Mobile phone technology offered by ChildLocate, the leading mobile location provider in the UK, allows parents instantly and unobtrusively to pinpoint the whereabouts of their children, using the co-ordinates generated by the actual signal that enables a mobile to ‘lock on’ to a network operator’s phone mast. The system uses co-ordinates from several masts to ‘triangulate’ the position of a user’s mobile phone.

The ChildLocate service has just been updated, and now boasts vastly improved precision, with Vodafone users enjoying the ability to locate mobile phones to an accuracy of between 300 and 500 metres. ChildLocate can also determine the child’s last position even if his/her phone is switched off, depending on the mobile network used. The service can be used for mobile phones using the Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange and O2 networks.

The ChildLocate service enables parents to check on their child’s whereabouts, without having to rely on their children using or answering the phone. While the phone is switched on, parents can receive up-to-date location information, either on an interactive, content-rich map on their PC, provided by Multimap, Europe’s leading online mapping provider, or via text message on their mobile phone.

Multimap’s street-level, accurate maps have full zoom in/out and pan N,S,E,W functionality so that users can easily adjust their view. The location of the child’s mobile phone is represented by a customized icon of a child, and the radius of accuracy is demonstrated with a circle. 

Jon Magnusson, Managing Director, ChildLocate, said “We are delighted to be working with Multimap to offer parents the peace of mind associated with being able to check on the location of their child’s mobile phone at any time of the day. Even with the customization of the radius circle required at Multimap’s end, the service was implemented quickly, smoothly and to budget. Multimap’s reputation for flexible technology, reliability and excellent maps is clearly deserved!”

Commenting on the deal, Steve Frost, head of sales for Europe, Multimap, said, “One of the keys to the staggering growth that Multimap has experienced over the last ten years is the combination of services that are reliable 24x7 and their flexibility. Our 800-strong gallery of business clients from across the globe often cite this as one of the reasons why they not only select Multimap in the first place, but stay with the company year after year. We’re delighted to welcome ChildLocate on board!”

About Multimap

Multimap is Europe's leading provider of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial ("where's my nearest?") searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on mobile, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms and in multiple languages.

The public website, www.multimap.com, provides a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; links to location information; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The public site attracts over 8.6 million unique users, registers more than 160 million page impressions every month, and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the UK. Multimap recently featured in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 league table of fastest-growing unquoted UK companies across all sectors.

About MobileLocate

Formed in December 2002, MobileLocate Ltd aims to become a leading provider of mobile location service utilizing mobile technology, initially in the UK followed by Germany, France and Spain.

After having successfully completed extensive user trials with Vodafone UK during the summer of 2003, Vodafone's approval was gained to launch the first service, ChildLocate using Vodafone's UK mobile network. In October 2003, agreement was signed which enabled the ChildLocate service to be offered on the o2 and T-Mobile mobile networks. In February 2004 ChildLocate also became available on the Orange network.

In June 2004, MobileLocate Ltd launched a corporate tracking service, branded MobileLocate. This service is primarily aimed at SME's and larger organizations and enables them to locate and communicate with their mobile workforce everywhere in the UK. MobileLocate is a low cost alternative to existing mobile tracking services and offers companies a very competitive method of communicating with their mobile workforce via SMS.

MobileLocate Ltd has taken an active part in the development of a Privacy Management Code of Practice issued by the UK Mobile Operators which sets the guidelines on how personal tracking services should be operated and how safety and privacy of mobile phone users is to be protected.