Tracking Round Level

The Tracking Round level is where you prepare a campaign or a period of activity: the areas to visit, how a visit is detected, the indicators, the teams, the phones and, for routine immunization, the microplan.

To open it, click the Tracking Round name in the Tracking Rounds tab of the Field Activity level. From the map, you can also click the gear icon next to the Tracking Round name (Open Tracking Round Administration).

The Tracking Round level offers up to nine tabs:

Tab	Use it to
Base Layers	Upload base layers used only by this Tracking Round, and choose the layers displayed on its map.
Targeted Areas	Upload the areas to visit, choose the strategy (door to door, stationary activity detection) and the aggregation levels.
Geocoverage Indicators	Add custom indicators such as the population of the visited areas.
Field Staff	Choose the field staff of the round.
Team Codes	Give the list of valid team codes (only if the Field Activity uses team codes).
Logistic Support	Download the Batch Deployment Tool, the field staff instructions and the Tracking Data Extractor.
Device Monitoring	Check the phones and trackers that sent tracks.
Teams Deployment	Enter the number of teams expected in each area.
Microplan	Configure and apply the automatic microplan of health facilities (routine immunization).

Organization and Field Activity Focal Points see all the tabs. The Base Layers, Targeted Areas, Geocoverage Indicators, Field Staff, Teams Deployment and Microplan tabs are not available for the default “All tracking data” round.

The usual order of work is:

upload the base layers (Organization, Field Activity or Tracking Round level);
upload and configure the Targeted Areas (strategy and aggregation levels);
add Geocoverage Indicators if needed;
assign the Field Staff, enter the Team Codes and the Teams Deployment;
prepare the phones with the Logistic Support tools;
for routine immunization with auto microplanning, configure and generate the Microplan.

The User Guide describes these steps for each type of campaign: Door-to-door campaigns, Stationary campaigns and fixed posts and Routine Immunization monitoring.

1. Base Layers Tab

Base layers are the layers used to aggregate and explore the results, typically administrative boundaries. They can be uploaded at the Organization, Field Activity or Tracking Round level; a base layer uploaded here is only available to this Tracking Round. The list shows the base layers of all three levels (Level column).

To upload a base layer, click New and follow the steps described at the Organization level (Base Layers tab): .zip shapefile, Name and Description, then Unique ID and Label.

A base layer is used in two ways:

as an aggregation layer, when it is selected in the Targeted Areas tab (see below);
as an additional layer of the map, for example health facility points or roads. The three columns at the right of the list control this for the current Tracking Round, and each change is saved immediately (Map configuration updated successfully):
- Available on map: the layer can be displayed in the Additional Layers of the map layer panel;
- Visible by default: the layer is already displayed when the map opens;
- Colors: click the palette icon to set the Fill Color, Stroke Width and Stroke Color, and whether to Show Labels (with their size and colors), then click Apply.

Base Layers tab at the Tracking Round level, with the map display columns — Base Layers tab at the Tracking Round level

To edit a base layer uploaded at this level, click the pencil icon: only the Name and Description can be changed. To change the file, the Unique ID or the Label, upload a new base layer. Layers of the Organization and Field Activity levels cannot be edited here: edit them at their own level.

2. Targeted Areas Tab

Targeted Areas are the areas that the Tracking Round aims to cover, usually settlements, grid cells of populated areas or service locations. GTS counts an area as visited when the teams’ tracks meet the rules of the selected strategy. A Tracking Round has one Targeted Areas layer. Prepare it as described in Inputs.

Upload the Targeted Areas

Open the Targeted Areas tab and drag and drop the .zip archive of the shapefile (Drag & drop a shapefile), or browse to it. The maximum size is 1 GB. A microplan exported from GMT is uploaded the same way, as its .zip GDB export: GTS recognises it when the file name starts with Microplan and contains GDB (see GMT microplan import in the User Guide).
Wait for the upload (Uploading file…). The tab then shows Last status: …. When the file is processed, click Continue (or Cancel to discard it). If the processing fails, click Delete and upload a corrected file.
The New Targeted Areas window opens:
- Check the quality report. Layer imported with issues lists empty, very small or overlapping shapes.
- Enter the Name (required) and an optional Description, then click Next.
- Select the Unique ID field (needed for time-trend analysis) and the Label field (name displayed on the map and used by the search). Use the Map / Data toggle to preview the features.
- Click Save. GTS finishes the import in the background (Last status: …).
When the import is finished, the configuration wizard opens (see below).

