Category: WolMobile
4 minutes read time
Safety trends in the construction industry
In November of last year, our sales executive James attended Facilities Integrate in Auckland, New Zealand. He had some interesting conversations with facilities managers – see this blog here – but he also caught up with those attending Build NZ to hear about construction safety trends.
Construction safety trends
James, can you tell us a little more about the event?
Sure. Our stand was at Facilities Integrate, but we neighboured the Build NZ show. Build NZ is the leading trade event for the build, construction and design industries. Both Build NZ and Facilities Integrate provide a great opportunity to network with peers in the same industry, try out the latest equipment and technologies and source the best suppliers.
It was great to attend a non-virtual event and catch up with new and prospective customers in person! Especially after such a turbulent year.
Did you notice any construction safety trends?
There were a number of construction safety trends. First off, similar to the facilities managers I spoke to, there seems to be a real need for a flexible sign-in solution. I also had plenty of conversations around contractor management, and in particular, using software to strengthen safety processes.
Could you tell us a little more about your conversations on a flexible sign-in solution?
In the construction industry, one organization is likely to have a number of sites, all with different needs and requirements. Some sites might have great wifi, while others only have cell signal. Some could be outdoors and remote, while others are in high traffic areas. From my conversations at the event, customers need multiple ways to sign in across these locations. Sometimes, they even need multiple processes at one site.
How can WhosOnLocation help with that?
WhosOnLocation has 12 different ways to sign in – so there’s an option for every organization and every employee/contractor. From a smartphone app to a PC.
Which sign in methods are the most popular for construction sites?
Our WolMobile app was built with construction sites in mind and is great for outdoor sites. Both employees and contractors can download this app to easily sign in and out, and view important site safety information. Using geofencing technology, you can even set the app to automatically sign everyone in and out. So there’s no longer a need to track down those who forgot to sign out.
Alternatively, a kiosk that includes a scanner is also a popular choice. Our customers often issue employees and contractors with access cards that can be scanned at the kiosk for quick and easy sign in. With WhosOnlocation, anything with a barcode can be used for this – loyalty cards, driving licenses, etc, for quick and easy implementation.
You also mentioned software for safety came up a lot, can WolMobile help with that?
Absolutely. For remote or hazardous work, employees and contractors can enable geolocation services within the app. This helps responders to locate them in an emergency.
To make this feature even more powerful, we also offer an SOS alert function. This sends an instant alert to a designated safety contact within the organization. The alert includes contact details and the whereabouts of the individual who raised the alarm.
Customers can also broadcast safety updates via instant messages. They can even ask employees and contractors to acknowledge safety notices before they sign into a location.
You mentioned that contractor management was one of the key construction safety trends. Are there any other features besides WolMobile that can help with this?
One of the construction security trends is around keeping contractors safe. The WhosOnLocation application boasts a whole range of contractor features. The most notable is our service provider portal. This is a game-changer for many customers. It allows contractor organizations to upload and maintain their own documentation, cutting down on serious admin time.
Insurances, qualifications and inductions can all be uploaded to the portal. Customers can then enable alerts to remind them (and the contractor in question) if any of their documentation is expiring or up for renewal.
To make these features even more powerful, customers can also configure their account to deny site access to anyone with expired or incomplete documentation. An alert is then sent to the relevant person to notify that a contractor has attempted to enter a site without the correct insurances/qualifications/inductions.
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5 minutes read time
Is my employer spying on me?
As many of us work from home under some form of COVID-19 restrictions, you may have wondered “Is my employer spying on me?”.
Huge numbers of employees have been asked to download apps like Zoom and WolMobile. So it begs the question – can employers use this software to spy on us?
How do I know if my employer is spying on me?
You may have heard rumours of employers using software to keep track of productivity and the use of company equipment. Let’s take a look at some of the common beliefs around employee privacy to see if they’re true.
Employers have the right to carry out surveillance. True, sort of…
It’s true that some degree of employee surveillance is permitted – but this is usually only in the ways you would expect.
Generally speaking, an employer can monitor your activity at work so long as they have a valid business reason. This reason has to outweigh the employee’s right to privacy.
For example, an employer wouldn’t be able to place a camera in a locker room, but they could justifiably record a phone conversation between yourself and a customer.
My employer can read my emails. True.
Yes, an employer can access your business email and monitor the communication you send. However, this doesn’t mean your boss is scanning your emails every week. Or ever, for that matter.
As you might expect, an employer is likely to access your emails only when they have a valid reason to. For example, when looking for evidence in support of a complaint such as workplace harassment or other gross misconduct.
After all, business email is for business communications, so keep your private conversations to your personal accounts.
My employer can track my location at all times with WolMobile. Not true.
Customers often ask us if their employer can track their location at all times when using WolMobile to stay safe at work. In short, the answer is no.
WolMobile uses location services for two key features:
- Auto sign in/out – to automatically sign you in when you approach your workplace, and sign you out again as you leave.
- When using the follow me feature – This feature is designed to protect those working remotely and at risk if your work requires it. Imagine a utilities contractor travelling alone between remote wind farms to perform repair work. Their location might be tracked for safety reasons, to ensure help can be provided quickly and easily in the case of an emergency.
Although the WolMobile app has local access to your device’s location at all times, that information stays on your device. The WolMobile app only sends this information to your employer’s WhosOnLocation account when follow me is enabled (which requires you to be signed in for work), or when you enter or leave a geofence and sign in/out.
Once you leave for the day, your location isn’t reported on in WhosOnLocation, so your employer has no way to access this information.
Zoom has lots of privacy and security problems. Not necessarily true.
