Help & Support

When you text Loc or Loc,gps, you'll receive a clickable maps link.

If you find that clicking on this link isn't loading the location of the tracker, but always just showing the location of you and your phone instead (i.e. with no specific location loaded at all), please get in touch below and let us know. We'll get this quickly fixed for you.

Just click in the 'Problem Solving' box below, select 'Something else', then let us know your details. Mention "map not loading" in the message box.

We appreciate this can seem fiddly and complicated - but it does provide greater flexibility than a more simple approach.

You can program up to five different numbers to receive alert texts and/or calls. Alert texs include SOS, geo-fencing (if set), falls (if set), low battery. Calls include SOS, falls (if set), the side button.

The format is like this:

Ax,y,z,number

x = 1 to 5 (for different carers)
y = 1 for texts, 0 for no texts
z = 1 for calls, 0 for no callsnumber = the phone nunmber for the carer who is being notified by either text or call. If you are texting from the phone you wish to set up (i.e. you are the person to receive the texts and/or calls) then you do not need to enter the phone number, the device will automatically set the phone number from the text that is sent.

Also, whichever number is set as A1 will also receive a call if the upper side button is pressed on the device.

If you want to see which numbers are set, you can text A?

EXAMPLES:

Scenario 1: You want to receive alert texts and calls, as well as be called if the side button is pressed. There are no other carers. You would text A1,1,1

Scenario 2: You are setting the device up for your parents (mum goes wandering). You want to receive just text alerts, but no calls. You would rather your dad received a call if the side-button or SOS was pressed, but he doesn't want to receive texts as he doesn't have a mobile phone. You would text A1,0,1,01555123123 (being dad's landline phone number). You would then text A2,1,0 to ensure you get texts, but no calls (you are texting from your own phone, so it will be automatically set).

Scenario 3: You want you and your sister to receive alert texts, but no calls as your relative with dementia isn't going to be using any of the buttons. You would then text A1,1,0 to set yourself to receive texts, then A2,1,0,07786123123 (being your sisters mobile number) to allow your sister to also receive texts.

Scenario 4: You want to receive texts, but there are three more immediate family members/neighbours to be called and texted if the SOS button is pressed. The side-button should remain inactive. You would then text A2,1,1,(carer1's number)
A3,1,1,(carer2's number)
A4,1,1,(carer3's number)
A5,1,0 - this last one will ensure you still get texts, but no calls. As no one was set up in position A1, nothing will happen if the side button is pressed.

Things to be aware of:

Make sure the command is accurate

The command to be alerted if the Tracker leaves a 100 meter fence is GEO1,1,0,100M. Make sure you use a letter O in GEO and zeroes for the rest.

If you want to set a one kilometer fence, the command would be GEO1,1,0,001KM, and NOT GEO1,1,0,1KM. It needs a minimum of three digits for the distance. Three km would be GEO1,1,0,003KM, not GEO1,1,0,3.0KM

Drifting

GPS accuracy can reduce if the device is indoors, especially if its charging, nighttime, near big/tall trees, or if its raining or very cloudy. This is because in certain moments (sometimes only lasting seconds) it can’t lock onto as many satellites as it needs to get an accurate location. The area of inaccuracy can be as wide at 100M, but only in sudden moments.

This is why we recommend a minimum of 100M, to avoid false alerts.

Because of drifting, make sure the Tracker is where you think it is, before setting a geo-fence

If the device is indoors, and you send a geo-fence command, once in a while it's possible that at that very moment, the location is slightly inaccurate. Lets say it (wrongly) thinks it's 40 meters to the west of the house. If you set a 100m fence, that now means that you’ll get an alert if the device goes 140m west, and only 60m east of the house. Hopefully you can see why that would be the case.

So to ensure that the device isn’t drifting when you send the geo-fence command, send an Loc location request beforehand, to make sure it's where it should be. Better still – take it into the garden, or on a windowledge, before sending the Loc command, make sure its where it should be, then send GEO1,1,0,100M.

If you do still get false alerts when the device is indoors, you might want to make the geo-fence a little bigger. Remember that when its outdoors, the accuracy is much better. 

Consider using IN-TO zones, rather than an OUT-OF zone

If the person you’re tracking tends to take predictable routes when wandering – e.g. either up to one road, or down to another – then you could consider a geo-fence (or two geo-fences) that alerts you if they walk IN TO an area, rather than OUT OF one. If they live in the middle of a street for example, you could set two geo-fences that cover each end of the street. To do this, you would need to take the device to its “danger” zone, send Loc just to be sure, then GEO1,1,1,100M to set a 100m ‘in to’ zone. Then, if you do the same with the other end of the street, the command would be GEO2,1,0,100M (second geo-fence). You might get an instant alert as you’re already inside the zone, but that’s ok, when you step out of it the function will be ready to alert you next time. Of course, you’ll need to manage the zone sizes based on how far they are from the house – you don’t want any overlap or else you’ll get false alerts. 

Online Tracking gives more geo-fencing options.

You might want to consider setting up online tracking - the tutorial is here.