Adding a new Targeted Areas shapefile at the Tracking Round level

Tip

If a feature of the layer has a whole-number attribute named duration_m, GTS uses it as the minimum duration of that area instead of the general Minimum duration of the door-to-door strategy, for example to require more time in large settlements. Despite its name, the value is currently read as a number of seconds (enter 1800 for 30 minutes). Visit start and end dates per area are not supported.

Configure the strategy and the aggregation levels

The configuration wizard has three steps.

1. Preview: check the features of the layer (map or table).

2. Strategy & Configuration: choose how GTS decides that an area was visited. Select at least one strategy.

Door to door (Tracks intersecting with TA will trigger visitations based on configuration.): click Select and configure, enter the Minimum duration in minutes in the Door to door configuration window, then click Validate. An area is visited on a day when a team spent at least this time inside it. See Door-to-door campaigns.
Stationary activity detection (Detect multiple tracks to identify stationary activity…): click Select and configure. The window Stationary activity and micro plan configuration opens:
- Leave Do targeted areas contain stationary locations ? off to let GTS detect the places where teams stayed (fixed posts, outreach sites). Set the Min. visit duration (t) (minutes, 60 by default, the same for all rules) and review the Activity types (up to 5 rules; GTS proposes Health Facility and Outreach). In 2. Geocoverage, tick the option to count the Targeted Areas within the catchment radius of the detected sites as visited.
- Turn Do targeted areas contain stationary locations ? on when the Targeted Areas are themselves the planned service locations (for example a microplan imported from GMT). Then map the columns of the layer (Columns mapping): location of service, maximum distance, minimum duration and Objective of visit. In this mode, door to door cannot be configured. For a GMT package, GTS turns this option on and fills the mapping itself. Although labelled (min), the Minimum duration (t) is currently applied in seconds.
- Click Validate.
Stationary activity detection rules of the MDG RI demo: Centre de santé de base and Séance avancée

The settings of each rule (name, icon and colour, minimum number of days, same team, catchment radius, health facility) and their effect are explained in the User Guide: Configure stationary activity detection and GMT microplan import.

Both strategies can be combined, for example for routine immunization teams who hold sessions at fixed places and also walk through localities. Once a strategy is selected, its card shows Configure (to change its settings) and Unselect.

3. Aggregations Layers: choose the base layers used to aggregate the results. Move them from Base layers not used to Base layers used (arrows, double-click or drag and drop) and order them from the largest area at the top to the smallest at the bottom (for example Region, District, Commune, Locality). These are the levels you will drill through on the map, in the indicators and in the exports. GTS warns you if the order seems wrong.

Click Save. When the Targeted Areas were already configured, the Update Configuration window first explains the consequences (see below); click Confirm. GTS computes the visits and indicators in the background. Click Cancel at any step to leave the wizard without saving.

Targeted Areas configuration wizard, step 2 Strategy and Configuration — Targeted Areas configuration: strategy (both strategies selected)

Targeted Areas configuration wizard, step 3 Aggregation Layers — Targeted Areas configuration: aggregation layers

Review, edit or delete the configuration

Once configured, the tab shows the Targeted Areas layer (Filename with a download icon, Description), a summary of each strategy (for example No minimum duration or 15 minutes minimum duration, 2 rules, visitation, or Not configured), and the Base layers aggregated used.

GTS also displays quality warnings: Layer imported with issues (empty, very small or overlapping shapes) and Layers aggregation has some issues. Click a warning to see the details, for example Some areas are outside the aggregation layer (these areas are ignored in the aggregated results) or Base layers feature count is not increasing (wrong order). Use the Map / Data toggle to check the features.

Click Edit to open the wizard again. When you save, the Update Configuration window explains the consequences: the previous configuration and its indicators are removed and recomputed with the new settings, an archived round is restored, and, if a microplan exists, whether its moderation stays unchanged or All microplan moderation will be lost. Click Confirm to proceed, or close the window to keep the current configuration. Afterwards, check the Teams Deployment tab and enter the planned teams again if needed.
Click Delete and confirm to remove the Targeted Areas and their configuration.

