GuardTrax Proves an Adept Blue Force Tracker

May 13, 2008
By Don Jewell

Having had to do it myself, I know first hand that when it comes to monitoring a security or guard force, there is a critical balance between autonomy, tracking and communications ability. With this in mind, I spent considerable time evaluating Novatracker's GuardTrax

The buzz word these days seems to be situational awareness, and for many of us GPS is a key component of this. I will be writing much more about this aspect of GPS in the future, but for now I will be concentrating on a specific product: the GuardTrax unit from NovaTracker.

I am particularly interested in this product, which was originally designed to track guard or security forces, because twice during my military career I found myself in charge of some very competent and motivated security forces, both overt and clandestine. I never doubted these superb professionals could do the job assigned to them in a flawless manner, but like a lot of other frustrated commanders I was not always sure exactly where the roving guards and security personnel were located.

There is a fine line that a security supervisor or commander of any ilk has to walk. On the one hand, he or she wants their security forces to do their assigned job with a minimum of supervision and interference. On the other, they need to know where the forces are deployed and what assets are available. And as much as the troops or security forces in the field dislike big brother looking over their shoulder, there are times when a mission or assignment changes on the fly, rules of engagement change or updated intelligence needs to be relayed to them. Sometimes it is merely a convenience, but many times it is a matter of life or death. The problem, of course, is that you never know ahead of time what the situation is going to require.

The reverse is also true for the security forces in the field. As much as they do not want to be micromanaged, and a competent security force should not be, there is still a comfort factor in knowing that someone has your back — your six, in aviation lingo. The security forces will want to know immediately when the mission or rules of engagement change, and they appreciate reach-back when the situation requires it.

For the government and military security forces, a large part of the situational awareness we are speaking of really boils down to something known as blue force tracking, (BFT) and that was the clincher for me when I agreed to review the GuardTrax device. Our government guard and security forces today, including the contract security personnel, all need to know where the good guys are in order to avoid fratricide and friendly fire incidents or tragedies. Plus, our National Guard and Reserve forces have been deployed on a seemingly regular basis in recent years to support local communities and states in times of natural disaster and emergencies. The GuardTrax unit seems to be the perfect device for troop and asset location, and through its communications capabilities can provide actionable intelligence almost immediately.

Yes, most all security forces have some sort of communications capability, but all too often it is voice only or a combination of voice and test, which is certainly better than voice only or no communications at all. There are many times when you are too busy to talk on a radio but that radio and its attendant RF transmitter will give away your position. Then there are always those times when you are returning fire or thusly engaged in efforts to save your or someone else's life, and stopping to make or receive a radio call is not in the cards. This is when the passive side of situational awareness and blue force tracking is critical to mission success.

Today's guard and security forces need all the help they can get, and it make sense that the more high tech the better, as long as it is a help and not a hindrance. As I went through all the capabilities of the GuardTrax unit, in my mind I bounced those capabilities off the requirements I knew about first hand and then I reviewed those same capabilities with some friends who are still in the active duty military. We all came away impressed.

I was introduced to the GuardTrax by two senior members of the company when they personally brought me a unit to review, setting the unit to track and report on all my movements over a lengthy period of time. If you read my columns and reviews you will know by now that I never take on a review lightly, and certainly not quickly. I usually review the products for an extended period of time to make sure they are worth review- ing and that they will be of importance and, I hope, useful to my military and government readership. I am happy to say, bottom line, that the GuardTrax unit passed all my tests with flying colors. I was also impressed that Jeff Cohen, the GuardTrax CEO, and Michael Petty, the senior vice president for marketing, were able to spend so much time with me. It helped that they were delivering some units to a customer in the Denver area and were easily able to make a quick jog to my neck of the woods.

The physical size of the unit is 2 inches by 6 inches and weighs just six ounces with a long-life lithium battery installed. When all is said and done, it is about the size of a nominal mobile phone, if there is any such thing today, and it performs a lot of functions that are beyond your normal location-based services (LBS) product. The company website states that GuardTrax is much more than just a tracking GPS unit and I totally agree with that assessment. It is actually a suite of cutting-edge technology that adds visibility to guard force and security operations. With GPS tracking, wireless communication, and GIS web-interfaced mapping software that includes satellite imagery, security and guard force commanders and supervisors can remotely track guard performance, monitor posts, and manage their security forces in real-time, all the time. GuardTrax gives security forces and commanders an unparalleled level of functionality and situational awareness.

