idea Bring back location tracking in Collector in ArcGIS Collector Ideas

Bring back location tracking in Collector

JakeJacobs — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 00:01:31 GMT

The new collector (Aurora) no longer supports location tracking. ESRI has promised a new app with better tracking. In the mean time we are using Workforce in the background, but it only works when connected.

The new functionality might be super but all my users are asking to see just their own breadcrumbs in Collector, not everyone else's, like they used to be able to do in ArcGIS Mobile for Windows.

In that app the breadcrumbs were visible to the user but were only synced up, never down from the server to the local map. It actually worked out really nicely for everyone.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JohnMDye — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 13:58:33 GMT

I think you're looking for Tracker for ArcGIS. While I personally don't agree with the notion of Tracker being a separate dedicated application (I think its features and logic should have been directly integrated into the runtime apps like Collector), Tracker seems to be the direction Esri is headed for location tracking and I don't see that changing anytime in the near future.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

ThomasButton — Tue, 21 May 2019 17:43:27 GMT

I feel very much the same as you. That this should have been a underlying feature for mobile data collection apps and workforce management; and not restricted to a separate application where a user can turn it on or Off. If you have the issues like me of not knowing where Field Officers are or if they are at (HOME) or out then this is a real issue.

... But. Having just attended the AC19 in London it was implied that you can track location within collector. The presentation made no separation for (Classic) or the NEW collector. so i will now investigate this further. Or if someone from ESRI reads this maybe they could shed some light.

Tom

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

PaulHoefflerGISS — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 14:13:33 GMT

Tracker for ArcGIS requires additional licensing, hardware, and administrator and user overhead.

Running it on ArcGIS Enterprise requires an instance of ArcGIS Data Store with a spatiotemporal big data store, which per Esri requires a dedicated server, in addition to other servers required to run ArcGIS Enterprise.

Tracker for ArcGIS is not available in ArcGIS Online, and its release has been delayed.

Collecting real-time locations of individuals in a publicly-accessible system such as ArcGIS Online will raise privacy and security concerns for some organizations and individuals.

If this function was removed from Collector because of impact to device battery life and this has been improved in Tracker, then surely the improvements can be brought back to the Collector app.

Unlike Survey123 for ArcGIS, the introduction of Tracker for ArcGIS into the mobile app/enterprise ArcGIS ecosystem is a significant step in the wrong direction.

We support the reintroduction of on-device location tracking (breadcrumbs) in Collector for ArcGIS (iOS Aurora/Android beta) that meets the needs of field users instead of being forced to use a poorly-implemented (or perhaps just ill-suited) app that we don't need. Collector should have at least the same functionality as a $200 Garmin recreational GPS Receiver.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JohnMDye — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 16:26:01 GMT

I wouldn't agree that it's been poorly implemented. I think Tracker is a neat app, but I just don't agree with the core functionality being removed from the other runtime apps. I think Esri could probably have its cake and eat it too here by keeping some basic location tracking functionality (eg. breadcrumbs) in Collector and for those who need the more advanced location tracking capabilities, that could be where the dedicated Tracker app comes into play.

I've never looked into implementing it in the Enterprise and didn't realize that it required the Big Data Store, that said I wouldn't see that as a bad thing. I would dare to speculate that Esri's Spatio-Temporal Big Datastore is probably going to end up cannibalizing the Relational Datastore's features and that 5-7 years from now, we'll all be transitioning to it because it's going to give you so much more flexibility. So getting in to it early is not a bad thing in my view. It's also needed for many of Esri's other products such as GeoEvent and GeoAnalytics.

Jeff Shaner and Craig Gillgrass‌, FYI

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

PaulHoefflerGISS — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 16:42:22 GMT

We're interested in simple functionality that works offline and doesn't introduce new types of services and administrative overhead. Based what we know from an in-depth presentation by Esri there are many aspects of this that we don't believe to be fully developed, and moving this out of Collector and into Tracker, tied to ArcGIS Enterprise, creates new problems for us.

Tracker for ArcGIS is a licensing issue for us, and we don't have a spare server to run a spatiotemporal data store - these are just a couple reasons that it doesn't work for our organization.

I'm sure this will work well for others' environments and applications.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JeffShaner — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 16:40:50 GMT

All,

This is a great discussion and thank you very much for all of the thoughtful comments you have added into this thread. I'd like to provide context on where we are and what we have built to date. Please though, if you ever have questions about why we are building what we are building don't hesitate to ask us. Thanks for @mentioning Craig and I John. Our mission is to build effective, intuitive apps that meet your needs and we can't do that without your feedback.

Ok with that said, why did we build Tracker? Well, there were several reasons. The primary reason was to support organizations that need to know where their staff are and record where they have been (to enhance situational awareness and ultimately for accountability reasons). That extends well beyond the field worker and that is why it is licensed with a Viewer user type and higher. In fact, the target user for our initial launch was not someone using a field data collection app like Collector or Survey123. We are seeing customers that want to track anywhere from 500 to 2000 to 150,000 users and more! We also needed to build a tracking solution that worked offline, worked in the background, and was easy on battery life so that it could support a full 10 - 12 hour day without a charge. As part of this effort, we quickly realized that a traditional hosted feature service was not the right solution. It would struggle to manage the throughput of tracks and would consume too many credits. Tracks will have a much higher storage volume than other GIS features. We are building the proper infrastructure within ArcGIS Online now and felt it was too soon to release. It was a very difficult decision to make but one that we thought was best to do. With ArcGIS Enterprise we already had a robust data store for this that we could use.