Targeted Areas configuration summary of the MDG RI demo round: file, door-to-door strategy (15 minutes minimum duration), stationary activity detection (2 rules) and aggregation layers (the quality warnings and the map shown below the summary are not included)

Update Configuration window, shown before an existing configuration is replaced

Warning

Changing the configuration recomputes the indicators of the whole Tracking Round, which can take a long time on long rounds, and may erase the microplan moderation. Avoid changes during a campaign review.

Note

The GTS shapefile itself cannot be replaced. To use an amended file, delete the Targeted Areas and upload the new .zip file. Base layers must be uploaded (Base Layers tab of any level) before they can be selected.

3. Geocoverage Indicators Tab

GTS computes built-in indicators for every Tracking Round with Targeted Areas (Targeted Areas visited, teams reporting, duration, distance…). In this tab you add custom indicators from the attributes of the Targeted Areas or from the answers of the ODK forms, for example the population of the visited settlements. They are displayed on the map, in the exports and in Open Data. See Map indicators and panels in the User Guide.

The tab requires Targeted Areas. It is not available when the Targeted Areas are configured as stationary service locations (Do targeted areas contain stationary locations ? turned on, for example a GMT microplan import): the tab then says Targeted Areas is configured to use microplan: custom indicators are not available. Rounds that use the Microplan tab (auto microplanning) can have custom indicators.

Group the Targeted Areas

In Group attributes (Select attributes to group by), choose up to 4 text attributes of the Targeted Areas, for example the settlement type (Built-Up Area, Hamlet Area, Small Settlement Area). The indicators can then be displayed by group on the map. Only attributes with fewer than 6 different values are proposed.

Geocoverage Indicators tab with the group attribute and the custom indicators — **Group attributes** and **Indicators** of a Tracking Round

Add a custom indicator

Under Indicators, click + to add an indicator. The Geocoverage Indicator window opens.
Enter the Indicator name (15 characters maximum).
Choose the field which make up your indicator: in the list (Sources / Fields, with Search fields), click Select next to a numeric field, either an attribute of the Targeted Areas (visited only: summed for the visited areas) or a field of an ODK form of the Field Activity.
Optionally, add a Denominator to compare the value with a reference: GTS then displays a percentage. For example, the population of the visited areas (visited only) divided by the population of all areas (visited and non visited) gives the percentage of population covered.
Check the summary (Numerator, Denominator) and click Save.
A banner asks you to recompute. Your changes are not saved yet: when all your changes are done, click Recompute to save them and recompute the indicators in the background, or Cancel to discard them.

Use the gear icon to edit an indicator and the cross to delete it, then click Recompute. The same applies to changes of the Group attributes.

Adding a custom indicator — **Geocoverage Indicator** window: choose the field of the indicator

4. Field Staff Tab

The Field Staff tab lists the field staff of the Tracking Round. Only their tracks are displayed and counted. Field staff cannot be created or edited here: create them at the Organization or Field Activity level.

Click Manage to select the field staff of the Organization who work in this round (Select All / Unselect All), then click Save.

Field Staff tab at the Tracking Round level — Field Staff tab of the MDG D2D demo Tracking Round: the field staff working in the round and the **Manage** button

5. Team Codes Tab

This tab is shown when the Field Activity asks for a team code (Team Code > Prompt). It holds the list of valid team codes, from which field staff select their code in GTS Tracker. Without a list, field staff type their code freely.

Click Manage. The Team Codes window opens.
In List of team codes (one by line), type or paste the codes, one per line (for example from Excel).
Click Save. The list replaces the previous one; empty lines and duplicates are removed.

Hint

Leaving team codes as free text is discouraged: spelling variations split one team into several on the map and in the indicators.

Team Codes window — **Team Codes** window

6. Logistic Support Tab

The Logistic Support tab provides the tools to install GTS Tracker on phones and to extract data from phones.

It has three tools, each with a Download button: Batch Deployment Tool and Field Staff Instructions (GTS Tracker deployment), and Tracking Data Extractor (Field Operations).

Batch Deployment Tool

The Batch Deployment Tool installs the GTS mobile applications (GTS Store, GTS Tracker and GTS Collect) on Android phones connected by USB to a computer. The phones then start signed in with a generic field staff account, with the Field Activity preselected in GTS Tracker: field staff select their team code and tap Start. It is only available for generic field staff accounts.

