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emergency services and what3words


Jim Riley

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Apropos of nothing,

 

as an estate agent until a few weeks ago, i used to call people who were late for an appointment at a property, for which they have been sent the address and postcode, only to find that they have no idea where it is, (postcodes identify an area, not an individual spot). There then followed a convoluted procedure in order to talk them to the point where we could wave at each other.

 

If W3W were in common useage, an email with the 3 word location, would identify the precise location, along with a choice of apps to give directions.

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2 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

Apropos of nothing,

 

as an estate agent until a few weeks ago, i used to call people who were late for an appointment at a property, for which they have been sent the address and postcode, only to find that they have no idea where it is, (postcodes identify an area, not an individual spot). There then followed a convoluted procedure in order to talk them to the point where we could wave at each other.

 

If W3W were in common useage, an email with the 3 word location, would identify the precise location, along with a choice of apps to give directions.

Very true, and hopefully it will be in common use before too long.

 

Even while it isn't you can still text or email your W3W location to them. Even if they have never heard of W3W before they can click the link and a map will show them exactly where you are. They don't need the app for this.

 

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2 hours ago, Lily Rose said:

 

I've tried it now. In the Android app I clicked share and it gave me loads of options including Gmail, SMS and WhatsApp. I emailed it to my wife and she opened it on her iPad which doesn't have W3W installed. The link opened the web browser and showed her our precise current location on a map (and satellite view).

 

I also called up my marina pontoon's location (saved as a favourite), clicked on Navigate here, selected Waze and got directions from where I am now to my pontoon. Much better than using the marina's postcode. 

 

So you used the app to locate a place on a map, sent that information to another, who clicked on the link and got a map showing the same location. And neither of you actually needed to memorise or record the three words for that location.

Sounds like a win!

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4 minutes ago, David Mack said:

 

So you used the app to locate a place on a map, sent that information to another, who clicked on the link and got a map showing the same location. And neither of you actually needed to memorise or record the three words for that location.

Sounds like a win!

Exactly that.

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1 hour ago, Richard10002 said:

Apropos of nothing,

 

as an estate agent until a few weeks ago, i used to call people who were late for an appointment at a property, for which they have been sent the address and postcode, only to find that they have no idea where it is, (postcodes identify an area, not an individual spot). There then followed a convoluted procedure in order to talk them to the point where we could wave at each other.

 

If W3W were in common useage, an email with the 3 word location, would identify the precise location, along with a choice of apps to give directions.

Oddly enough when I tried the website and pressed 'current location' it was no more accurate than a post code would have been (I'm in house number 9 and it put the spot on number 32 which is on the other side of the road).

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24 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Oddly enough when I tried the website and pressed 'current location' it was no more accurate than a post code would have been (I'm in house number 9 and it put the spot on number 32 which is on the other side of the road).

 

If it uses GPS, which I assume it must, to locate your position it can only be as accurate as that allows so it may not always be spot on. 

 

However, as someone pointed out earlier, you can see it on a map/satellite image and if it's not quite right it's very simple to drag and drop it and then you get the correct 3 words for your 3m * 3m location.

 

 

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Just been experimenting with the W3W app. I typed in the name of my location yesterday and up came the 3 words.

 

This is where I was...

 

https://w3w.co/laughs.greyhound.spearhead

 

I'm getting more and more impressed the more I play with it.

 

What makes it very useful is that you can send information to people who don't have the app, and may have never even heard of it. Despite this, they can still see the precise location on a map/satellite image. As clicking on the link above should demonstrate.

 

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9 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

I could be with you in 2 hrs and 24 minutes :) 

It works doesn't it!

 

It told me, via Waze, that I could be back at my marina in 57 minutes.

 

Canalplan tells me it will be about 22 hours. Which at my normal rate of progress will be one to two weeks. Or at today's rate of progress, due to there being lots of weather about, never.

 

It strikes me that there is a use for W3W in Canalworld postings. I've often seen people giving suggestions for good mooring spots and I've contributed a number of these myself. However, quite often, especially on the Thames, it is far from obvious where exactly those spots are. A simple copy and paste from W3W would solve that problem easily.

 

 

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21 hours ago, Thorfast said:

I have downloaded the app, but am struggling to see how it will become common use for the majority.

There is no logic to it, no intuition, no progression. With OS grid references you can work out where you are and understand how to calculate other locations. With longtitude and latidude the same applies. What3words is completely random, one 3 metre square has no words that relate or link it to the adjoining 3 metre square.How can anyone learn how to use it, how to calculate their position. No logic, no progression...completely random.