This new location tracking capability is setting a foundation for not only the Tracker app to write to but for others as well. It is the first phase in a series of releases. In fact, the Indoors app is already writing to the same service and other apps can as well.

At the same time, Collector is going through an evolution. We are phasing in capabilities/platforms as we go. This is a huge effort and it is taking time to complete. The first phase of location tracking work will be to add support where Tracker is installed. Collector will be able to draw tracks directly within the app, it will honor the settings in the Tracker app and will be able to remotely control the Tracker app. Here we are targeting workflows where it is important to know where a field worker is located at all times and where they have been. Where they use the Collector app to capture data (collect and inspect) but they need to have their location shared even when the app is not running (worker safety being perhaps the primary need but also for accountability purposes as well).

This is our current development plan and where we have seen the needs around location tracking (both with field workers and without). If there are other workflows where you see a gap, PLEASE let us know. We want to make sure that we address your needs.

Thanks!

Jeff

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JohnMDye — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 17:47:08 GMT

There you have it from da man himself, folks. I didn't realize Tracker was licensed at the Viewer level. That's pretty great as that means it costs nothing to use. Jeff Shaner‌ you mentioned a concern about credit burn when using hosted feature services as the storage mechanism for tracks being a primary decision behind using the Big Data Store and that there is an effort underway to build a more efficient solution for ArcGIS Online. Any thoughts you can share about how much credit burn one might see in ArcGIS Online with the new forthcoming solution. I guess I'm asking, approximately how much might it cost to store, say, 10,000 tracks.

[UPDATE 7/16/19: Tracker for ArcGIS is not and cannot be licensed at the Viewer Level. It is licensed with a User Type that includes the Field Apps bundle.]

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

PaulHoefflerGISS — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 18:40:54 GMT

Thanks for the background and great information!

I wandered a bit in our discussion here - I don't have a problem with Tracker for ArcGIS itself, but with the functionality that appeared to move from Collector to Tracker at Aurora.

There have been many significant improvements in Collector and Esri's mobile applications, and in general they work well.

The planned integration between Collector and Tracker sounds as though it will get us closer to where we want to be with the new app. We're collecting use cases from various users and I'll provide a copy.

As far as the release date for ArcGIS Online, we appreciate your team taking the time to get it working as well as possible prior to making it available in Online.

I have an open Esri Technical Support case #02356469 - Need for location tracking (breadcrumbs) in Collector for ArcGIS where we're requesting a enhancement request or usability bug, as appropriate. That's underway, and I'll either provide the use cases through there or directly to you through other means. Thanks for engaging in the discussion!

Paul

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JeffShaner — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 22:41:01 GMT

Thank you Paul. I really look forward to your feedback and use cases. Please feel free to reach out directly to our Collector4ArcGIS@esri.com alias as well. I would love to understand where you see breadcrumbs inside of Collector in comparison to say GPS streaming of lines and potentially in the context of nested or partial feature collection as well. These are all on our roadmap for Collector and we want to make sure we have the workflows referenced properly. Right now our focus with Collector is to get Android done and out the door!!

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JeffShaner — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 22:52:48 GMT

Hey John,

We are sorting out the details of this now so what I am about to say is subject to change before we release...

At present, we do not have any plan to charge credits for storage of location tracks. With the ArcGIS Enterprise store, there is a concept of a retention period for track data. You can set it to keep tracks indefinitely or you can set a date and then we will truncate tracks accordingly (say 30 or 60 days). This same concept will apply within ArcGIS Online except right now we are thinking that it would be a fixed time and not indefinite as there are transactional/query and storage costs to maintaining tracks. If you want, you would be able to export the tracks from the data store to archive them yourself.

With the beta program we are looking for feedback on the business model as well as the technical aspects of the capability.

Thanks!

Jeff

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JohnMDye — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 22:38:37 GMT

Was toying with Tracker while at UC (sorry I couldn't track you down Jeff Shaner, but I did successfully make Craig Gillgrass cringe with a poorly thought out Workforce integration) and Aaron showed me that to connect tracks and create path, you basically have to leverage GeoAnalytics - which is obv. not available in AGOL and I know you guys are working on figuring out how to bring it to AGOL.

All this to say, I get it. You collect a bajillion breadcrumbs and then you want to connect the dots to visualize the linear path of those tracks after the fact. That's going to take some horsepower, hence GeoAnalytics. But, I just wondered why Tracker is not just connecting the dots on the fly and producing a path layer as it goes along. Similar to the way many Esri apps rely on and manage multiple layers, it seems to me that Tracker should automagically be producing a 'Tracks' and 'Paths' layer, extending the path as new 'Tracks' are added.

