Somebody is Watching You
When I make station visits or speak to postmasters, some of the topics that they discuss are stationary time how carriers are staying in one place for a long period of time, carriers backing up in the postal vehicles and scanning parcels not at the delivery point.
Now in the world of GPS and scanners management knows your whereabouts constantly.
Management knows how long it takes you to load your vehicle, how long it takes you to get to your first relay, how long each relay takes and how long it takes you to return to the office after completing your assignment. They know when you take your lunch break, and they know when you take your street break(s). They know when you deviate from the route, when you are off your route and in other territories and they know where and when you scan parcels.
The IMADS & RIMS programs effectively establish management’s ability to observe a carrier’s location and activity throughout the workday from the comfort of their computer in their office or at the District office or both locations. As part of the Intelligent Mail Data Acquisition System (IMDAS), several features have been introduced to help USPS meet its goal of providing near real time delivery notification to its customers.
The first feature is the wireless IMD that provides Global Positioning System (GPS) data on the location of the IMDs and geo-location of scanned parcels.
The second major feature is the Regional Intelligent Mail Server (RIMS) which is a cloud-based enterprise system that replaces the LIMs at delivery units and provides Local Intelligent Mail server (LIM) capability to all delivery units. In addition to providing LIM capability to delivery units, the RIMS also provides users with new reports and map displays utilizing the GPS and geo-location scan data that is being collected and transmitted by the wireless IMDs.
The Tracking Tab allows the user to view MSP, CPMS and wireless status reports and the position of carriers in near real time and to view the detail of related data presented in a number of different contexts. The Tracking Tab opens automatically to the Summary of Wireless Users and Routes. The information is only displayed for the Location (System ID#) set by the user on the Home Tab. All Tracking Tab pages have the Shortcuts menu on the left side of the page. The Shortcuts on the left side of the page include: • MSP Records • MSP Delta Report • CPMS Records • CPMS Delta Report • Wireless Daily Scan & GPS Status Report • Wireless Users and Routes (Default Page) • Wireless Devices • Map Route Tracks • Map Address and User Location GPS Locations. For each route ID where GPS data is available, the MSP report has a link to display, on a map, all the locations where MSP scans were performed. The scan locations will appear as pins on the map.
The red pin shows the location of the most recent MSP scan. The GPS information for a specific scan location is displayed in a scrollable pop-up box when the user clicks on one of the pins.
The MSP Delta Report compares today’s date MSP records with yesterday’s MSP records and highlights table rows with any discrepancies. The following fields are included in the following order for each record in the report: • Previous Barcode ID • Previous Event Date Time • Previous User ID • Today’s Barcode ID • Today’s Event Date Time • Today’s User ID • Route ID.
The Wireless Daily Scan and GPS Status report is sortable by Route ID or User ID/Employee ID.
There are two records in the report for each Carrier/Route ID pair, one associated with the cell phone and one associated with the IMD. The first record includes System ID, Route ID, Employee ID, cell phone IMEI and a column labeled “GPS” indicating whether GPS data was received. The second record includes the System ID, Route ID, User ID (from the IMD,) IMD ID (IMD serial number) and how scan data was uploaded to the RIMS (via cradle or via wireless communication).
The Map Route Tracks feature enables the RIMS user to view the tracks and current map location of a single wireless IMD for a day or part of a day. The user may select the wireless IMD tracks to view by Route ID, cell phone Device ID (cell phone IMEI number), Phone Number, or Employee ID.
Clicking on Map Last Available Day displays the most recent set of tracks for the device based on the search criteria entered. The system will fill in the date information to correspond with the track information displayed. The user may also specify a time range to view the route track information for the selected day.
The GPS Locations page displays the most recent GPS data in a searchable table. GPS records are stored on the RIMS for thirty days. GPS records older than thirty days are deleted. Any or all the records can be displayed. The records in the table include the following fields: • Device Event Time • Posting Time • Employee ID • Route ID • Device ID • Phone Number • Speed (miles per hour) • Direction (0-359) • Distance (from cell phone initial coordinates in miles).
Not only are you being watched by your local post office, but you are also being watched by the District. So, you have two chances to come up on these reports.
