Location as a service (LaaS) is a location data delivery model where privacy protected physical location data acquired through multiple sources including carriers, Wi-Fi, IP addresses and landlines is available to enterprise customers through a simple API. The vast amount of location data provided in a LaaS model can be accessed by organizations to realize greater operational efficiencies, increase security, reduce costs and optimize customer engagement while achieving higher return on investment. Location data is important to drive real insight from data tied to a specific location where activities take place. The spatial patterns that location data can provide is one of its most useful aspect where location is a common denominator in all of these activities and can be leveraged to better understand patterns and relationships. The location data hosted in a LaaS model is used to support location-based services, including geofencing, proximity marketing, location-based advertising, fraud management and asset tracking.
LaaS services are used by multiple industries including mobile marketing, retail, financial services, mobile gaming, M2M and healthcare.