The only reason I could see not to do this if you wanted to have the option to also ensure that the paths generated by connecting the dots also align with a road network, in which case that is certainly some heavier processing.

This didn't occur to me until later so I didn't get to ask anyone.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

PaulHoefflerGISS — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 15:48:19 GMT

Jeff Shaner‌, two follow-up questions:

1) John Dye responded that because Tracker for ArcGIS is licensed at the Viewer and higher user type levels that it will be available at no cost. That would be great. According to our Esri account manager this is not the case, and that while it is licensed for those user types, it requires at-cost licensing for a premium app component (think ArcGIS Enterprise app, not the mobile app, correct?). It's not very obvious, but I believe that is mentioned in the documentation under the Track mobile user location section of this page: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/tracker/faq/requirements.htm Is this correct, that Tracker for ArcGIS will require additional licensing, at a cost? Actually, that refers to licensing a mobile app, and there is no mention of licensing that I see on the Enterprise setup page, which instructs to download, install, and go...: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/tracker/help/tracker-enterprise-support.htm

2) Do you have a rough timeline for integration of Tracker into Esri mobile apps? Specifically Collector. I heard that location tracking in Survey123 was announced at the UC, and assume this would be Tracker-based. I contactedCollector4ArcGIS@esri.com about the timeline, but have yet to hear back.

Thank you!

Paul

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JohnMDye — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:11:54 GMT

So, Tracker is currently only available for ArcGIS Enterprise, so definitely you need that component. You also need the ArcGIS Spatio-Temporal Big Datastore. That's a free component, but it does require additional infrastructure deployments on your part.

Now for the mobile component, Tracker is a field app and as such, it requires the ability to "write" its tracks to the Spatio-Temporal Big Datastore. So, your Account Manager is correct. My previous comment that Tracker is licensed at the Viewer level is not accurate. It would be impossible for a Viewer to use Tracker as Viewers do not have permission to write features.

Rather, the Tracker has to be licensed with one of the User Types that includes the Field Apps bundle (Creator, Field Worker, GIS Professional). Alternatively, the Editor User Type is likely to have Tracker as a compatible Add-on App as well in the same way that it has Collector, Workforce, Survey123, Navigator and QuickCapture as compatible add-on apps.

There is no mention of Tracker in the User Types page or anywhere else and I expect that is because the app is relatively new and the documentation hasn't been updated yet. Nonetheless, I would expect its licensing to align with that of the other Field Apps.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

PaulHoefflerGISS — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:29:02 GMT

Thanks for the additional information/insight.

There does appear to a fair amount of confusion around this new app/functionality (and perhaps QuickCapture, too) - in the same email our account manager indicated "The app can be licensed for any USER TYPE that is VIEWER or higher."

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JakeJacobs — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:32:18 GMT

We're interested in using the ArcGIS Online version, not the on premise Enterprise version and we've been told $60 per head per year from our account manager to use Location Tracking, on top of what we have in our Enterprise license for Field Workers. Presumably that's to cover the cost of the spatio-temporal big data store? I'm not sure.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JohnMDye — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:35:39 GMT

The app can be licensed for any USER TYPE that is VIEWER or higher.

That doesn't make sense. Maybe your Account Manager meant higher than Viewer. A Viewer couldn't possibly use Tracker. Certainly, they could view the tracks layer produced by Tracker on the web, but unless Esri has a Viewer experience in Tracker that allows them to see the tracks of others, I don't know what the point would be for a Viewer user type to have access to Tracker.

I'm sure Jeff Shaner‌ or Craig Gillgrass‌ will shed some light whenever they have recovered from UC.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

PaulHoefflerGISS — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:37:37 GMT

We have yet to get firm pricing, and pricing for ArcGIS Online may be different than for Enterprise and yet to be determined. But that's very interesting, if that rate proved to be true it would add up for some organizations...

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

JohnMDye — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 17:24:45 GMT

$60/head? Oof.

Re: Bring back location tracking in Collector

Anonymous User — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 13:21:11 GMT

John Dye‌ There's a few reasons/concerns why we don't generate a polylines automatically.

1. With points we can just add points to the feature layer (at any frequency). With polylines we'd have to either wait until some criteria is met to "finish" a line and then upload it, or make update calls to update the existing line (which are more expensive).

2. How should we split lines? Every 1km, every 5 minutes, every 100 points, a combination? It doesn't seem like there is one clear answer here. In the client apps we have logic for it I'm not convinced we'd want to do the same things to store polylines.

3. How do you determine which points to use as vertices in the lines? Should all points with accuracy less than 100 m be used? Should only points with "driving" activity be used? With the GA tool you can specify any filter criteria you want. Similarly in the client apps right now you can filter using the "smart rendering" toggle or additional accuracy filters and the lines are regenerated on-the-fly.

All that said, we have discussed the idea of having the server generate lines from the points. It's definitely not fully thought out and not planned at this time but the idea would be there could be a third layer, and when it's queried, the server could build lines that match the criteria and serve those out. We'd have to figure out some caching strategy for this as well.

There also is some work going on in the JS API to provide a renderer which can turn points into lines (based on some unique field) which might be useful when it's available.