I just came back from a trip where SPOT was used by my hiking friend. He set it up in advance so that the "I'm OK" messages generated automatic email to my wife, and his wife ... sounds like a list of multiple people can get that message. It gives the time the message was sent in GMT (Greenwich time) and the decimal latitude & longitude, and a link to google maps of the location, plus it gives the name of the nearest town and distance away from that.

He also left it turned on, hanging on his pack strap and it periodically reported location automatically that way. One person at home can get that auto-location plot, and I believe put that up on google earth to see exactly where the unit has been (so long as it's on and has a clear view of the sky).

FWIW anyway.