Sending Location Aware Messages from KMaps enabled Phone

From Kmaps

aceltabo Location Aware Message is the message that has your current or some other location attached to it. Location Aware Messages are not the substitute for the voice, email and SMS but they provide the additional networking flexibility on the go and enhance the overall communication by enabling you to add the location component to it. Location Aware Messages should be used whenever location is the important factor in your current collaboration.

Let's say that you are sitting in the caffe and you want to inform your friend where you are so that she can locate your position easily. Or, you want to meet a friend at the corner of some streets sometime later during the day so you decide to attach the street corner location to the "Meet me here" message. Or if you are on your way to meet someone and you are stuck in a traffic on a particular location, you may wish to send Location Aware Message from that location and make the other person aware of your current location and the reason for the delay.

KMaps now has the ability to initiate Location Aware Messages to both KMaps and non-KMaps users and enable you to inform the other people about your current location or intended route. Since the Location Aware Message is bound to a particular location, you need to start with that location first. We can use the example from above:

I want to meet my friend at the corner of Franklin and Congress Street in Boston at 16:30. I can use KMaps to send him a message pointing to that location so that he can find it easily. Also, my friend is not KMaps user.

I will first use KMaps to locate the corner of Franklin and Congress Streets in Boston.

KMaps will come up with the result...

Since this is the location where I want to meet my friend, I will attach this location to the message. I need to create new Location Aware Message attached to the corner of Franklin & Congress St. I select "Location Services" from the menu.

The list of Location Services opens. Select "Collaboration".

Select "Send Location Aware Message" service.

New Message Screen is displayed. I enter email address of my friend (or select it from Contacts). If my friend is KMaps user, I can now choose whether the message will be delivered to KMaps Inbox on his KMaps enabled phone or to his regular email inbox. If you are sending the message to a person that you know is KMaps user and you think that the person is mobile at the moment when you are sending the message, then KMaps Inbox option should be a viable choice as it would enable your friend to map the location and get the directions on the go through KMaps.

Since my friend is not KMaps user, the message will always be delivered to his regular email account regardless of my selection, and he will be able to pick it up on his laptop.

Now enter your Nickname or Name...

Enter Message Subject (optional) and Message text. Checkbox "Attach Location to this Message" is checked indicating that the location is going to be attached to the message making this message location aware.

Hit "Send" button and the message will be sent.

Since my friend is not KMaps user he will receive an email from KMaps service with my Location Aware Message...

My friend can then click on the link provided in the email he received from KMaps service to quickly jump to Google Maps and map the location attached to my message.

If my friend is on the go, for example, and is not KMaps user and I want to send Location Aware Message to his phone, I can use <my friend's number>@<my friend's service>.com format to do so. The majority (if not all) of the service providers will deliver a message if email is sent to <phone number>@<service>.com (for example, 6234567890@cingular.com). This way you can send Location Aware Message to any phone by simply putting something like 6234567890@cingular.com in the message EMail field. The users will be able to read your message and location on the other phones, but would not be able to map the location and get the directions to it as they don't have KMaps installed on their phones.

If, on the other hand, my friend is KMaps user, he can then check for new KMaps messages on his KMaps enabled phone. See Receiving Location Aware Messages on KMaps enabled Phone to read how to check for new Location Aware Messages that you may receive from the other KMaps users.

As you can see, KMaps Location Aware Messages are powerful addition to your communication toolbox that you should use KMaps Location Service to send Location Aware Messages to your friends, family and coworkers regardless of whether they are KMaps users or not.