Re: [Paddlewise] SPOT anxiety

On Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 2:24 AM, Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com> wrote:

>
>
> Unless the SPOT manufacturer/provider fixes the flaw, I think it is mainly
> useful as a convenient way of tracking someone.  Certainly good for that, as
> Jackie describes, but it is being marketed as a good way to ensure help is
> summoned if you _fail_ to report in.


I just spent some time looking over the SPOT webpage (www.findmespot.com)
and I can't see that this is the way SPOT is marketed. That is, the
manufacturer is not saying that if you don't receive a SPOT checkin then you
should call for help. I think that this is a conclusion that the users,
themselves, are jumping to.

SPOT offers four modes:

1. Track my progress. Every so often SPOT automatically sends an email to
the account the user selects saying that the user is ok and giving a
position in lat/lon. This function must be re-initiated every 24 hours!!!
And it costs extra. I imagine it could get annoying, too. Imagine getting
one every ten minutes or so. Ack!

2. Check in. An email is sent to the user's account each time he/she presses
the "OK" button. This is an unlimited service that comes with the yearly
account the user signs up for.

3. Call for help. This is not an emergency function. It's for problems like
running out of gas or getting a flat tire. Once activated the SPOT device
acquires its position and sends an SMS message to your contacts for an hour
unless cancelled.

4. Emergency. This is the 911 emergency function. Once the call for help
function is activated the SPOT device will send acquire a position in
lat/lon and send that to the "GEOS emergency response center" every five
minutes unless cancelled.. The personnel there will then forward the
information to the appropriate SAR organizations.

Nothing in the marketing verbage suggests that a user's contacts should
panic if they *don't* receive an "I'm OK" email.

>
> Just to be clear:  the flaw is the apparent lack of a confirmation from the
> satellite _to_the_user_ that a SPOT transmission has been received and
> relayed on.


Yup. Exactly. This is a user education problem. But it's a problem that
might actually reduce the effectiveness of the SPOT unit if SAR
organizations act on reports from the contacts that they "haven't heard from
Billy for two days".

>
> Is this a difficult problem to solve?
>

Oh ya... this is very difficult to solve. Because the people calling the
USCG aren't in the "GEOS emergency response center"; it's Aunt Millicent and
Uncle Henry and all they know is the Billy may not have explained all the
functions of the device well; all he told them that he'd be sending them a
message every day. The message says, "Billy's OK" and the implicit
information Aunt Millicent gets from this is that if Billy does not send a
message saying he's "ok" then he's NOT "ok". Because she loves Billy and
worries about him all the time. She's seen on TV what can happen to kayakers
out there in the wild and she knows he's in constant danger. It's been two
days. There is no time to waste!!!

Maybe the "Billy is OK" email should include a rider that says: "You only
get this email if I remember to press the button on the SPOT unit and its
batteries are charged and it can see the satellite. Don't worry if you don't
get one."

Even that will probably not completely fix the problem because some Aunties
just cannot help themselves. :)


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
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