How to Trace a Cell Phone Location

New advances in technology have made it possible for anybody to trace a cell phone location.
These advances in technology designed to trace a cell phone location came about as a result of a number of recent events, including the events of September 11, 2001. Technological breakthroughs which have occurred since then include the inclusion of GPS technology in most mobile phones, and an improved ability to detect a phone's location based on signals from local transmission towers.

There are number services on the Internet which allow you to trace the location of a cell phone. They may differ in therms of interface and appearance, butthey are using the same data from the telecom companies.

In the past the only way to gain access to the technology to trace a cell phone location was to buy equipment, and the use of this equipment was largely regulated to official organisations such as the police.

The way these services work is by gathering information from the telecom company that provides the cell phone service. this information includes the location of the cell phone as calculated by a combination of factors including the GPS as previously mentioned, and the distance to each of the nearest cellphone transmission masts. This is the same information which the police get.

There are wide range of reasons why you might want to trace a cell phone location, such as trying to find out where a friend or relative rates while you're out and about, keeping track of the location of a child, meeting up with friends, and trying to find shops and restaurants near you. Companies make use of these services in order to track their employees location, and also to provide security for employees when they are working in a remote location on their own. In the end, there are probably as many reasons as there are users.

The way GPS technology works in modern cell phones varies between the different cellphone networks, and with some operators it does not continuously transmit location. This means that when you want to trace a cell phone location, the information that you will be gathering is most likely collected from transmission tower locations.

The location of the phone will be tracked using triangulation - by taking 2 or more readings, it is possible to calculate where the signal is comming from by working out the triangle that fits the signal strengths. The 3rd point is the location of the phone.

However, when the person who has the phone has made an emergency call, this GPS transmission will always be sent. This is designed to ensure that the police can always track a cell phone location, in order to get help to people who need it.

The result of this design that the accuracy of the location which is provided by the service will be greater in areas which are more populated, and have more radio transmission masts, and will be lower in areas where there are very few radio masts, such is the wastelands, deserts, or un-populated areas of countryside. So, it is easier to track a cell phone location with a high level of accuracy in built up areas.

Nonetheless, most times you trace a cell phone location the information from the cell phone masts should be fine. After all, you do not need to know the person's location with a very great deal of accuracy for most purposes.

Matthew Burns is the author of Internet Guider. He has published a guide to cell phone search resources to help you locate cell phone numbers on the Internet.