Overview: Introducing Microsoft MapPoint Location Server

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Microsoft® MapPoint® Location Server is an enterprise server product that works with PC and mobile device clients to help enterprise users determine the location of coworkers whose jobs frequently take them out of the office. With MapPoint Location Server, a user can find—and show on a map screen—the location of a coworker when he or she is using a wireless device. Mobile personnel can use MapPoint Location Server to locate each other and to find other places they want to visit. Non-mobile personnel can use MapPoint Mobile Locator for PC software to locate enterprise users who are on the road; for example, to dispatch an employee to make a delivery or make a service call.

MapPoint Location Server can be used for more than just finding the locations of mobile users. Users can also view maps of, and get directions to and from, the following types of places:

  • The address of a Microsoft Outlook® contact.

  • A street address, such as 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA.

  • A named place, such as Carnegie Hall or the San Diego Zoo.

  • Items in Find Nearby categories—services such as restaurants, hotels, bank machines, and dry cleaners that are close to their own locations.

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On This Page

Who Should Read This Guide Who Should Read This Guide
How MapPoint Location Server Works How MapPoint Location Server Works
Privacy Considerations Privacy Considerations
MapPoint Location Server Components and Tools MapPoint Location Server Components and Tools

Who Should Read This Guide

This guide is intended for administrators who are installing, configuring, and troubleshooting a MapPoint Location Server deployment.

Other guides are available for end-users, user administrators, and developers:

  • Microsoft MapPoint Mobile Locator for PC User Guide

    Provides installation instructions and task descriptions for the MapPoint Mobile Locator PC client.

  • Microsoft MapPoint Mobile Locator for Pocket PC Phone Edition User Guide

    Provides installation instructions and task descriptions for the MapPoint Mobile Locator for Pocket PC Phone Edition client.

  • Microsoft MapPoint Location Server User Administrator's Guide

    Provides instructions for provisioning MapPoint Location Server users.

  • Microsoft MapPoint Location Server Software Development Kit (SDK)

    Provides tools and reference materials for developers who are creating custom applications that work with MapPoint Location Server.

To download MapPoint Location Server and the accompanying documentation, see this page on microsoft.com.

How MapPoint Location Server Works

MapPoint Location Server acts as a middle-tier between location-enabled applications, a mobile operator's location service and notification services, and MapPoint Web Service. As shown in Figure 1, MapPoint Location Server handles logons, maintains security and privacy settings, and accesses location information from a mobile operator and cartographic information from MapPoint Web Service. MapPoint Location Server then manages the sending and receiving tasks that are required to fulfill location and direction requests from MapPoint Mobile Locator clients.

Figure 1.  MapPoint Location Server tasks

MapPoint Location Server is integrated with Microsoft Active Directory®, which is used as the master store for users and for authentication and authorization. Users that you provision for MapPoint Location Server must already exist in the Active Directory domain for the enterprise. Once you provision a user for MapPoint Location Server, Active Directory information about the user, such as domain and alias, display name, and e-mail address, is stored in the MapPoint Location Server database, a Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 database that is part of a MapPoint Location Server installation.

Privacy Considerations

MapPoint Location Server includes privacy controls for both the enterprise and the user. The server handles all user authentication and stores user information for employees within the company's own network.

To protect the privacy of users, anyone seeking to add a user to his or her mobile contact list must have that user's permission to do so. In addition, users always have the option of blocking contacts from finding their locations. For information about how users can manage privacy, see the "Microsoft MapPoint Mobile Locator for PC User Guide" and the "Microsoft MapPoint Mobile Locator for Pocket PC Phone Edition User Guide."

MapPoint Location Server Components and Tools

MapPoint Location Server includes three main components:

  • MapPoint Location Server Web Service—A Web service, installed within the enterprise, that works with both mobile operators and MapPoint Web Service to provide location services, render maps, find points of interest, and supply driving directions.

  • MapPoint Location Server database—A SQL Server 2000 database that stores information about users, Find Nearby categories, and other information related to MapPoint Location Server.

  • MapPoint Location Server management console—A Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that you use to administer MapPoint Location Server. Administering the server includes managing global settings, provisioning and managing users and contacts, and managing Find Nearby categories. For more information, see "Administering MapPoint Location Server" later in this guide.

In addition, MapPoint Location Server includes two tools and a demonstration provider:

  • **Active Directory Sync—**A command-line tool that synchronizes the user account information in the MapPoint Location Server database with the instance of Active Directory in which the user accounts exist. For more information, see "Running the Active Directory Sync Tool" later in this guide.

  • **Set Password—**A command-line tool that you can use to update the password for the account that MapPoint Location Server Web Service uses to connect to the MapPoint Location Server database. This password is stored in encrypted format in the MapPoint Location Server Web Service Web.config file. For more information, see "Running the Set Password Tool" later in this guide.

  • **Demonstration location provider—**A location provider that you can use to demonstrate or verify the end-to-end functionality of MapPoint Location Server without requiring a connection to a mobile operator. You can also use the demo provider as a troubleshooting tool. For more information, see "Using the Demonstration Location Provider" and "Troubleshooting the Demonstration Location Provider" later in this guide.