Click Download under Batch Deployment Tool.
Select a field staff to generate a Batch Deployment Tool: choose the generic account. If no generic field staff works in the round, GTS says Cannot download a Batch Deployment Tool as no generic field staff conduct this tracking round; assign one in the Field Staff tab first.
Click Download. The file gts_batch_deployment_tool_<username>.zip is downloaded.

Batch Deployment Tool download — Batch Deployment Tool Download

Unzip the archive: it contains a README.pdf, a User Guide.pdf and the tool itself.

The README explains:

how to prepare the Android phones (USB debugging is required);

how to run the Batch Deployment Tool on the computer;

how to start the phones once GTS Tracker is installed.

Note

With a USB hub, you can install GTS Tracker on several phones at the same time.

The User Guide is a one-page instruction for field staff. It includes a QR code that can be used to sign in to GTS Tracker.

Field Staff Instructions

This tool produces, for each field staff, a two-page installation guide (PDF) with a QR code to download GTS Store (from which GTS Tracker and GTS Collect are installed) and a QR code to sign in. The guide can be downloaded, e-mailed to the field staff, or both.

Click Download under Field Staff Instructions. The Instructions window lists the field staff of the round.
For each person, in the Zip / Email columns, tick the first box to include the PDF in a downloaded gts_instructions.zip file and/or the second box to send it by e-mail (only for field staff with an e-mail address). The boxes at the top select everybody.
Click the button at the bottom: Generate (zip only), Send (e-mails only) or Send & Generate.

Instructions window of the Field Staff Instructions tool — **Instructions** window

Note

Field staff must be assigned to the Tracking Round (Field Staff tab, Manage) to appear in the list.

Warning

The instructions contain a sign-in QR code. Send them only to the person concerned.

Tracking Data Extractor

The Tracking Data Extractor copies the data (tracks and ODK submissions) of Android phones connected by USB to a computer, before they are uploaded to GTS. It is useful when phones cannot connect to the Internet. It does not remove any data from the phones; the upload to GTS removes the data from the phones once it is confirmed, so use the extractor before uploading.

../../_images/TDE.jpg — Tracking Data Extractor Overview

Click Download under Tracking Data Extractor, then Windows (the tool is only available for Microsoft Windows). Unzip gts_tracking_data_extractor.zip: it contains a readme.pdf file, a GTS Tracking Data Extractor shortcut and the gts_tde folder with the tool.

The readme describes:

how to prepare the phones (USB debugging is required);

how to start the tool and create a project;

how to connect one or several phones and export the GTS data to the computer;

where to find the tracks and ODK data on the computer.

7. Device Monitoring Tab

The Device Monitoring tab (previously Phone Monitoring) lists the phones and NtDot trackers that sent tracks during the Tracking Round, with the state of the device at its last upload. Use it to find devices that need to be fixed before or during a campaign.

Device Monitoring columns
Column	Description
Device ID	Identifier of the phone, or serial number of the NtDot tracker. Click it to open the device details.
Device version	Version of GTS Tracker (or of the tracker firmware) installed on the device.
Avg Track / track session	Average number of GPS points per tracking session.
Doze mode issue	Yes if Android battery optimization (Doze mode) was detected during at least one session. It can pause tracking.
Suspicious Tracks	Number of tracks with anomalies that should be investigated.
GPS accuracy	Average accuracy of the GPS points in meters (the lower the better).
Last upload date	Date and time of the last upload received by GTS.
Last used by user	Field staff account that last uploaded tracks from the device.
Last used by team	Team code used for the last upload. Click it to copy it.

Use Search Device ID to find a device, and the two lists above the table to show only:

Doze mode issues (first list, All by default): phones on which GTS Tracker is subject to battery optimization (Android Doze mode), which can pause tracking. Correct the battery settings of these phones (see the Requirements screen in the User Guide);
GPS accuracy (more than 50 meters) (first list): phones with a poor GPS position, whose tracks may be displayed in the wrong place;
a version in the Device version list: phones that still use an old version of GTS Tracker and should be updated.

Click the download icon to export the list to Excel (the export ignores the filters).

