You Can't Always Ping A Cell Phone

An 87-year-old Bend-area man was found safe and in good shape this morning after he spent the night in his vehicle, which became stuck Wednesday in the national forest south of Tumalo Falls.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said Thomas O. Laidlaw, who has lived in the area since the 1940s, went to scout game Wednesday in an area off Skyliners Road. Around 9:30 p.m. Laidlaw used his cellular phone to call his brother in Bend, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. He told his brother his vehicle was stuck and he planned to spend the night in it. Laidlaw carries extra clothing and provisions in his vehicle, the news release stated. The National Weather Service recorded a temperature of 28 degrees in Bend early this morning, according to its Web site.
The brother, who was not identified, called 911. Deputies and law enforcement officers with the Forest Service searched the roads in the area during the night but did not find Laidlaw or his vehicle, the news release stated. The type of cell phone Laidlaw carried and its provider prevented law enforcement from pinging, or attempting to electronically locate, the phone, and calls to the phone went directly to voice mail, indicating it was out of range or turned off.
More law enforcement and search and rescue personnel joined the search this morning, and the Oregon State Police diverted one of the agency’s planes that was headed to Christmas Valley to search the area.
About 9 a.m. Laidlaw again called his brother and told him he was at the cross-country ski shelter at Swede Ridge, which is between Virginia Meissner and Swampy Lakes sno parks. The state police plane flew over the area, and its occupants reported that they saw a man waving to them, the news release stated. Rescuers found Laidlaw at the shelter about 11:25 a.m. and took him to his brother’s home in Bend.

Mobile Phone Fraud

Please be aware of this, as I have had these calls from the switch board ? if you receive one hang up IMMEDITELY!
Phone Fraud ? Warning from the Police 11 May 2005 we have been advised of a telephone fraud currently in operation, this applies to home and work telephone, landlines and mobile phones. If you receive one of these calls, upon answering the telephone you will hear a recorded message congratulating you on winning and all expenses trips to an exotic location. You will then be asked to press 9 to hear further details. If you press 9 you will be connected to a premium rate line that cost approximately £20 per minute. Even if you disconnect immediately, it will remain connected for a minimum of 5 minutes costing around £100. The final part of the call involves you being asked to key in the postcode and house number, which has other serous consequences. After a further 2 minutes you will receive a message informing you that you are not one of the lucky winners. The total bill by then will be £100. Since the calls are originated from outside the UK, BT and other telephone companies are left relatively powerless to act. The only save solution is to HANG UP before the message prompt you to dial 9. Even safer HANG UP on any unsolicited "free offers calls". There is another scam operating on mobile phones as well. A missed call comes up. The number is 0709 020 3840, the latest four number may vary, but certainly the first for will remain the same. If you call this number back you will be charged £50 per minute.
People have complained about their phone bills, once they have realised the cost of the call, but apparently this is completely legal. So beware, do not call back numbers beginning with 0709.

Mobile Phone Tracking and Tracing

If you ping a mobile phone location service is transparent and extracts the data from the network operator as to the location of the mobile that you want to track. In essence, we get the same data as the police regarding the movement and location of mobiles.

Mobile phone tracking is not an exact science and accuracy will vary depending upon the cell mast density of the area that the mobile is within.

We have seen mobile phone accuracy as precise as 100m in central London (where there are many cell masts) and as inaccurate as 10km in the Scottish Highlands(where there are few cell masts).

We have also seen fluctuations where a local cell mast is down or overloaded with calls, when you requested a location. This can result in the mobile phone being logged onto a longer range mast by your network operator and accuracy in such cases can diminish. However, the movement of the phone throughout the day to differing locations will minimise any user experience effected by network failures/overloads in specific area.