Beyond location tracking technology, GuardTrax is a dedicated communications device as well. It is capable of generating event- and exception-based alerts, and can communicate a series of preprogrammed and key-coded notifications to a central command facility and other security forces. It can even send notifica- tions to your mobile telephone, computer e-mail, or SMS text messaging account. This capability alone provides a chain of actions time line that can be invaluable when attempting to reconstruct how events occurred or while a security situation is evolving. For example, a highly-sensitive motion sensor in the GuardTrax device and a pre-programmed geo-fence can alert security force supervisors when deviations from post assignments occur. A four-button keypad enables guards and security personnel to report incidents or actions by entering specific key codes or making a cellular phone call to a pre-determined phone number or supervisor.

With the ability to track, communicate, and view both real-time and historical locations of any guard or secu- rity officer, GuardTrax displaces the need for real-time and possibly distracting radio calls, it increases efficiency, and mitigates potentially dangerous situation for other security support or back-up personnel. GuardTrax touts that sleeping guards, abandoned posts, and unproductive shifts are a thing of the past, and I am sure that is true when it it is in use. But for me the ability to monitor and address more critical problems, such as an unconscious or injured security force person, along with the then unprotected assets and resultant issues, are what impressed me about the unit's capabilities.

As I stated previously, the folks from GuardTrax set me up with my own unit and I tested it for a considerable period of time. I found the unit to be comfortable to wear, to position in a vehicle, or place on my cross- country bike. You can set the unit to report your position and status every minute or every hour depending on your needs. Mike Petty set-up my test unit to report my position every fifteen minutes, any urgent mes- sages were sent to Mike's mobile phone, and all messages were sent via SMS to my mobile phone and com- puter. I tested all the preset modes on the device, which ranged from "nothing to report," to "severe physical property damage," to "guard down and needs help."

All these modes are activated totally silently with the push of three buttons. The preset menu on the back of the unit initially helped me remember the key strokes, but with just a few days practice I easily memorized them all. The unit gives you a visual indication via small flashing lights that your message has indeed been sent. In addition to a GPS unit, the unit is also a GSM mobile phone (meaning that it works in about 80 percent of the countries around the world) and you can, if necessary, call for help. This would only be necessary in a dire emergency, however, since you can call for help just a quickly by pushing the right buttons. But if a voice call is necessary, the capability is immediately available. I tried it once and Mike answered his preprogrammed number in my phone immediately. So, it is a multi-tasking device that should give any guard, security force or military member some peace of mind. At times it is really helpful to know that big brother is watching.

The GuardTrax unit determines its position by using GPS and then transmits the coordinates to a secure GuardTrax server, which then plots the points on a GIS-aided map with satellite imagery overlay. The mapping software allows users to securely log into the GuardTrax website and view the real-time and historical loca- tion of any security officer, guard or user during the last day, hour or minute. GuardTrax also incorporates a SmartResponse system that will notify commanders and security managers of deficiencies or troubles that their security officers or troops might be encountering while on duty.

As a BFT device GuardTrax appears to meet many of the requirements without being hardened or meeting any military spec requirements, although the unit is ruggedized and has an extremely long battery life, depending on the reporting duty cycle. My unit consistently lasted approximately 72 hours without a charge. Our war fighters certainly have similar BFT units that do all these things and more, but also cost a great deal more. So while the GuardTrax unit may not be designed for the battlefield, it well designed for urban and peace-keeping environments. The GuardTrax not only offers a low-cost alternative for units not in combat, but gives security personnel and military members potentially lifesaving and asset-protection capabilities that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Additionally, some of these capabilities deserve a place on the Perfect Handheld GPS list we have been compiling over the last year. But more about that next time.

It's clear that GuardTrax would be a valuable asset for every military unit with mobile resources and assets in the field. It's two o'clock in the morning; do you know where all your personnel are located?