Emergencies can happen at any time and anywhere. A smart phone application to obtain assistance in a security or medical emergency or in the event of a fire or vehicle breakdown can therefore prove invaluable.
Leading security firm Safeguard has designed such a smartphone app for its rapid response clients, who can use it to obtain assistance wherever they may be.
The Safeguard app, which has been in place for several years and improved upon in the last year, is easy to use. It uses geo-tracking technology to pinpoint the client’s location when the app is opened and the appropriate app panic button is touched.
The app includes a panic button for a security emergency and separate buttons to click on in the event of a medical emergency, fire or roadside breakdown.
“When a client presses the button for a security emergency, our nearest rapid response team responds,” Safeguard Alarms managing director Reason Chitiva said.
“Our clients have panic buttons for use within their home or office but what happens if you are attacked when you are away from home or you suspect someone is following you as you drive home?
“This is where the panic button on the phone app becomes particularly useful. One of our response teams can rush to your assistance no matter where you are,” he said.
“If you press the medical emergency button, an ambulance will be sent to you through our partnership with Ace Air and Ambulance and in some areas other ambulance services. If the fire alert button is pressed, we will contact the fire brigade on your behalf. In both cases one of our teams will also attend the scene. Our teams all carry basic fire fighting equipment for immediate action on arrival.
“If roadside assistance is required, we contact on your behalf a reputable service provider contracted to us,” Mr Chitiva said.
He went on to say the app emergency services can be accessed nationwide, provided the client has an internet connection.
When registering one’s details on the app, there is provision for uploading a photograph of oneself and the vehicle registration numbers of cars frequently used to aid identification by a response team, medical information that could be useful in a medical emergency and contact details of next of kin who could be contacted, if desired, in such an emergency.
The app can also be used to test the alarm system, receive and cancel alarm signals, check when the alarm has been triggered and request a fault be attended to.
Mr Chitiva emphasised the importance of testing one’s alarm system regularly, particularly at a time when increased power cuts have an impact on security systems’ uptime.
“Making use of the app to test the alarm system oneself, eliminates the need for a technician to test it, making it more convenient for clients and less expensive,” he said.
He said receiving an alarm signal on the cellphone enabled one to know the alarm had been triggered no matter where one might be.
“The ability to cancel false alarms quickly using the app is an important function as well. The system also provides updates on the phone on the status of the alarm system and response link.
“Commercial users with multiple sites to manage can use the app to check whether the alarm system at each of the sites is armed or disarmed, the health of batteries and test signals and be able to test the systems when they visit the sites on regular inspections,” Mr Chitiva pointed out.
