subject: Signal Routingedit [print this page] There may be a situation where you would need to track a cell phone. It sounds pretty high tech, but once it is explained, the process is really fascinating. The programs that track phones use the way that calls get routed to phone from cell towers. Cell towers get a signal that is sent from a phone and locks up with the best tower it can get a signal from. As the phone moves from locale to locale, the cell towers can track its' movements and the phone's position and signal are placed on to another tower's identification point, giving it a stronger signal.
The tracking program determines the location of a mobile device by measuring the signal strength of the towers in a particular area the phone is believed to be in. More updated models of phones can be traced even when they are not in use, but merely turned on. Since most phones have internet access, email and other features that require constant data referral, the towers are constantly "pinging" or contacting the phone, and this is how it can identify its' locale. GPS is the most popular right now. GPS combines satellites and the cell provider's network communication to allow the exact location of a phone to be found. 15 years ago this was only something that the average person saw in movies, today it is a reality. Some providers will allow this as a feature to find your phone if it is lost or stolen. Even if you just want to keep tabs on your teenager there is the ability to track the position of the phone. This technology was designed to help locate people faster if there was a 911 emergency. You can even go online and track a person's location if they have approved for you to do so. This is an incredible breakthrough for missing person's cases, and can help save lives. These programs can help determine where someone was at a particular time. A lot of the more updated models have GPS tracking available, and this is much more accurate.