You put the three words into any smart device, phone, I pad etc with GPS and a map comes  a map. you then click another button and it gives you directions from where you are to get there. just like putting a location in Tom Tom. Not many people carry piles of paper maps these days and even less people can use them,

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15 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

 

It strikes me that there is a use for W3W in Canalworld postings. I've often seen people giving suggestions for good mooring spots and I've contributed a number of these myself. However, quite often, especially on the Thames, it is far from obvious where exactly those spots are. A simple copy and paste from W3W would solve that problem easily.

 

 

You mean sort of like this (https://www.google.com/maps/place/53°12'41.1"N+2°28'14.3"W/@53.2106102,-2.4716365,16.21z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d53.211429!4d-2.47065  )

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2 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Yeah, that works too.

 

But then again, I never said W3W is the only way to do it.

 

I've tried using Google Maps in the past to send an exact location and it seemed a bit hit and miss to me. Perhaps it was just me though.

 

I found it very easy with W3W.

 

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3 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Sorry I didn't quite catch that over the sound of the boat engine.  Can you repeat it over the phone please? 

Yup," CUT AND PASTE!":rolleyes:

12 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

Yeah, that works too.

 

But then again, I never said W3W is the only way to do it.

 

I've tried using Google Maps in the past to send an exact location and it seemed a bit hit and miss to me. Perhaps it was just me though.

 

I found it very easy with W3W.

 

What I haven't found on the site yet (perhaps just me) how does it work offline?

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

You put the three words into any smart device, phone, I pad etc with GPS and a map comes  a map. you then click another button and it gives you directions from where you are to get there. just like putting a location in Tom Tom. Not many people carry piles of paper maps these days and even less people can use them,

So........to find somewhere or to go somewhere I have to find the location on a map, then get the app to give me the three word code, and then it will show me where it is on a map........am I missing something?

Alternatively I have to have someone at each location to give me the three words for their location so that I can use the app to find them on a map.

 

I see the use in remote locations, deserts, forests, even occasionally the remote areas in our Canal system.....but to suggest it is the greatest location finder since sliced bread and that it will soon be used by everyone is to me nonsense.

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28 minutes ago, Thorfast said:

So........to find somewhere or to go somewhere I have to find the location on a map, then get the app to give me the three word code, and then it will show me where it is on a map........am I missing something?

Alternatively I have to have someone at each location to give me the three words for their location so that I can use the app to find them on a map.

 

I see the use in remote locations, deserts, forests, even occasionally the remote areas in our Canal system.....but to suggest it is the greatest location finder since sliced bread and that it will soon be used by everyone is to me nonsense.

 

I don't think you want it to be any good.

 

If I am out in the sticks in the boat (usually the case) then this is a very good way to summon help in an emergency. Certainly better than "we're about half a mile or so east of bridge 38". If it wasn't good for this I doubt if the emergency services would be suggesting we download it. Have you read the BBC article?

 

If I want to let a visitor know where to find us I turn on GPS, launch the app, click Share and text/email/WhatsApp them a link. They click the link (they don't need to have, or know anything about, W3W) and they get a map/satellite image showing PRECISELY where I am. If they want directions they can click Navigate Here and their GPS app will provide them.

 

 

 

 

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I see the benefit it offers for making it easy to find a boater in a remote location on the canal system....I get that.

 

It would be very useful in other remote locations.....but.....

Will it be useful in a remote forest in Scotland to find your location...no...no mobile signal

Will it locate me in the centre of Iceland where I have been several times........no .........no mobile signal only satelite phones

Will it locate me in the Gobi desert....no...no mobile signal

Will it locate me in the middle of the Atlantic when my yacht is sinking...no...no coverage.

Will my next door neigbours use it....no....they have no need, other systems more ingrained in our society work well for them.

 

It has a very limited, though useful for a very few, appeal.

It will not replace other systems. It will not be used by 90% of the population as some people here seem to suggest.

 

Me....I'm an old git who prefers to use an OS map! So perhaps im biased, but I dont think so.

Edited by Thorfast
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2 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Yup," CUT AND PASTE!":rolleyes:

What I haven't found on the site yet (perhaps just me) how does it work offline?

W3W needs GPS, just like Google Maps.

 

As far as I can tell it only needs a phone signal (or internet via your wifi) in order to display a map. I believe you would still get the 3 word location without internet as long as you have GPS. I have not put this to the test yet.

 

I don't wait for an emergency though. As soon as we moor up for the night I turn on GPS, launch the app and write down that night's 3 word location in my log book. no phone signal necessary. It is then immediately hand if I, or my technophobe wife, needed to summon help.

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, Thorfast said:

I see the benefit it offers for making it easy to find a boater in a remote location on the canal system....I get that.

 

Will it be useful in a remote forest in Scotland to find your location...no...no mobile signal

Will it locate me in the centre of Iceland where I have been several times........no .........no mobile signal only satelite phones

Will it locate me in the Gobi desert....no...no mobile signal

Will it locate me in the middle of the Atlantic when my yacht is sinking...no...no coverage.

