Location Dependent Services

Why Trust Techopedia

What Does Location Dependent Services Mean?

Location dependent services are those services that have been developed as a result of mobile computing and wireless networks. They allow the user to connect and use services that are available in their vicinity.

Advertisements

These services include those which are used to identify the location information and provide necessary information about that specific location.

Techopedia Explains Location Dependent Services

Location based services are dependent on:

  • Time Independency: Irrespective of the time, whenever the user invokes the service the results should be available.
  • Location dependent information: Irrespective of the location the user should be able to obtain the information when needed.

Location based services require client devices, application data regarding the application, network connectivity and the actual content to deliver the service on the user’s phone. Some types of location based services include:

  • Follow-on services: An example is forwarding calls to the current user location by assigning a temporary phone number to the user’s actual phone. This allows the user to redirect incoming calls to the user location.
  • Location aware services: An example is printing a document from an office laptop in a hotel. The printing service would locate the nearest printer in the hotel and print it there instead of in the office. This all depends on the location of the user. The user’s laptop is located in the hotel; if it was located in the office, the document would print in the office.
  • Privacy: The service classes mentioned above raise the question about privacy. This service allows the user to either screen themselves or the service depending on their requirements. It allows them to utilize either the follow on service or the location based service at any one time.
  • Information Services: The information service allows the user to pull down information about the location and the service.
  • Support Services: This could be any service that the user utilizes as a result of its location.
Advertisements

Related Terms

Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.