Once its set up and tracking, on the left of your monitoring window is a drop down for 'Geo-fences'. You can add a fence, and make it any shape you like on the map. It will then 'ping' the app on your phone instead. 

If you're using the pre-installed SIM card from GiffGaff, you have the option of selecting 'Pay As You Go' (PAYG) credit or a GoodyBag, within your account.

If you're a light user, texting here and there for a location and that's it, then it will make sense to stick with the PAYG Go credit option. At 10p a text, the £15 of credit you start with could last months this way.

If though, you are likely to have far more texts and/or calls sent from the device, then using the PAYG option would likely cost more than £6 a month. In this scenario, it would make sense to switch to the £6 per month GoodyBag, which includes unlimited texts and calls - this way, you should never spend more than £6.

If you have multiple carers set up across A1 to A5 for example, and they are all set to receive texts, then just one geo-fence alert will cost 50p using PAYG (as the device will send five texts - one to each carer). If the SOS button is pressed then it may be higher, as it will also call out if anyone who is set up to receive calls.

You can always log in to switch from one method to the other - e.g. PAYG to GoodyBag, or back again.

Choosing the right battery mode

Which battery mode you use really depends on whether you need the device to be 'busy' while its on the move.

If you use geofencing (wandering alerts) or online tracking (and specifically want to always see routes taken) then you'll need the device to be locating itself regularly to perform either of these functions. In that scenario, it's best to stay with the default battery mode, which is Mode2,05M,10H. This means the device checks/uploads its location every five minutes when on the move, and every ten hours when stationary. You can resend this text though, if you wish to change the regularity.

If however you don't wish to use geofencing or constant online tracking, and/or just want to see a location when you need one, then you can text Mode1 to the device. This will make the device only locate itself when you text it for a location. It will give longer battery life (up to seven days), as it's being less 'active' that way. If you're using online tracking, and you want to have it regularly upload while someone is missing, you can always text CL30S,10M - this means it will 'continuously locate' by uploading every 30 seconds, for 10 minutes (adjustable). This is really useful for a temporary burst of locations, just when you need them. This will also automatically happen if the SOS button is pressed.

Best practice when charging

If you follow these guidelines, you should find that your battery stays healthy for years. Obviously it won’t always be practical depending on your situation, so don’t feel you need to go out of your way to stick to them – but they will help the overall longevity of the battery.

Perform shallow discharges.

Instead of letting the battery drain to 0% all the time, the battery will perform best if it drains to about 20-50% before charging. Discharges to 50% are better for your battery’s long-term life than, say, small discharges to 90% or large discharges to 0% (50% discharges provide the best number of cycles-to-usage ratio).

Try not to leave it charging, when fully charged.

You don’t need to leave it on overnight as if it will somehow “really make sure” its fully charged. As soon as the red LED on the device is constant or off or the red light on the charging cradle dims, then remove it from charging.

Fully discharge it once a month.

This may seem contradictory, but while the battery shouldn’t be heavily discharged regularly, fully discharging your battery once a month will help make sure the reported battery level stays accurate.

Keep it cool.

Excess heat is not only bad for the device’s processor, but the battery as well. A hot battery will degrade in health much quicker than a cool one. Where customers accidentally put their Trackers through a washing machine, it wasn’t the water that caused damage (they’re waterproof) but heat damaging the battery. Try not to leave them on car dashboards, in front of old windows (which can have a convexed lens effect), near radiators etc.

If you feel you need a replacement battery

Try discharging and fully recharging your battery to ensure that its reporting on battery levels correctly, and test how long you’re getting out of it. Your battery life should reflect how many functions you’re running (e.g. geofencing, online tracking). If you still think you need a new battery, get in touch and let us know (please also mention what you've tried already and why you think it needs replacing). 

NOTE: When the device is charging, the battery level report in response texts won’t be accurate – it may show 100% battery even if the device is still charging.

Please remember that charging isn’t complete until the red LED on the device itself is either constant or off.

The GPS chip won’t be as able to retrieve an accurate location while charging either – added to which the device is indoors anyway. For this reason, you are likely to get an old date/time stamp in location reports, when the device is charging.

When the SOS button is pressed, relevant alert numbers will be called in turn.

If you answer a call, and you're able to assist, then you won't want the call sequence to continue calling the other numbers. Pressing "1" on your phone's keypad, while in the SOS call from the Tracker, will prevent the further calls being made. 

There is a reminder of this in the background of the SOS call from the tracker, where you should hear "press 1 to cancel the call sequence".

This might seem fiddly - but really it's the best way of handling the problem of voicemails. If a voicemail answers, it won't be able to cancel the call sequence, so the next relevant person in line will be called instead.

If the device is still switched on, then you have three options:

1. Locate with loc or loc,gps to get a location
2. Call the device - it will answer automatically and you can talk through the speaker to help locate it.
3. Text findme - it will emit a series of beeps for about 15 seconds to help you find it.

If the tracker is switched off (no text responses or calls getting through) then unfortunately you won't be able to get any information from it. The last location text may be useful, providing the date and time shown is recent enough.