As organizations closed their offices, downloads of the Zoom app skyrocketed as we kept our team meetings going virtually. Although not considered a method of employer spying, Zoom did come in for some bad press earlier this year, leading many of us to question whether it was putting our privacy at risk. On closer inspection, many of the claims were exaggerated and designed to grab headlines:
Zoom conversations can be found online.
This isn’t a zoom issue, but rather a simple fact that a meeting host could record a conversation and make it publicly accessible online. The same could be said of any application.
Hackers will Zoombomb your meeting.
Zoom has password and security settings available to prevent this from happening. Just don’t turn them off.
Zoom’s end-to-end encryption doesn’t work.
This headline is more about a discrepancy between the commonly accepted definition of end-to-end encryption and how Zoom was using it. Although certainly misleading, this isn’t a bug. It’s worth noting end-to-end encryption isn’t widely available in the video conferencing market yet.
So, is my employer spying on me?
Your employer might be carrying out a degree of surveillance, but only for justifiable business reasons. If your employer has reason to investigate your business communications, they are quite within their rights to do so. So remember to keep your personal or private communication to your personal devices and accounts.
In the case of your employer spying on your whereabouts using WolMobile, rest assured this isn’t the case. If you’re not at work, your employer can’t access your location information. Remember when you are at work, your employer can only track your location around a site if you’re using the follow me feature for your own safety.
4 minutes read time
Geolocation technology: How big brother keeps us safe
Updated: January 2020
With the rapid evolution of geolocation technology we are now faced with the issue of apps following our every move without really knowing where that information is ending up. Not all app users are comfortable with this type of data collection, which presents challenges for businesses that need this information to give you a stronger user experience or like ourselves that need it to keep you safe. So how do we get big brother to leave us alone but also get the most out of this revolutionary technology?
What is geolocation?
A geolocation is the identification or estimation of a real-world geographic location of an object, such as a radar source, mobile phone, or internet connection. The coordinates generated from the geolocation (latitude and longitude) are used to determine a location, such as a street address.
Why do apps need access to my smartphone’s geolocation?
Geolocations are used to plot courses, track elevation changes, see location history, find nearby shops, tag images on social media, check in to locations and get the local weather information. We also use it every day to make our lives easier, to interact with other people, to solve problems, to set goals, to track anything.
Our WolMobile app for iOS and Android is designed to keep you safe while working (onsite, remotely or moving between locations). For WolMobile to work effectively it needs access to your location permissions. Here’s an overview of the key features to keep you safe and secure while in your employer’s duty of care:
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Automatic sign in/out
If your organization is using automatic sign-in/out, they will have a geofence set up around your organization’s. Once your phone has registered as having crossed into the geofence (using your location information), you’ll be automatically signed in or out.
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SOS Alerts
Should you need to send for immediate help, tapping the SOS button will send a notification to your location information to your organization’s nominated SOS Responder(s). The notification contains your location information as part of the alert ensuring assistance can locate you as quickly and efficiently as possible.
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Follow me
If you’re working in a high risk situation, alone or traveling between sites, your organization may ask you to use the ‘Follow Me’ feature. Designed for your safety, ‘Follow Me’ alerts your nominated safety contact if you need assistance in an emergency, to check in with you throughout the day or have spent too long at a high risk or restricted area.
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Locations list
If your organization has multiple sites, WolMobile will use your location in a similar way to Google Maps, providing you with directions, maps, the distance to other locations and ordering the list with the closest locations first.
Are my apps always tracking me?
The majority of apps on your smartphone can track your location, however, you have to give them access first. If you have downloaded an app that has requested to use your location information you would have been given the option to ‘Always allow’ or ‘Only when using the app’.
‘Only when using the app’ seems like the more appropriate option but with WolMobile because we need your location to know whether you’re on or off site or if something was to go wrong you must select ‘Always allow’ when prompted, for WolMobile to work accurately.
The good news is we’re not always tracking you. WolMobile only tracks your location when you’re signed into a location or moving between locations. Once you sign out and finish work at the end of the day, your location will no longer be reported on.
It’s also worth noting that only selected individuals with admin access to WhosOnLocation will be able to see your location whilst you’re signed in.
Update: January 2020
We’re always making improvements to our products. Since we first published this blog in November, we’ve already improved WolMobile’s geolocation reporting feature. The latest update brings a whole host of new features, including the ability to filter the map by who’s on or off site, get more information when you hover over a person’s pin and search the map by Service Provider Organization name, to see the location of everyone on-site from that company.
Set up WolMobile today.
2 minutes read time
Feature Highlight: Geolocation Tracking
Did you know you can use WolMobile to update and share locations? WolMobile can use your phone’s location services function to pinpoint where you are.
Employees, contractors, and service providers can update their geolocation if they are working off-site, alone, or remotely. After that, map coordinates are sent to your WhosOnLocation account where users can view the GeoLocation Updates map.
You can also set-up a trigger to send an email or SMS to anyone in your organization who needs to know about remote person’s location and status.
There are some very good safety and security reasons for updating and tracking locations:
To send Health and Safety alerts
Some locations might have site or location-specific hazards. Using WolMobile, employees can be sent hazard warnings or other notices they must acknowledge.
This is a great feature for managing hazard warnings and recording who has and who hasn’t acknowledged them.
To pull location reports
With location updates, you can run employee presence reports to see who is where, when they signed in, and if/when they signed out.
You can also see how they signed in – whether it was by using WolMobile, at an Employee kiosk, via a Location Manager, via an ID card scan etc.
It can be fun too!
At WhosOnLocation, we use these location updates to let other Wollys know where we are in the world. When a staff member updates their location using WolMobile, a trigger sends us an email to let us know.
