GPS Accuracy

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GPS Accuracy

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Most smart phones have a Global Positioning System(GPS)sensor and TelMe uses this to confirm your position when booking on or off duty and also when making a check call.

Your employer may have also set a geo-fence perimeter around your assignment work location and you must be within this area to make the calls.

 

Not all GPS sensors perform as well as others, and issues such as weak signal or a complete dropout could result in your call being rejected.

 

If you want to improve the GPS signal on an Android smartphone, here are some tips that may help.

Remember that Android looks slightly different from phone to phone, so some of the steps may be slightly different on your device.

 

If problems persist you will need to contact the support services for your specific device.

 

Tip 1: Check your location

 

To work properly, GPS needs a clear view of the sky, so you’ll need to be outside for satellites to communicate with your GPS properly.

If you’re using Google Maps you can tell how strong the signal is by seeing how well the app is able to pinpoint your location.

If Google Maps isn’t sure about where you are exactly, there will be a light blue circle around your blue ‘current location’ dot.

A completely grey dot means Google Maps is unable to find your current location, and is showing your last known location instead.

 

Tip 2: Activate high accuracy mode

 

GPS uses up a lot of battery power, and the more precise it is, the more battery it uses. Most smartphones keep the accuracy at a moderate level to avoid draining the device quicker.

Android smartphones let you activate GPS high accuracy mode, which gives more precise performance at the cost of battery usage.

To set your GPS to high accuracy mode, open the Settings by swiping down on your screen and clicking the cog icon.

Then find Location from the menu and ensure it is switched on.

From the options, select Mode and then chose High accuracy.

 

Tip 3: Use a compass app to recalibrate the GPS

 

You may need to recalibrate your GPS to make things work better. To do this, you’ll need to use a compass app – your smartphone may already have one, in which case open it. If not, you can easily download one for free on the Google Play Store.

Once the app has downloaded, open it and tap Compass.

Pick up your phone and rotate it vertically three times, while keeping the phone flat as shown below. Make sure you do so slowly.

Next, spin your phone around from front to back vertically three times.

And finally, flip your phone horizontally three times from front to back.

 

Tip 4: Make sure nothing is interfering with your phone

 

In order to use GPS your phone needs to be able to detect satellites, which it can’t do if a metallic object is blocking your GPS signal.