Will my next door neigbours use it....no....they have no need, other systems more ingrained in our society work well for them.

 

It has a very limited, though useful for a very few, appeal.

It will not replace other systems. It will not be used by 90% of the population as some people here seem to suggest.

 

Me....I'm an old git who prefers to use an OS map! So perhaps im biased, but I dont think so.

 

You do not need a mobile signal. It uses GPS.

 

I am also an old git. I also like OS maps. That does not mean that I cannot see that this app might prove be very useful for anyone, young or old, in certain circumstances. That's good enough for me.

 

 

Edited by Lily Rose
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1 hour ago, Thorfast said:

I see the benefit it offers for making it easy to find a boater in a remote location on the canal system....I get that.

 

It would be very useful in other remote locations.....but.....

Will it be useful in a remote forest in Scotland to find your location...no...no mobile signal

Will it locate me in the centre of Iceland where I have been several times........no .........no mobile signal only satelite phones

Will it locate me in the Gobi desert....no...no mobile signal

Will it locate me in the middle of the Atlantic when my yacht is sinking...no...no coverage.

 

And how are you going to tell them where you are with no signal after you have worked out on your OS map where you are using your sextant

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2 hours ago, Thorfast said:

So........to find somewhere or to go somewhere I have to find the location on a map, then get the app to give me the three word code, and then it will show me where it is on a map........am I missing something?

Alternatively I have to have someone at each location to give me the three words for their location so that I can use the app to find them on a map.

 

I see the use in remote locations, deserts, forests, even occasionally the remote areas in our Canal system.....but to suggest it is the greatest location finder since sliced bread and that it will soon be used by everyone is to me nonsense.

I think you are either being deliberately obstreporous, (which would be strange), or you are not getting the point. You are missing something :) 

 

The idea behind it is to identify where you, or something, is, for someone else to be able to find you, or it.

 

Particularly useful fro remote locations like you suggest but also for pinpointing any position to within 3 meters.

 

I have watched, (on TV), Helicopter ambulances flying around looking for the location of their casualty. Eventually, they see someone waving, look for a suitable place to land, and on they go. With a 3 word location, they will know exactly where they are going from the moment they receive the words.

 

yes... a lat and long will do it, or an OS grid reference, but many people have no idea what these are, never mind how to find them.

 

Having said all of that.... it doesnt really matter, (until it matters). If you dont see the value, and arent inclined to use it, there is no need to. There might come a day when you find yourself in a situation where you think, "That 3 word thing might be handy right now".

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13 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 Imagine someone with a very broad Scottish accent trying to give three random words to a southern English call handler. 

Imagine trying to explain to a 999 call handler who is in the depth of Scotland and has never heard of canals, exactly where you are on the southern Grand Union near a bridge where an un-numbered road crosses the canal, several miles away from a couple of villages that she can't find on the map, all while desperately trying to stay conscious after suffering a serious injury. The only reason the ambulance found me was that the driver called my number, from 10 miles away when he couldn't find me, and somebody else from another boat that had stopped picked it up and answered then talked them in using his local knowledge of the lanes. The app would have helped then.

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22 hours ago, Lily Rose said:

W3W needs GPS, just like Google Maps.

 

As far as I can tell it only needs a phone signal (or internet via your wifi) in order to display a map. I believe you would still get the 3 word location without internet as long as you have GPS. I have not put this to the test yet.

 

I don't wait for an emergency though. As soon as we moor up for the night I turn on GPS, launch the app and write down that night's 3 word location in my log book. no phone signal necessary. It is then immediately hand if I, or my technophobe wife, needed to summon help.

 

 

 

 

You do not need a mobile signal. It uses GPS.

 

I am also an old git. I also like OS maps. That does not mean that I cannot see that this app might prove be very useful for anyone, young or old, in certain circumstances. That's good enough for me.

 

 

Isn't this sort of mutually exclusive? Either it needs a phone signal, or it doesn't, and I've yet to find out how it works without a phone signal. I'm not saying it doesn't but having been on the site I cannot find out how it will give you a location if you haven't got a connection to it. The only way I could see that happening is if it downloaded all of the location data from the world onto your mobile, and I suspect that might be quite a lot of data. In fairness I've been going onto the site from a laptop (I don't have a smartphone) but when we have a signal as rubbish as I've got at my current location, it takes forever for a recognisable map to come up on the website to be able to select a location on it. When I did eventually get a map up, I looked up a location that I am aware of, the three words were costs.bump.seat which gives a location on the outskirts of London, however very similar words cost.bump.seat gives a location in Sussex and costs,bumps,seat gives you a location in Illinois,USA.

 

The cynic in me would also think that if the company could get everyone using the system, that would be the point at which they would monetise it (as Google maps seem to have done)

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