Introduction
The Forest Service Chief Information Office (CIO) requested the Technology and Development Program (T&D) to evaluate the SPOT Satellite Messenger for potential use by Forest Service employees. The CIO received requests for technical approval to purchase the SPOT device to be used as an auxiliary safety device for field employees. The small, rugged global positioning system (GPS) device (figure 1) from SPOT Inc., a subsidiary of Globalstar Inc., allows users to send an "OK" (check-in), HELP, or Alert 911 distress message with their current GPS location to designated employees, family members, or friends. Messages are delivered using the Globalstar satellite constellation either by e-mail or by a short message service (SMS) text message to a mobile phone. The CIO wanted an evaluation of the reliability of this new device to transmit messages under a variety of canopy types and in different types of terrain.
Figure 1—The SPOT Satellite Messenger is a small,
rugged
device that allows users to send distress or
check-in messages that include their GPS location
using the Globalstar satellite constellation.
Highlights...
- Forest Service field employees aren't always able to establish communications using cell phones, satellite phones, or Forest Service radios.
- The SPOT Satellite Messenger can reliably send emergency messages, even under a forest canopy.
- The device's primary disadvantage is that it can only send messages but cannot receive them.
- Field employees might find the device useful as a backup for emergency communications.
This report describes the results of T&D's evaluation. The device was tested under open, medium, and heavy canopy types at three GPS test courses in western Montana and northern Idaho. The devices also were tested by field employees around the country to determine such things as reliability, ease of use, and transmission capabilities, and to gather the employees' overall impressions.
