app.

      Unfortunately, this security feature means that the Beacon app on the mobile device cannot know whether its token is valid or invalid. If somebody mistypes it, the Beacon app will not display an error message; it will simply phone it home as usual. If you do not subsequently see a pin appear on the map, then check whether the token was mistyped.

      Credits

      The Beacon app for Android was developed under contract by Zayan Krige, Apex Technology SA. The app for iOS was redeveloped under contract by Syed Faran Ghani.