The device details page shows who used the device (Who uses/used this phone?), in which Field Activities and Tracking Rounds (Where was it used?), and offers Access to the logs to download the data files uploaded by the device for support purposes.

../../_images/admin-device-monitoring.png — Device Monitoring tab

Note

The list only includes devices whose most recent track was recorded within the dates of the Tracking Round: a phone used again after the end of the round no longer appears in it. The points per session, the GPS accuracy and the suspicious tracks are counted over all the sessions of the device in the Field Activity.

8. Teams Deployment Tab

The Teams Deployment tab holds the number of teams expected in each area, for each day or for the whole round. GTS compares it with the teams that actually reported: on the map, the Teams report. indicator (team-days reported / team-days planned) and the Teams Reporting column of the data panel. How to read this indicator is explained in the User Guide: Teams reporting.

The tab requires Targeted Areas.

Choose the period: Day by day (default), or The whole period if you don’t know the details by day.
In Layers, choose the level at which you enter the numbers: All areas, one of the aggregation base layers, or the Targeted Areas.
Enter the number of teams in the rows of the selected level (one column per day in day-by-day mode). The totals of the larger areas are computed automatically.
Click Save (Teams deployment saved with success).

Tip

Prefer Day by day. Teams report. counts team-days (each team once for each day it reported): with The whole period…, enter the number of team-days planned (for example 8 teams x 5 days = 40), not the number of teams, otherwise the percentage is too high (it is capped at 100%).
Enter the plan at the level that supervisors review on the map: smaller areas have no plan of their own, and their Teams report. percentage is not meaningful.
Choose a level at which each team works in one area per day. A team that works in two areas on the same day is counted in both, so the areas add up to more team-days than the round. For example, the MDG RI demo plans its teams by district because they cross communes during outreach and door-to-door days.

Teams Deployment tab — Teams Deployment of the MDG D2D demo Tracking Round: planned day by day for the communes (the district row is the sum of its communes)

In the MDG D2D demo, the plan is entered day by day at the Madagascar Admin 3 - Communes level: 7 teams a day in Analavory and 1 to 4 teams a day in Anosibe Ifanja, which gives 8 to 11 teams a day for the district Miarinarivo and 47 team-days for the round. The map then shows Teams report. 85% (40 / 47) for the round.

Warning

Changing the period or the layer asks for confirmation (Please confirm, Remove). Switching to Day by day or to a smaller layer removes the values already entered; switching to the whole period or to a larger layer keeps only the totals.
Changing the dates of the Tracking Round removes the Teams Deployment.
When a microplan is applied (Microplan tab), GTS fills this table itself, for the whole period, from the number of visits planned by the health facilities, and overwrites manual values.

9. Microplan Tab

The Microplan tab configures auto microplanning for routine immunization: GTS proposes to each health facility (HF) the localities to visit in outreach, HF staff review and validate their list on a moderation page, and GTS applies the validated microplans to the Tracking Round (Targeted Areas, Teams Deployment, PDF and Excel microplans).

The tab requires configured Targeted Areas, a health facility point base layer, and, among the aggregation layers of the Targeted Areas, an HF boundary layer and a locality layer (normally the smallest one). Settings are saved as soon as you change them (Settings saved). Changing the settings, generating and applying the microplans require permission to edit the Tracking Round (Organization or Field Activity Focal Point).

The complete procedure is described in the User Guide, Microplanning section:

Auto Microplanning (Administrators): prerequisites, settings (Microplan validation deadline, Target configuration, Health facility layer (HF), Outreach eligibility rule, Visit history, Exclude non validated microplan, Automatic application of microplan), Generate microplans, the moderation link, regeneration and Generate final targeted areas;
Reviewing your Health Facility Microplan: the page used by HF staff;
Validated Microplans and Exports: the PDF and Excel outputs.

Important

All HFs use the same Link to moderation page. Anyone who has it can open the moderation page: share it only with the HF staff and district teams concerned.
Regenerating the microplans, or changing the Targeted Areas configuration, can erase the moderation already done. GTS shows how much moderation is done and asks for confirmation.
Applying the microplans closes the moderation and overwrites the Teams Deployment.
Microplans are stored with the health facility and locality layers: generating the microplans of another Tracking Round that uses the same layers replaces them.