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Marcus Webb (Staff)

We are thrilled to announce the general availability of Real-Time Technician Location Tracking in FieldPulse 3.2. This powerful new capability gives dispatchers and operations managers unprecedented visibility into where their field teams are at any moment—enabling smarter routing decisions, more accurate customer communications, and improved operational efficiency.

What This Delivers

Real-Time Technician Location Tracking transforms how you manage your mobile workforce. No more wondering if a technician is running late or has already left a job site. The data you need is now at your fingertips, updated continuously throughout the workday.

Key Capabilities

  • Live Map View: See all active technicians plotted on a dynamic map with position updates every 30 seconds when the mobile app is foregrounded, and every 2 minutes in background mode.
  • ETA Calculation: Automatic estimated arrival times based on current location, traffic conditions, and remaining route distance.
  • Location History: Review breadcrumb trails for any technician over configurable time windows—useful for verifying service calls and resolving billing disputes.
  • Geofenced Alerts: Receive notifications when technicians arrive at or depart from job sites, without requiring manual check-ins.
  • Customer-Facing ETAs: Optionally share live ETA updates with customers via SMS, reducing inbound status calls by up to 40% in our beta testing.

Privacy and Compliance at the Core

We recognize that location tracking raises important questions about employee privacy. This feature was built with compliance and transparency as foundational principles:

  • Tracking is opt-in per technician and can be toggled off during breaks, lunches, and after hours
  • All location data is encrypted in transit and at rest, with automatic purging after 90 days
  • Comprehensive audit logs track who accessed location data and when
  • Fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and applicable state-level employee monitoring regulations

Administrators must configure Tracking Consent Policies in Company Settings before activating this feature. Technicians receive clear in-app notifications about when tracking is active and can view their own location history.

Setup Requirements

Getting started is straightforward:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Features > Location Tracking and enable the capability
  2. Configure your consent policy and data retention settings
  3. Update the FieldPulse mobile app to version 3.2.1 or newer on technician devices
  4. Technicians grant location permissions on first launch—background location access is required for continuous tracking

Note that technicians using Offline Mode will have location data buffered locally and synced when connectivity returns. Real-time visibility requires cellular or Wi-Fi connection.

What's Next

This release represents the foundation for our broader Intelligent Dispatch initiative. In early 2026, we will layer predictive ETAs, automated delay notifications, and dynamic re-routing suggestions on top of this location infrastructure. Your feedback on this release will directly shape those enhancements.

Detailed configuration guidance is available in our workaround documentation for teams with specific privacy requirements or complex organizational structures.

We are excited to see how your teams leverage this new visibility to deliver seamless, responsive service to your customers.

  • Art, thank you for the direct feedback. Battery impact was a primary concern throughout development. Our telemetry from the 3-month beta shows approximately 15-20% additional battery consumption over a standard 8-hour shift on devices manufactured 2019 or newer. Older hardware does see higher impact—closer to 30%—which is why we offer the configurable update intervals and a "Power Saver" mode that reduces polling to 5-minute intervals.

    Technicians receive battery alerts at 20% remaining, with the option to pause tracking until charged. We will continue refining power efficiency in subsequent releases.

  • In my experience, continuous GPS polling drains battery fast. 30-second updates seem aggressive for field work. Have you tested full-day usage on older Android devices?

  • Hi Deja! We want to make sure you are set up for success with this new capability. Yes, you can absolutely configure different tracking policies by technician group—head to Settings > Teams > Location Policies and you will see the option to create custom profiles. For your inspectors, you can enable geofenced arrival/departure only without continuous tracking.

    Regarding exports, location history can be downloaded as CSV from the Reports section. We recommend connecting with your Customer Success Manager if you need automated recurring exports for billing integration—we have some options there that might save your team time.

    Feel free to reach out directly if you would like to walk through the configuration together. We are here to help!

  • Thanks so much for this announcement! This is going to be huge for our dispatch team but I do have a few questions. First, can we set different tracking policies for different technician groups? Like our HVAC techs need full tracking but our inspectors only need check-in/check-out? And second, is there any way to export location history for payroll or billing purposes? We have some clients who want proof of site visits. Really appreciate any guidance here!