>>>>I'm developing software for a cab company. I have two questions:
>>>>
>>>>1) is it possible to integrate google map in vfp app?
>>>>2) is it possible to locate driver (gps coordinates or a address) based on a gps location of a his cell phone?
>>>>2a) if answer for 2) is yes, is it possible to determine driver position on a google map?
>>>>
>>>>Thanks in advance.
>>>
>>>What you ask for is something every haulage company is doing those days. (at least in areas where mobile network is dense enough)
>>>
>>>There might be legal problems because this could be called spying under some jurisdications
>>>
>>>Works only if the mobile has some way to post the coordinates to you. -> Internet -> SMS
>>>
>>>lon /lat on google is as easy as https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.873889,20.651944. On can automate that (at least I have heard of, never done) so that one can see every traced thing on a map moving.
>>>
>>>I'm not shure if google allows that on a business level. I know that google limits the "download" of map parts for a day. So possibly you have to spend some money.
>>
>>At least one taxicab company in my little town has this - they know exactly where each of their cars is at any time. And they're operating on a very thin margin (the competition is severe, there's at least six companies like that in the city of no more than 70K people; the average distance is about 4km and the fare is about 1,50€). They use it mainly to know which car is the nearest, to cut down on driving empty.
>>
>>And I seriously doubt that they have their own GPS capable network. They have the regular radio and I think that radio simply carries the GPS coordinates from the unit in the car - i.e. the cars are broadcasting their position. Involving any mobile telephony service in that would not be possible at these prices.
>
>It's a number one thing to watch employees. Truckers are reported now to urinate into a bottle because the boss will complain if they do a stop for that. We had ugly car accidents because of that.
>
>I do not know how cell pohne rates with internet (SMS, for that) flat are at your place, but this is not a thing here. A prepaid rate is nothing, and it's not much data. And almost everybody owns one.
>
>To use it via radio would require something to translate GPS read out to radio and re read to comp. It's possible - but in my thinking this is a luxury. I mean you would need to pay somebody for it too - and this is not a mass market. :)
>
>.

Armored couriers have been using this in the US for at least 10 years.
My clients began with proprietary systems before Google maps were around.
Each vehicle has a GPS transmitter and its location is periodically recorded in data tables while being broadcast visually to the HQ.
More recently, one of the presenters at the VFP Philly group showed a VFP system he developed for a local truck line that uses Google maps to track truck locations. That system uses cell phones.