Milwaukee Tool Tracker: How ONE-KEY Works, and One Map for Every Brand

How does a Milwaukee tool tracker find a tool?

ONE-KEY finds a tool by Bluetooth, through the phones that run Milwaukee's app. ONE-KEY tools have Bluetooth built in, and the TICK and ONE-KEY tracking tag add it to anything else (Milwaukee ONE-KEY product pages). When a phone running the ONE-KEY app passes one, it logs the sighting with its own location and time. Milwaukee calls this community Bluetooth tracking.

There is no GPS receiver in the tool. The address in the app is where the passing phone was when it heard the tool.

So ONE-KEY tracking reaches as far as the app's users go. Milwaukee says updates rely "heavily upon the number of people nearby who have the app downloaded and are active users" (Milwaukee One-Key support). Milwaukee recommends keeping Bluetooth on and location set to Always on each of those phones. Anyone can help without an account by switching on Help Track Tools.

The app keeps a 30-day timeline of sightings, each with an address, a time and the person the tool is assigned to (Milwaukee One-Key support). Mark a compatible tool missing or stolen. The next time it comes near a phone running the app, it locks out and you get an alert with its last known location. The stolen tool recovery guide covers what else to do after a theft.

How does DeWalt Tool Connect track tools?

DeWalt Tool Connect tracks tools by Bluetooth, read by a phone running DeWalt's free Tool Connect app. DeWalt lists tools with the radio built in under names that include TOOL CONNECT (DeWalt's Tool Connect page). Chip-Ready tools take a Tool Connect Chip in a pocket made for it (DeWalt's Tool Connect Chip product page). The Tool Connect Tag goes on any other jobsite asset, whatever its brand (DeWalt's Tool Connect Tag product page).

DeWalt's last seen feature gives the street address where the asset was last near your Tool Connect-enabled device (DeWalt's Tool Connect Tag product page). Its Tool Connect software carries a note that an additional subscription charge and third party data charges may apply (DeWalt's Tool Connect page).

Plain Tool Connect covers inventory and location. Tool Connect+ tools add usage data, safety data, tool and battery disable, and custom tool settings (DeWalt's Tool Connect page).

Can a Milwaukee tool tracker cover your other brands?

Yes, a Milwaukee tracking tag goes on any brand's tool. Milwaukee says its tag can track "any item from any manufacturer" (Milwaukee ONE-KEY page). DeWalt says its Tool Connect Tag tracks any jobsite asset "regardless of brand, make or model" (DeWalt's Tool Connect Tag product page).

Built-in radios do not cross over. A ONE-KEY drill shows in the ONE-KEY app, and a Tool Connect saw shows in DeWalt's. So a shop with both brands runs two apps and two lists. Hilti has its own system too, which the Hilti ON!Track guide covers.

Corded tools, older tools, trailers, gang boxes and ladders have no radio of their own, so each needs a tag. Whichever brand's tag goes on them, only phones running that brand's app report it. A tag on a case follows the case, so a tool that leaves it needs its own.

One tag for every brand, on one map

A crowdsourced tag needs no radio in the tool, and passing phones need no tool brand's app. It sticks on any tool, case or trailer, whoever made it. Any phone that passes reports where it heard the tag. Apple counts over a billion iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, and Google counts over a billion Android devices.

Tag a ONE-KEY drill, a DeWalt saw and a trailer with no radio, and all three sit on one map. One set of alerts covers them all.

A tag battery lasts up to six years, depending on its size. The Compact suits tools and cases kept dry. The Standard and Extended are sealed to IP68 for trailers, gang boxes and anything that lives outside.

Where to start on a mixed-brand shop

Start with what goes missing, not with which brand made it.

1. List what leaves the yard: tools that ride in vans, cases and kits, trailers, gang boxes and generators.
2. Pick a tag size for each item by where it lives: dry and indoors, or outside all year.
3. Draw a geofence around the yard and each job. The geofence guide shows how.
4. Set an exit alert on the items that should not leave without you knowing.

What to expect from tags on tools

Every tagged tool gets a dated location record, whatever the brand, and an alert when it leaves a site.

• Updates come from passing phones. Any phone that passes reports the tag. A tool in a van updates as the van passes people. A tool locked away over the weekend updates when the site opens again.
• Building-level position. Expect the right site, van or yard. The tool's name on the map tells you which one to look for.
• Where, not who. A tag shows where a tool is. A checkout log shows who took it, and the tool crib checkout system guide covers keeping one.
• A hidden tag stays on. Mount each tag out of sight, where the work cannot reach it. The construction tool tracking guide shows good spots. Inside a closed steel gang box, a tag may only report once the lid opens.