While MapPoint 2004 and MapPoint Web Service both provide APIs to understand location information and process location data, Microsoft Location Server provides an ability to integrate real-time location into your application to provide location-based applications and services; to that end, Microsoft Location Server transcends into a real-time location platform that answers the basic question "Where am I?" Location-based services are provided to a user based on his real-time location and can range from a simple service, such as listing nearby restaurants, to more complex features, such as analyzing real-time traffic conditions and finding the least congested route to a destination. For location-based services to work, a locatable device, such as a wireless mobile device or a pager, is usually necessary to identify the user's geographical location. In essence, location-based services are all about identifying the best and nearest possible service based on where the user currently is. Developing location-based services conventionally is tedious and expensive because GPS hardware and software are required. However, with the Microsoft Location Server, you don't need a GPS device to find your real-time location; you can find your location (or your customer's location) using a mobile phone number. In this chapter, I will discuss the inner workings of the Microsoft Location Server in detail; at the end I will go over the installation process of the Microsoft Location Server before tackling the programming aspects in the next chapter. |