If you have friends or family who you want to email a copy of the manual to, you can download an easy-to-print version by clicking here. Or right click on the link and select “save target as” – then choose a place to save it.

You can adjust the time relative to GMT that you see in the text messages, for locations etc.

Text TZ+01 to push the time zone forward by one hour, TZ-01 to go back an hour, TZ+05 to go forward 5 hours.

This is useful for daylight savings time in the summer, or if going abroad.

Text prefix1,[name] to the Tracker – e.g. prefix1,Dads Tracker. It will then put “Dads Tracker” at the top of all the reply text messages. If you want to remove the name, just text prefix0.

Ringtone

When you call the device, it will answer automatically without a rington. If you wish to set a brief ringtone instead, text rt20 for a quiet one, rt100 for loudest, and rt0 to cancel it again.

Vibration

If you call the device, it will vibrate before automatically answering. If the fall alert is set, the device will vibrate while triggering the alert. If the SOS button is pressed, it will vibrate when triggering the alert. If you wish to disable all vibrations, text vibrate0. This means the device will operate silently, even if being called (an incoming call will just automatically answer without any indication). Text vibrate1 to activate it again.

Manually Answer Calls

The device will answer incoming calls automatically. If you wish for the person to press the SOS button to answer a call instead, text answer1. To answer automatically again, text answer0,0 (the second zero is how many seconds to wait before answering).

Speaker Volume

The default speaker volume is 70 (out of 100). To adjust, text speakervolume15 for quiet, or speakervolume100 for loud.

Turn off the LEDs

Text led0 to turn off the LEDs, and led1 to turn them back on again.

If the person you’re caring for is liable to fiddle and/or press buttons accidentally, then you might want to reduce the chances of the SOS button being triggered without losing alerts for low battery, or other functions like geofencing.

To do this, send the text message SOS1,600 - this means that the button will need to be held for over a minute before triggering. If you wish to restore it again, text SOS1,20 (meaning it only needs to be pressed for two seconds). If you wanted it to be pressed for ten seconds before triggering, it would be SOS1,100.

Please always test as the exact times will vary.

If the SOS button is triggered, the device will call the authorised numbers in turn. To avoid the problem of voicemails, when the call is answered, the carer has the option of pressing "1" to cancel further calls to the next authorised numbers. A prompt is heard in the background of the call about this ("press 1 to cancel the call sequence"). If a voicemail answers instead, it won't be able to press "1", so the next number will be called automatically.

(Note: the default call duration is set to 117 seconds - so a voicemail answering will cost 2 minutes of credit - set just below 120 seconds to avoid going into 3 minutes).

To help avoid voicemails, you can set the amount of time that the device waits while calling each number. The default is 15 seconds. To shorten it, text soscall06s,03m. This means it will wait for six seconds before moving to the next number (hopefully before a voicemail kicks in, and showing up as a missed call instead). The "03m" means that when answered, it will stay connected for three minutes before automatically terminating. If you would like these numbers to be shorter or longer, you can adjust accordingly. If you have any trouble with this, please get in touch using the form below (select "something else" from the options) and explain your situation - we'll then assist you.

Remember you can always also call the device if you need to, and it will (by default) answer automatically.

By default, the device will make one loop of calls before stopping. If you set the call wait time quite short, and there is a risk of no one having time to pick up, then you can increase the number of 'loops' the device makes - i.e. call each number in turn again until someone answers. To adjust this, text loop2 for two loops (up to a maximum of ten). To reduce to one again, loop1.

Click here to log in to your GiffGaff account.

You can use either your membername (in your activation emails somewhere) or the tracker's phone number.

You will hopefully remember the password you chose - if not, click the "forgot your password" link (or here).

When logging in, GiffGaff will send you a 6 digit verification pin to ensure it's you. If your default option is by text, you will of course need to choose the "get code by email" link instead, as it's no good having the verification code sent to your tracker.

If someone else set up the account for you and used their own email account, you will need to liaise with them in order to get the relevant information from their email account.

These instructions are for GiffGaff users only.

Its unlikely that your GPS Tracker will get a call or text from an unwanted premium number (scams etc). However, it's not impossible - some automated scammers will text or call random numbers. If your device receives a strange text, it might automatically reply back with "Format Error!" as it doesn't recognise the command - which could end up being charged as a premium rate text from your account.

It's very unlikely, but it's better to take the precaution of preventing this.

Step one: Click here and log in if need be.

Step two: You'll see the option of "Incoming premium calls and texts". If this has a green "Allowed" box, then click on it to block them instead.

That's it!

GiffGaff sometimes change their pages and page link structure - if anything changes that would be useful for us to update, please do let us know. 

By default, any external phone number is able to call the device for a 2-way call.

This is useful if you want to share the number with any other helpers, or the police, in a search for example without having to set them up first as authorised numbers.

The disadvantage though is that the tracker could also receive a call from an unknown (or mistaken) number. You can prevent this by ensuring that only authorised numbers are able to call the device.

To activate this, text callin1 to the device.

If you wish to enable anyone to be able call the device (default), you can text callin0.