This page describes how to configure LBS (Location-based service) for Navixy On-premise solution. To find out what this feature is used for and how it is configured in the user interface, please refer to the corresponding page in the user manuals.
All LBS operations are performed by tcp-server. Therefore, the activation of this function and the setting of its work is performed in the configuration file of this service: /home/java/tcp-server/conf/config.properties (Linux).
For the LBS feature to be enabled, the configuration file must contain the following parameter:
geocodingService.lbs.enabled=true
Depending on the platform version and its previous configurations, this parameter may be missing or have the false value. If the parameter is missing, you can add it as a separate line at the bottom of the configuration.
By default, the platform makes requests to the LBS service every 20 minutes. This interval can be adjusted by adding the following parameter to the configuration (the value is specified in minutes and can be anything on your choice):
geocodingService.lbs.delay=15m
After the configuration is changed, tcp-server must be restarted to apply the new settings.
LBS services
Navixy platform does not have a built-in LBS point database. When receiving LBS data from a device, the platform performs a query to an external database.
By default, the Mozilla Location Services (MLS) is used for this. This is an open public geolocation service that allows anybody to process LBS requests and obtain LBS data. Although its performance is sufficient in most cases, the service is provided "as is", so its accuracy and stability are not guaranteed.
In some cases, the MLS service may not return the coordinates. This may be due to a high load on the service, or the lack of information in the service database. Unfortunately, in this case there is no way to influence the service operation.
If you often encounter the problem described above, or if MLS performance is not sufficient in your country, and if using LBS is crucial for you, you can use Google LBS service. This service is provided on a commercial basis, which implies certain performance guarantees.
To configure Google LBS operation on the platform, you need to do the following:
1. Contact Google to purchase the API key required for LBS.
2. Add this key to the api-server configuration: /home/java/api-server/conf/config.properties
You need to add the following parameter to the configuration (replace KEY with your key):
lbs.google.apiKey=KEY
3. Go to the admin panel, open Account management → Service preferences, and select Google in "Cell ID geolocation".
4. Make sure that "Location by Cell ID" is selected in the tariff plan settings for the devices.
Please note that Google charges a fee for every LBS request. With a large number of devices sending LBS data, using this service can be quite expensive. You can reduce costs by limiting the use of this service to specific devices only. To do this, create a plan with the "Location by Cell ID" option enabled, disable this option for all other plans, and then assign this plan to the necessary devices.
Requests to LBS service are performed only for those devices for which the option is active. If the option is not enabled for a plan, LBS data will not be processed even if the device sends it.