GPS tracker for business

[pneumothorax]

Hi all. I am starting a new venture, it's a Doctor visiting service and the aim is to have the clinician live tracked, so patients can see when he is available to consult and exactly where he is, so would need a link to my website and when available an icon would be seen. Any ideas on a simple solution? I would be grateful for any advice. Thanks.

[randlemarcus]

There are no simple solutions. If you do it that way, the clients will be narked that he is five minutes away but not available for 55 minutes because he needs a sandwich and they are much more important, and the doctor will feel oppressed (not so bothered about that with locum rates )

Suggest you look into a slightly more complex system where the DocPhone reports a precise location to the web application, the web application knows his forward schedule (so you arent booking a 30 minute slot when he has a future appointment an hour away in an hour), and gives the client a rough location and availability slots.

Best bet might be to draw up your requirements constraints and have a good idea about how much you want to spend, and then go and talk to a developer. Please dont expect miracles from either teenagers, or undirected offshore resources

[rpguk]

There are loads of little tracking modules which take GPS coordinates and upload them via a mobile signal for plotting on a google maps widget you can embed on your page. Should cost <£100.

However I'm not sure what you mean about showing when they are available. That would come down to a calendar system surely?

Also you might want to consider the privacy issues of showing where the Dr is if they are visiting other patients or if they are travelling around in a car that may contain prescription pads/drugs.

[pneumothorax]

Thanks! The idea is to cover initially a small area around Chelsea and the initial contact/triage will be with myself (ie you speak directly to the Dr) from there, I will briefly check the medical history and be able to agree a mutually agreeable time for definitive assessment (home visit)so there is in effect, no true appointment system. I think having an icon active when I am not with or en route to patients, cuts down on patients calling when I am not free, and deals with privacy/security concerns. If any one is interested, this is what we have come up with so far.
http://shikha.wcukdev.co.uk/development/dev05/gpvi...

[Mandat]

You'll probably get plenty of feedback on the look/feel of your website from the website designers on here, but the first thing that struck me when looking at your home page is that your phone number is wrong.

[pneumothorax]

Yep, still a work in progress. Needs tweaking.

[MrSparks]

I have a person tracking system which does this on a monthly basis, email me if you want more info, we're about a month away from launch.

It might be better to track the vehicle? but then you don't really want everyone to know where you live either.. problem with both solutions so just bear that in mind.

[jammy_basturd]

How do you know customers want to live track a doctor?!

[randlemarcus]

Looking at the services and from your second post, you would probably be a lot better dropping the idea of a simple "where's Wally" map overlay, and go for a simpler to understand, and less prone to malicious use "how quickly can I get there", based on current location, current job finish estimate plus travel time. More useful to hypochondriacs who will want to know when they can invite you in, and simpler for Luddites to understand.

[pneumothorax]

Marcus. That's really useful feedback. thank you all.