About Device Tracker

Overview

Device Tracker is a cloud-based scalable solution that easily tracks Zebra Android mobile devices, finds missing devices and helps prevent device inventory shrinkage. Misplaced or lost devices within a facility are tracked by leveraging existing Wi-Fi network infrastructure and utilizing Bluetooth technology and audio chirping to locate devices. When locating a device, Device Tracker identifies the general area where the device is located based on the Access Point (AP) it is connected to within the facility. The visual proximity indicator relies on Bluetooth beacon transmissions to determine the approximate location of the device. Audio can be played on the misplaced device to further pinpoint its location.

Video: Overview of Device Tracker

Main Features

Main features of Device Tracker:

• Cloud-based scalable solution hosted and maintained by Zebra with support for up to 100K devices in multiple locations up to 5K sites.
• Support for central administrator, site manager, and site associate roles.
  • Device dashboard for administrator to centrally track devices across multiple sites with ability to view at site-level.
  • Device dashboard for site manager to track devices at the site-level and mark a misplaced or at-risk (e.g. low battery) device for retrieval.
  • Web portal for centralized administration of system settings and admin and site manager users.
• Registration of:
  • Sites and access points with friendly names to easily identify device location.
  • Devices to assigned site with user friendly names for simple device identification.
• Simple to deploy – install and configure the mobile application using StageNow and Enterprise Mobility Management tools.
• Easily find a misplaced device with the connected AP location, the Bluetooth-based visual proximity indicator and play sound feature.
• Locate a device even when that device is powered off (for a limited time) if it has secondary Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beaconing capability.
• Checkout feature to associate users to devices for accountability. (Optional)

Important Note

• When the device is configured with a PIN, Password, or Pattern lock and is rebooted, the Device Tracker client application cannot communicate with the server as long as the device stays locked. The device remains disconnected and cannot be tracked until the user unlocks it to communicate with the server. This behavior applies to all Zebra Android 13 devices and Android 11 devices with FBE (file-based encryption) enabled. A viable solution to ensure proper functionality post-reboot involves configuring the device with a Swipe lock or no lock at all. This issue is caused by the Firebase Authentication API utilized by the server which does not take into affect until the user unlocks the device.

New in Device Tracker 5.0

• New automation feature to automatically set devices to certain states depending on the thresholds reached or configurations selected to ease the process of finding and tracking devices.
• Now automatically assign a device to a known site based on its connected access point (AP) with automatic device registration.
• New Device Checkin Options to select the method of checkin: manual, cradle, or reboot.
• New capability to play an audio alert if Do Not Disturb (DND) is enabled on the lost device being tracked.

Version History

New in Device Tracker 4.2

• Device Tracker now supports TC52AX and MC33AX and their optional battery-based BLE enabling Device Tracker to locate the device when powered off.
• Eliminated the need to allow *.google.com through the firewall or proxy. See Network Requirements.
• Added support for Android 11 devices. See Device Compatibility.
• Fixed an intermittent issue when a user is unable to scan a barcode to checkout the device.
• Known Behavior: During a Google Play Services update, the Device Tracker app gets closed. Relaunch the Device Tracker app or reboot the device to continue tracking of the device.
• Known issue: When the device is configured with a PIN, Password, or Pattern lock and is rebooted, the Device Tracker application cannot communicate with the Firestore server while the device remains locked. The device must be unlocked to establish communication with the server. This behavior applies to all Zebra A13 devices and A11 devices with FBE (file-based encryption) enabled. A viable solution to ensure proper functionality post-reboot involves configuring the device with a Swipe lock or no lock at all. This issue is caused by the Firebase Authentication API which does not take into affect until the user unlocks the device.

New in Device Tracker 4.1

• Locate a device even when that device is powered off (for a limited time) if it has secondary BLE beaconing capability.
• New device support for EC50. See Supported Devices.
• Added support to silently deploy Device Tracker on mobile devices using EMM and StageNow, allowing uninterrupted device operation for the end user (if Checkout is not enabled).
• Administrator or manager can scan a barcode for user name and password during login, eliminating manual entry.
• Resolved Issues:
  • After repeatedly launching Device Tracker over several weeks without rebooting the device, the app may become unresponsive.
  • When there are multiple pools of licenses with different expiration dates, an incorrect license count is reported after the licenses expire.
• Known Issue: When installing the application on a mobile device using an EMM, some EMMs may not have implemented the Zebra value-added features for seamless deployment. Alternatively, an XML file can be generated from the StageNow profile and consumed by the EMM for seamless deployment. Refer to the Install & Setup guide.

Device Tracker Comparison

Comparison of Device Tracker On-Prem and Device Tracker cloud-based:

See Also

• Licensing
• Install & Setup
• Secondary BLE
• Configuration
• Track Devices