Using mobile phone data to log activities and generate activity records
Various embodiments concern obtaining mobile device data and generating activity logs. More specifically, mobile device data such as data indicating the location and time of a mobile device is obtained. The time and location may be automatically obtained and recorded using location service APIs on the mobile device. The obtained data is then used to generate a report including the time, duration, and location of activities associated with the user of the mobile device. Thus, an activity log is automatically generated using the time and location data.
1. A computer-implemented method for obtaining mobile device data and generating an activity log on a Salesforce platform, comprising:
obtaining, by a processor, a first location data indicative of a first location of a mobile device, a time data indicative of when the mobile device enters or exits the first location, and a user data indicative of a user associated with the mobile device;
classifying, by the processor, the time data as entry time data indicative of when the mobile location device entered the first location or exit time data indicative of when the mobile location device exited the first location;
applying, by the processor, rules to the entry time data and exit time data to determine duration data indicative of the duration that the mobile device was at the first location;
creating, by the processor, a first record including the first location data, entry time data, exit time data, duration data, and user data;
accessing, by the processor, project data including a project identifier indicative of a project to be performed at a second location and a project location data indicative of the second location;
associating, by the processor, the first record with the project data by matching the first location data of the first record with the project location data of the project data;
creating, by the processor, a second record including the duration data and user data from the first record and the project identifier from the project data;
generating, by the processor, a timecard entry based on the second record and indicating the duration the user spent working on the project; and
transmitting, by the processor, the timecard entry to the user.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device data is obtained using a Google Android or Apple iOS location services application programming interface (API).
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second records are created using a Salesforce API.
4. A computer-implemented method for obtaining mobile device data and generating an activity log, comprising:
obtaining, by a processor, a first location data indicative of a first location of a mobile device, an entry time data indicative of when the mobile location device entered the first location, an exit time data indicative of when the mobile location device exited the first location, and a user data indicative of a user associated with the mobile device;
creating, by the processor, a first record including the first location data, entry time data, exit time data, duration data derived from the entry time data and exit time data, and user data;
accessing, by the processor, a project data including a project identifier indicative of a project to be performed at a second location and a second location data indicative of the second location;
associating, by the processor, the first record with the project data;
creating, by the processor, a second record including the duration data from the first record and the project identifier from the project data;
generating, by the processor, a timecard entry based on the second record and indicating the duration the employee spent working on the project; and
transmitting, by the processor, the timecard entry to the user.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the entry data and exit data are determined by classifying time data from the mobile device as either entry data or exit data.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein classifying time data as entry time data is performed by examining a sequence of time data elements and determining when a successive time data element indicates a location closer to the first location than a previous time data element.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein classifying time data as exit time data is performed by examining a sequence of time data elements and determining when a successive time data element indicates a location farther from the first location than a previous time data element.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the duration data is determined by applying rules to the entry time data and exit time data to calculate the difference between the entry time data and the first exit time data that temporally follows the entry time data.
9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the mobile device data is obtained using a Google Android or Apple iOS location services application programming interface (API).
10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the processor performs the method on a cloud-based Salesforce platform.
11. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first and second records are created using a Software as a Service (SaaS) API.
12. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first and second records are created using a Salesforce API.
13. The method of claim 4 , wherein creating, by the processor, a first record comprises creating a record including the location data and entry time data, subsequently obtaining the exit time data, and updating the first record to include the obtained exit time data.
14. The method of claim 4 , wherein the location data is obtained using global positioning system (GPS) signals to determine the longitude and latitude coordinates corresponding to the physical location of the mobile device.
15. The method of claim 4 , wherein the processor receives the mobile device data from the mobile device via an access point or radio tower connection.
16. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first location data, entry time data, exit time data, duration data, and/or user data is stored on the mobile device when a data connection is unavailable and transmitted by the mobile device to the processor when a data connection becomes available.
17. The method of claim 4 , wherein the processor receives updated mobile device data from the mobile device including mobile device data stored at the mobile device and additional mobile device data subsequently gathered by the mobile device.
18. The method of claim 4 , wherein the mobile device selects from a plurality of data connections for transmitting the mobile device data based upon the performance of each data connection.
19. The method of claim 4 , wherein the mobile device is located at a location remote from the processor.
20. An apparatus for obtaining mobile device data and generating activity logs, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory that includes instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
obtain a first location data indicative of a first location of a mobile device, an entry time data indicative of when the mobile location device entered the first location, an exit time data indicative of when the mobile location device exited the first location, and a user data indicative of a user associated with the mobile device;
create a first record including the first location data, entry time data, exit time data, duration data derived from the entry time data and exit time data, and user data;
access a project data including a project identifier indicative of a project to be performed at a second location and a second location data indicative of the second location;
associate the first record with the project data;
create a second record including the duration data from the first record and the project identifier from the project data;
generate a timecard entry based on the second record and indicating the duration the employee spent working on the project; and
transmit the timecard entry to the user.