You're a dispatcher, you've sent a caller a What3Words location link or started an AirFlare locate — but no location is coming back. The most common reason is that location services are switched off on the caller's phone, or the caller denied the browser's location prompt. This article gives you a short script to talk the caller through turning location back on, and what to do if they can't.
How do I know location services are the problem?
Every locate depends on the caller's phone being allowed to share its position, but the route the position takes depends on the tool:
- AirFlare subscriber locate — a caller with the AirFlare app on their phone is located through the app directly — no SMS involved. The app can only report a position when the phone's system location services are on and the AirFlare app has location permission.
- AirFlare SMS locate (non-subscribers) and What3Words links — the caller taps a link in a text message, and the web page in their phone's browser asks the phone for its position. That needs all three: system location services on, the browser (Safari, Chrome) allowed to use location, and the caller tapping Allow when the page asks.
Signs that location is switched off:
- AirFlare (subscriber) — the search runs but no fix arrives, then the panel shows "Timed out waiting for a location." The subscriber's phone can't report a position while its location services are off.
- AirFlare (SMS locate) — the panel reaches "Subject opened the link — waiting for location…" but never gets a fix, then times out. The caller opened the link, but their phone gave the page nothing.
- What3Words — the caller says the findme.w3w.co page shows an error, a blank map, or no three words. They may read you a message like "location access denied".
- The caller tells you outright: "it says turn on location services", or "I keep location turned off".
The good news: turning location services on takes the caller about 30 seconds, the link in their text message stays valid, and you stay on the call with them the whole time.
How to talk an iPhone caller through turning location on
Read these steps to the caller over the phone, one at a time:
- "Open Settings on your phone."
- "Scroll down and tap Privacy & Security, then tap Location Services at the top."
- "Turn the Location Services switch on (green)."
- "Now go back to my text message and tap the link again."
- "When the page asks to use your location, tap Allow."
If the page still doesn't ask for location, or still shows an error:
- Ask them to close the browser tab completely and tap the link in the text message again — a fresh page will ask permission again.
- If it still fails, walk them to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Safari Websites and have them set it to While Using the App, with Precise Location turned on, then reopen the link.
- For an AirFlare subscriber being located through the AirFlare app (no link involved), have them check Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → AirFlare is set to While Using the App (or Always), with Precise Location on, then run the locate again.
How to talk an Android caller through turning location on
Read these steps to the caller over the phone, one at a time:
- "Swipe down from the very top of your screen with two fingers to open the quick settings."
- "Find the Location tile and tap it so it's turned on." (If they can't find the tile: Settings → Location → turn on Use location.)
- "Now go back to my text message and tap the link again."
- "When the page asks to use your location, tap Allow."
If the caller previously tapped Block on the location prompt, Chrome remembers that choice and won't ask again. In that case:
- Ask them to tap the padlock (or settings) icon at the left of the address bar, tap Permissions (or Site settings), set Location to Allow, then reload the page.
For an AirFlare subscriber being located through the AirFlare app (no link involved), have them check Settings → Apps → AirFlare → Permissions → Location is set to Allow, then run the locate again.
What to do next once location is back on
- AirFlare — if your search already timed out, click Reset in the AirFlare panel and run the locate again (for a non-subscriber, click Send SMS locate again). When the fix arrives, the pin lands on your Dispatch map.
- What3Words — the caller reads the three words off the findme.w3w.co page back to you. Type them into the What3Words box on the Create Incident card as
what.three.wordsand the marker drops on their 3-metre square.
Note: the caller can switch location services back off as soon as you have their position. Neither link keeps tracking them — location is shared only at the moment they allow it.
What if the caller can't (or won't) turn location on?
Location services aren't your only option. Fall back to placing the marker yourself from what the caller can tell you:
- Ask for anything with a name or a number — a lift tower number, a trail or run sign, a marshal point, a building, a road junction. Lift towers and trail signs are the fastest: find the asset on your Dispatch map and right-click there to start the incident.
- Ask how they got there — which lift they rode, which run or course they were on, how long ago they passed the last landmark. Narrow it down on the map as they talk.
- Ask what they can see — chairlift overhead, a creek, a boundary rope, the direction of the lodge. Combine it with the terrain on your map.
- Right-click the best-guess point on the Dispatch map to open the Create Incident card there, and refine the marker as responders report in. You can update the incident's location at any time.
Important: a phone with location services off can still make calls and receive texts. If the caller is losing battery, get the verbal description first, then try the locate link — a dead phone gives you neither.
Frequently asked
Can I locate a caller whose location services are off, without them changing anything?
No. Both What3Words and AirFlare are consent-based: the caller's phone only shares its position when location services are on and the caller allows the request. There is no way for a dispatcher to force a location out of a phone with location switched off — that's by design. Coach the caller to turn location on, or fall back to a verbal description.
Does the caller have to keep location services on after I've got their position?
No. Once the fix has arrived on your map (AirFlare) or the caller has read you their three words (What3Words), they can turn location services back off. Neither service continues to track the phone.
The caller turned location on but the link still doesn't work — why?
The usual culprits, in order: the browser prompt was previously denied (see the iPhone and Android recovery steps above), the phone has too little signal to load the page or send the position back, or the caller is opening an old link after an AirFlare search timed out — click Reset and send a fresh request. If nothing works, take a verbal description and place the marker yourself.
Does airplane mode cause the same problem?
Airplane mode is worse — it cuts the phone's connection entirely, so the caller can't receive your SMS or load the link at all (and can't take your call unless they're on Wi-Fi calling). If a caller has airplane mode on, ask them to turn it fully off, wait for signal bars, then tap the link.