APPS FOR DEPLOYMENT

Chris Burgardt - Communications Officer

I was asked to list some apps for smart phones that may be useful during a deployment. While the apps discussed in this article are specifically for products using the iOS (Apple) system, similar apps are available on other smart phones systems. Talking to other users of smart phones, I’ve discovered that many people are not familiar with some of the apps their device had installed when purchased, so I decided to start with some of the most basic apps. This month, I’ll touch on Find My Phone, Find My Friends, and Maps.

Find My Phone
A story: once upon a time, a firefighter left her iPhone on the bumper of her fire engine and proceeded to drive around town for hours. Fortunately, she had installed and configured the Find My Phone app, so she used another firefighter’s iPhone to locate the missing phone via GPS. She also locked the phone with a secret code and displayed a message on the screen asking that whoever found it call the fire department to arrange for it to be picked up. Unfortunately, nobody called, but the GPS showed that it was walking down the local railroad tracks. She drove the fire engine to where it showed her phone should be. There was nobody around and there was no phone she could see! Returning to her friend’s iPhone, she activated a pinging sound on her phone and discovered that it had been carefully placed on top of an 8-foot high wall.

The moral: every iPhone user should install and configure Find My Phone as soon as the phone is activated. Whether your phone is lost in a gear bag, your home, or on the street, this app is the fastest way to find it.

Find My Friends
Find My Friends is an app that shares your current location with other people you select. You may not want to use the Find My Friends app on a daily basis because it does cause extra battery drain and you may not wish to have just anyone tracking your phone’s movement. On the other hand, having it installed and available for use on a deployment may be extremely handy. Users can set up a temporary group to allow each other to see their location. This could be used on a deployment where the infrastructure is intact (SLC ’02, K2 ’05, DNC ’08).  Accountability and efficiency could both be improved by being able to locate other team members more quickly.

Maps
Maps is installed by default on any iDevice. I highly suggest you practice using this app as often as possible until you have mastered it. It can provide you with driving, transit, or walking directions. Each of those options may provide more than one available route; you should know how to select the fastest or the shortest route.

Maps will also allow you to search for items near your location or another location. Again, practice prior to a deployment is key. You need to be able to identify an exit from an interstate 30 minutes away and find out what food will be available when you get to your destination

The biggest downside to Maps is that, unlike many stand-alone GPS units, the iDevice must have connectivity (Wi-fi or 3G) in order to get you information about routes or attractions. That means that you will have to plan ahead if, for instance, you are driving through Nevada on Interstate-80, and that you may be completely out of luck if you are travelling in an area where the infrastructure has been wiped out.

[Editor’s Note: We welcome information about technology that will be useful on DMAT deployments. Send your contributions to the CA-6 editor or to the Communications Officer.]