Where in the World Are They?

Keeping up with employee whereabouts in the United Kingdom is all about chips — and we’re not talking English potatoes here.

Since 2001, organizations in the U.K. have been able to trace the location of employees through subscriber-identity module chips in their business phones and other handheld devices. The mobile tracking service from FollowUs (www.followus.co.uk) can locate enabled phones and devices anywhere in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Registered users receive a personal identification number to activate the tracking service. After users receive requests on their devices, they enter their PINs, and FollowUs relays location information back to the requester via an Internet connection. The company claims it can pinpoint someone’s location to within 330 feet in urban areas.

The tracking service allows “greater control of your mobile workforce, the ability to easily locate staff and vehicles, safety for lone workers, fast setup (within 48 hours), and streamlined operations and cost savings,” says Kevin Brown, commercial director for FollowUs.

In the U.K., the service has more than 55,000 registered users.