In an Interactive Real-Time Distributed Navigation system a method and system is disclosed for implementing a warm start/cold start option. Through selection of the warm start option, an interactive session for providing navigational directions to a user is more quickly established because a user's position is assumed not to be ambiguous. A method of the invention verifies this assumption. Through selection of the cold start option, the method of the invention seeks to remove ambiguity in a user's position before providing navigational directions. If, however, a user's position is not ambiguous, the method of the invention reverts to a warm start condition to immediately transmit navigational directions to the user.